It is getting closer to my first hunt of the year -- my first ever pronghorn hunt in Wyoming. I'm trying to prepare appropriately -- practice at the range, get gear in order, etc. -- but I'm also just getting keyed up to "go." For me what I'm looking forward to is picking my son up from high school and heading out on the road from just North of Dallas, Texas, to Gillette, Wyoming. When I pull out on the main road heading west that is when the trip will officially start for me. I look forward to getting out into the forlorn empty spaces of the Texas panhandle, turning north at Raton, New Mexico, seeing some pronghorn along the road, putting miles under my wheels. It is a 1,300 mile trip one way for us. I happen to like driving to get places -- though 1,300 miles may be just about twice too much of a good thing -- as this gives me a chance to shed the helter-skelter pace of city/suburban life and to further luxuriate in contemplation of our forth coming hunt. I like driving down the road knowing there is a truck-load of gear, including rifles which are familiar friends, packed behind my seat.

What about you guys? What do you look forward to in advance of the hunting trip or as part of the journey getting to your hunting location?

You're right. The weeks of planning and preparation, then the 12 hour drive and finally the 3/4 hour flight into our remote camp, with my hunting partners who happen to be my grown up kids, is a big part of the whole (moose) hunt. gg.