1. Dad told me as a little one, "soon as your big enough to not chit your britches you can go archery elk hunting with me." I was pumped!I took him up on it, I remember hiking with him at 5 years old after elk. We bugled in bulls and I watched my dad kill them right in front of me, spikes, rags, 5x5's 6x6's you name he killed them, he cared nothing about the antlers, but he loved the hunt and having me there with him. We ate elk meat or deer meat 7 days a week growing up. Good stuff! Words can't explain what those days mean to me now and back thento an elementary school kid.

2. Fell in love with the whitetails when we moved to Northern Idaho when I was 11from Central Idaho. I started gun hunting and dabbling with a bow. I started killing whitetails with the rifle and after about 10 years really wanted to bowhunt since the shots were often very close anyway. I also wanted to hunt the elk in the rut.

3. Wanted more hunting away from all the rifle shots.

4. Today, I just like being close. I bowhunt during rifle season here for two months every year. It's loud and isonly getting worse, but I have learned to deal with it, but for the most part my favorite seasons are the early and latearchery seasons...when the only thing thats loud on the mountain is a screaming bull elk or athunderstorm.Took me three years to kill a bigforest landbuck with my bow back when I started,Humbling..but all that work after finally paying off..after making so many mistakes..felt better than any other hunt I had been on. Still does.


All Right I need to get off this PC... and go bowhunting. Its pouring the rain now, what other thing in life would I go sit in the rain for hours for! Had aclose callagain this morning on a dandy 4x4...but still havent killed a thing this year and have been loving every minute of this season! Maybe this evening will be the night, gonna keep chopping wood here...Play nice folks! And to those still bowhunting! be safe, god bless.

Troy