One Heck Of A Ride

207 Epilogue I cannot end this book without saying I am a small business owner who still goes to work at my store in our small town every day as I approach my eighth decade on this earth. I was not so wealthy that I didn’t have to ask what a hunt or a charter flight, or even the dipping and packing of my trophies, might cost. I researched prices and the reputations of outfitters and hunting areas, and I shopped around to find the best values. I sometimes even swapped floor covering for daily rates and trophy fees. There also were years when I delayed taking an expensive hunt when my business was slow, and there were years when I made two or three hunts overseas when business was good. However, even in the down years, I continued to hunt something somewhere. By staying physically fit, I was able to accomplish nearly anything I set out to do. In my sixties and seventies, I climbed steep, high-elevation mountains wearing backpacks loaded with gear, heads, hides and meat that some younger men couldn’t carry across a street. I did this because it was an inseparable part of hunting and I was determined to succeed. (I realized early in life when helping Bucky Stone guide his California black bear clients that all hunters were not granted equal amounts of determination.) As I’ve said elsewhere, the pursuit of awards definitely is not why I hunt. Even though I’ve earned the highest award levels that SCI and Grand Slam Club/Ovis offer I am not ready to stop hunting. As my co-author has often written about himself, I hunt because I must and I will hunt until I can’t. If you are a young man or woman who is cursed with the genes that drive us and other adventurous hunters to far-off places ordinary people only dream about, we suggest you hang on and get ready for one heck of a ride. News clipping from Sofair Times.