It wasn’t until my late teen years, when bowhunting entered my life.  Even then, it was just a sprinkle of time during the year.  My Dad and I would go out for a few days in Dec/Jan, followed by talks of missing our rifles.  This bowhunting stuff was hard and we knew it.  Whether it was one thing or another, something would always happen to thwart our chances of wrapping our tags.  Fast forward to present day and I am still telling tales of how I ALMOST killed a buck.  Over the past 5 years of bowhunting hard, I have been fortunate to fill a few tags, but it didn’t come easy.  Perhaps, that is why I am so drawn to it.

Growing up, I was always obsessing over some type of activity.  Because of that, I would usually get good at said thing.  I became a student of whatever craft lay in front of me and I’d start analyzing it.  Between the ages of 12 and 18, I was absolutely head over heels for skateboarding.  Hours and hours were spent everyday after school learning tricks and getting better at the ones I already knew.  There were times where it wasn’t even fun for me anymore, because of my drive.  That is something that I still deal with today.  Balancing fun and progress.

After skating my life turned to music.  I’d played guitar all throughout my skateboarding, but it wasn’t an obsession until I got a little older.  There were times when I’d play guitar until my fingertips literally came off or bled.  I was in bands until my late 20’s.  During those times I played more shows than I can remember and had the time of my life doing it.  We played shows, not only in Arizona, but up and down the west coast and east to Texas.  Those were times I will never forget and ones that I will always hold close to my heart.

A constant throughout this time was always hunting.  Once I stopped playing music, I needed something to focus on and maybe that is one of the reasons my every being embraced hunting.  The obsession came soon after.  It is a different kind of obsession though.  One that I don’t see going away.  You see, with my skateboarding and music, I was the one in control.  I could make the decision to play my guitar over and over again until I learned a riff.  Bowhunting is different.  I can’t just shake my hand loose and start dancing on the fret board again like a guitar.  If I fail a stalk, it’s back to the drawing board.  Back to finding another animal in what is usually a completely different set of circumstances.  Bowhunting is a riff I feel I will never master.

Bowhunting is a never ending journey and that is one of the many reasons I love it.  I am not fully in control.  I am at the mercy of mother nature and whatever she throws at me.  How I handle any given situation is going to dictate if I am successful on my hunt.  The allure of the unknown, coupled with the difficultly of getting within bow range is the ultimate in my eyes.  Throw backpacking into the mix and now my blood is really pumping.  If my obsession has taught me one thing, it’s that bowhunting is a lifestyle and I intend on living it.

Joshua Kirchner