It gives me a chance to go back to my roots. There is no phone, no appointments, no computer, no office, no nagging women, no work, nobody but me. You get to watch the most beautiful sunrises, count the leaves falling off the trees, hear the sound of the morning dew dripping from the trees. It's all about the little things. Hearing the spit and drum of a turkey. Watching a coyote pup chase butterflies. Watching a pileated woodpecker for an hour. Hearing a liveelk bugle for the first time. Most people never take the time toexperience that stuff.

It's about getting out and climbing the mountain. It's facing your fear in the pitch black of night. It's about the adrenaline rush of hearing a suspicious crack in the brush. It'sabout getting soaked in a terrible rainstorm and coming home skunked and hungry.It's about spending countless hours before and during the season preparingand it all coming down to a split-second decision, a shot, and a kill. It's about feeling human. Most people never get a chance to feel human.