Sunday, April 27, 2014

The End



I must admit it, its over for this year.  With the end of Mountain Lion season only a few days away, it is time to throw in the proverbial towel.  This marks the end of year two of what has turned into my epic quest of hunting a lion without dogs.  This year was quite the adventure.  While this season did not see a cat hit the ground, the amount of knowledge and experience I brought out of the woods with me, more than made up for the lack of fur. 

I had some very interesting adventures this year.  Complete with awe inspiring views, breath taking moments of excitement, and revelations of how animals go about their daily lives.   This year marked a first for me.  Carrying a camera into the woods for reasons other than possible trophy shots.  The intent was to hopefully bring you, the reader, along with me by providing a digital window into my world.  As a end to this year I have produced one more video, which is montage from an entire hunting season of my life.  From practicing archery in midsummer, hunting elk and bear in the fall, and trekking through cold snow filled mountains of Colorado, it is all there.  Some of the footage is a repeat of photographs used before, and I beg your apologies, others are completely new and unseen.   I have purposefully held some content back from the blog for this very reason.  I hope you enjoy the video.

What is ahead?  Let me be clear this is not a, "taking a break," post.  This is merely the closing page of one chapter and starting the next.  I have many plans for both the blog and life in the summer months.  From scouting, catching up on taxidermy work, and preparing for an Alaskan caribou hunt, I will be extremely busy.  All of these will be subjects of new posts, and I intend to document some past adventures in,"hunting stories," style articles. Somewhere in there I also have to complete a few home improvement projects, lest I fall from the good graces of my loving and supporting wife. This blog would not have been possible without her and her assistance in the creation process.

Some last thoughts on this season.  I was hunting with a friend this year who is somewhat new to predator hunting.  He said it best when he made an observation about his new experiences, "It seems like predator calling is a lot like fishing, you go where you think they are and call in the hopes they bite."  I also like to think about a quote from Colin Powell that at times summarizes the moment of hunting success, whether it be a kill, new adventure, or simply a day spent away from modern life.

"Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence." - Colin Powell