I began rummaging through my gear to gather my Sprint turkey hunting essentials for the 2018 season opener. I was searching for my trusty box of Federal Premium turkey shells that had delivered many downed tom turkeys over the years. The box is so old that it is difficult to read the label that should say 12 gauge #4 shot, but now you can only see wear marks instead. Turkey loads come 10 shells to a box, but most years, I only use one to shoot my one turkey each Spring. As I grabbed the box, I noticed it was lighter than expected and could hear shells rattling loose in the bottom. I opened it up and was shocked to see only two shells remained! As I thought back to account for where and when I had used these shells, I remembered that I had been living abroad for a while and missed 5 turkey seasons, so counting back the years per missing shells I quickly calculated the purchase date of this box was 2005!
I looked at this old worn box of shells and wondered if one more box of turkey shells will last me for the rest of my turkey seasons? Said another way, do I have more than 10 years of hunting left in me? That was a somber thought! Am I like this old worn out box and my adventurous days numbered? I'm in my mid-40s now and hope to continue strong well into retirement, but realistically, I probably only have 10 - 15 years left. I know that sounds dramatic, but I am certain I have fewer hunts ahead of me than I have behind me. As I let that soak in, I realized that, I have never achieved my life long goal of successfully hunting Western game such as Elk, Antelope, Mule Deer, Moose and Caribou. One does not just decide to hunt all those species in the west without extensive research and participating in numerous state tag drawings that occur many months in advance of season and you likely need to build up preference points in those draws over many years to even have a chance to draw! That all takes time. Have I waited to long? Am I to late?
That realization has stoked a new fire in me to ensure that I don't let further opportunity slip away. Since I had that epiphany a few months ago, I've signed up with an outfitter for a Colorado archery Elk hunt and I've put in for tag lotteries in Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. I'm opportunistically purchasing gear (when it goes on sale) for western hunting and working out like a crazy man so this flat lander living at sea level can breath when I'm at 11,000 feet chasing Elk! I have already learned a ton of new information as I'm now subscribing to GoHunt.com to learn about the state draw systems and I'm signed up for the "University of Elk Hunting" at Elk101.com.
I'm enjoying the opportunity to expand my base of knowledge beyond whitetails, turkeys and upland birds and this has inspired me to begin writing again. I plan to write about all that I'm doing and learning in hopes that these future blog posts can help other folks as they decide to make their dreams become realities.
So ask yourself, how many shells do you have left in your box???
