A memory by nightfall

During the fall, I am consumed almost entirely by one of my favorite passions - Hunting season. This year marked the 7th year of hunting and the 12th that my family has been spending every opening weekend in our remote, eastern Washington hunting camp.

As I grew up it transferred from something we did to a passion like no other for me.

The lessons learned from hunting are countless but I wanted to share a few of them with you today.

1- Your gear is more important than you.

I know that this sounds a little barbaric, but in all honesty this is the mindset you have to adapt to if you want to continually have successful hunts. We come from a culture that takes self care too far. There is a thin line between taking care of yourself and thinking of yourself first. When you are in an environment where your success and the health of you and those around you depends on your actions, you are not given the luxury of thinking of yourself first.

For example, when you are hiking with a firearm it is crucial that you do not drop or fall on it. Even just a slight bump in the right spot can change the accuracy of your scope. In order to combat that my dad taught each of us how to fall properly, which includes throwing your body in between the ground and your gun. Learning this lesson teaches you not only how to respond even when you are in the few seconds of falling but also how to value something more than yourself.

2- It will be a memory by nightfall. Enjoy it while it lasts.

When you're sitting outside at the full mercy of the weather, your mind starts playing games with you. The only way to beat it? Play a better hand. If you just focus on how cold you are of course you're going to be cold. But if you think of the fact that you only get the opportunity to sit in the cold a month outta the year, that's how you play a better hand.

This ability is very easily transferred into daily life. Once you learn to think of a moment as a soon to be memory, suddenly its alot easier to run that extra mile, to be patient with that one person, to stay awake just a little longer.

3- God makes em prettier when he knows someone's watching.

This is just a theory of mine but hear me out. Have you ever seen a sunset from the middle of the woods or the top of a hill? He pulls out all the stops. Almost like he’s giving you your own little reward for being in the woods that day.

Now I will admit this is a little plug for a new short story coming out soon so stay tuned to hear more about those sunsets.

All and all hunting has taught me many many life lessons but I think the most important one is this - Days spent in creation chasing critters around are days well spent.