Grateful! That word doesn’t begin to describe it. I spend a lot of days in the field helping to create opportunities for others each year. My desire to be “out
there” and my personal hobbies have equipped me with the tools to help youth and fellow vets where I can. I don’t receive anything beyond an immense satisfaction from sharing what I love with people who are experiencing it for the first time. Some of that comes from a position of maybe they will view the mountain or the woods through the same lens, with the same reverence that I do. The life long relationships that develop from experiences in the field are a welcome cherry on the top.
When I fill out annual big game applications across the American west every year, Arizona elk is near the top of my list for most desired. Long after the draw results had come and gone, I was making fall plans that did not include bugling bulls in Arizona.
As my Marine Corps career comes to an end and my body is showing the signs of 20+ years in the profession of young men, I have been busy preparing for what my future looks like. After a random phone call in July, I was floored to learn that I was nominated to receive a donated tag for an early archery elk in Arizona! Something I usually have a role in enabling, I would now be the recipient.
I grappled with accepting the opportunity or passing it along to someone else. With encouragement from several people I think highly of, I headed to Arizona. The unit was rough with a low population density but a real chance at a good bull if you can find one. Conditions turned out even more tough. By day three I had only heard a single bugle, and it was well after dark.
After several days of grinding hard without a single encounter, I decided to sit on the freshest sign we’d found. That evening, alone on a quiet hill, this silent bull appeared out of nowhere.
Thankful for good people, good bulls, and good cell service to share the news!
Special thanks to Jeremy McCarty and Giving Back Outdoors for thinking of me as deserving of this opportunity!