Crazy, Dedicated Love

Hunting, Fishing, The Outdoors – Some say I am crazy, some say it’s just dedication, others say it’s for the love of it. I say it takes a little bit of each one. Many of us have gone to some extreme, some wild measure to go on a hunting trip, land a big catch or accomplish our own outdoor goal and I am no different. Because of the passion inside for the outdoors I can get a little crazy, I do dedicate myself to every piece of the puzzle, and my love for it is ultimately the beauty behind it all.

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The first time I thought about this notion was 2 years ago on an exotic bow hunt with my husband for our 1^st wedding anniversary. It was June, it was Texas, and it was hot – it was just us and the outfitter. No friends, family, or other hunting buddies, just us and the heat. Immediately upon arrival we geared up for the afternoon hunt with temperatures well over 100 degrees and extreme humidity. Our backpacks looked more like ice chests as they were stuffed with bottles of water to beat the heat. For 3 days we hunted from 6am to Noon, went back to camp for food and a quick break and then back out from 3pm until dark about 8:30pm. It was round the clock hunting.

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There were times sitting in the tree stand when so much sweat was pouring down my face it looked like I had just showered, and my husband, poor man, was somehow surviving in a ground blind, also known as a sauna (only 1 sit in the ground blind, more than enough). The stillness of the air was deafening with no wind to kiss your face and cool the sweat. Moving around the ranch trying to get in the paths of the animals going to and from water, I found myself on a small triangle stool under a mesquite tree, yet again sweating. It was here where I saw one of the coolest things I mentioned a while back in a blog – I looked down at the ground for a minute and when I looked up there stood a gorgeous Black Buck Antelope staring right at me, no less than 5 yards away, chewing on a mesquite bean. At this point, I thought I was crazy, hallucinating from the heat. It was unreal and beautiful to see this animal so close to me. I wasn’t high in a tree stand or hidden in a ground blind, I was sitting under a tree on a tiny stool. What a moment – whether real or hallucination haha. As soon as I blinked he was gone.

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Although we didn’t harvest anything on that trip it was worth it; but when explaining the hunt to others they just said I was crazy – I said well maybe a little bit, but I think I’m dedicated and in love with it! There have been many extremely HOT hunts in Texas where I wonder afterwards what I was thinking. At the time a camo bikini and scent cover for a cooling mist spray seemed logical, but in hindsight building extensive relationships with lizards in your ground blinds does seem a little crazy. Yes, a great friend of mine was naming the lizards in his ground blind on one of our hottest August hog hunts with temperatures outside of 110 degrees and well over that inside a ground blind. Maybe that was just delirium!

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So whether crazy, dedicated, or in love (and sometimes hallucinations and delirium) that fire inside all of us who spend our lives outdoors will live on. For those who get it, they get it, and they will go to the extreme to enjoy their passion. For those who don’t get it, I hope they experience it one day, but if not I will enjoy the looks of ‘you’re crazy’ every time I tell one of my stories and experiences.