Friday, August 7, 2015

And so it begins...

It's 11:42 pm... We are headed North and we just passed an "Antelope" road sign. It's dark out, with an occasional instance of brightness from someone, headed somewhere, we are not. I am eating wasabi peas, while listening to the Corb Lund Pandora Channel... We've been on the road for over 5 hours now and it is my father's turn to take the wheel. 

Essentially, we are on our way to find out if all of my hard work over the past several months will pay off or not. If I could sum up our efforts in regards to archery elk hunting, I'd say it much like the song I am listening to, "I'm a losin' lately gambler, but that's not all I have ever been. Cuttin' back your losses is just another way to win." To elaborate on that thought, our destination for elk this season is Oregon, a state that has defeated us twice, but not entirely. We've cut our teeth here, we've got close and we have learned a great deal from hunting in The West and East. So back to Corb, I cut my losses with over the counter elk tags in Idaho and decided earlier this year, that my father and I will focus on Oregon. It's our closest opportunity to hunt OTC, and I know the quality of the hunt can be just as good as Idaho, at half to quarter of the distance.  I want a place we can call our own, I want to know that all the maps I have researched feverishly, all of the biologists that I have harassed recently, that this knowledge gained... Will pay off. I want my father and I to taste a victory, that we can own wholly. This is what hunting means to me in a large way... A responsibility of education. It's a lot about pride, but with even more humility and reverence to what I feel hunting is all about... 

This season will make us better, no matter of the ghosts that shadow our efforts. Our sights are set on the future, and I have to believe in optimism. 

2015, a new journey begins. 

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