I can’t believe it’s already December. Where does the time go? I’ve been doing my best to soak up the time with family and enjoy the holidays. Hope you’ve been doing the same. Along with that, I’ve been working on something I’m extremely excited to share with you all. It’s a new bear film called Imprinted and it documents my 2023 Fall Bear Season in Arizona.
While self-preservation and my own hunting success are incredibly important to me, hunting doesn’t end with me, and it doesn’t end with you either. In order to keep this train rolling, we’ve gotta have the fuel to do it. That means more numbers and that means more hunters. We are a dying breed and if we don’t think about hunter recruitment, we’ll suffocate beneath the surface we once knew.
It’s the end of September as I’m writing this. I’ve been seeing tons of success photos scrolling my social media feed and I love it. Big bulls and high country bucks are getting backpack rides and filling the hearts and freezers across the West. While that warms my heart, I can’t stop thinking about the month of October and it’s not for the deer or elk. It’s for Arizona Fall Bear Hunting.
Fall is officially here, and if you’re anything like me, you’re getting hit with the warm and fuzzies. Hopefully, the fuzzies are in the form of big mule deer antlers! This new film of mine may not be a mule deer film, but I am super proud of it. Dillon Flint and I backpacked into some of the most rugged country in the lower 48 this past spring and what we got out of it was “The Most.”
Since I was a child, doing difficult things has been something I’ve been drawn to. There is a beauty to it. It’s challenging and keeps one on their toes. Should you come out successful, no matter what that difficult thing is, the reward is so much greater. It means “the most” to struggle and then succeed, than it does to succeed without struggle.
Rangefinders have changed the game in hunting. They take our accuracy and lethality in the field to a new level and have really become a standard for most hunters. Earlier this year Vortex Optics released a new line of rangefinders to their already fantastic lineup. They are the Crossfire HD 1400, Diamondback HD 2000, and Viper HD 3000. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the new Vortex Diamondback HD 2000 Rangefinder and have been putting it through the ringer this year.
Fall bear hunting is where I cut my teeth as a bear hunter. With that being said, Spring bear has really grown on me through the years. And now, it’s one of my all time favorite hunting seasons on the planet. Each year I try to make it out on several different hunts across the West with the hopes of furthering my overall knowledge of black bears, but also the hope of bringing home some tasty bear meat.
This past spring I spent 8 days bear hunting in the backcountry of Idaho with my good friend Eric. With previous experience in the area, I knew we’d find bears. What I didn’t know was how much weather we’d find. It was a grind of a hunt and the most time I’ve ever spent in a tent as we sought shelter from the rain/snow. All of that said, we had a great time, found a good amount of bears.
Year in and year out life is filled with lessons. If you’re like me and always striving to be better than yesterday, you pay attention to those lessons. This past 2021 hunting season provided me with more than its fair share of takeaways, just like it should be. Here, I’m going to lay out my biggest lessons learned from the 2021 hunting season. I walked away from it with new perspective, and with any hope, you’ll walk away from this article with the same.
Fall in Arizona is one of my favorite times of the year. While most are keyed up on deer hunts around the month of October, I’m thinking bears. The weather is nice, the bears are fat, and it’s just a great time to be out in the hills looking for these big guys. October bear is where I cut my teeth as a bear hunter. It’s where a great deal of my love started for pursuing bears. This past October 2021 was incredible to say the least and I can’t wait to share it with you below. I made a film of this adventure called Endearment – A Bear Hunting Film. It encapsulates everything I love about fall bear hunting here in my home state, hence the name “Endearment.”
We are sitting in the heart of hunting season right now and I hope all of you have been having an amazing season so far. This is the time of year we wait for all through the calendar. Take advantage of it while it’s here!
I recently returned from an incredible fall bear hunt here in my home state of Arizona. From front to back it was a hunt I’ll never forget. Much time was spent alone to my thoughts and a great deal of time was spent with a few folks I wouldn’t trade for the world. And of course it had its fair share of bears. One of which ended up coming home with me.
I’m so excited to announce that the film of this very hunt will be coming out October 30th 2021! The film is called Endearment and it take you along the entirety of my hunt. This is the first long form film I’ve made, so I really hope you enjoy it. Until then, I’ve included a teaser below!
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