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It’s 4:27 a.m., and just as happens before the annual elk season opener, I can’t sleep. I’m five days away from boarding a plane and heading to the Northwest Territory for my first Live Hunt of the season, on a backpack hunt for Dall sheep and mountain caribou.

There’s still much to be done. Thoughts of writing blogs, dialing in my bow and taking one final range session with my rifle have me up early. My daily archery practice session is still an hour away. It’s been a busy summer. Besides the annual recipe of gearing up for hunting season, Katie and I got married and spent a week away from everything on a great honeymoon. I let my mind and body rest for a few weeks and just enjoyed the moment. Now it’s time to get back down to business.

I can smell the coffee brewing from the kitchen as I sit here in my office typing this blog. The creature comforts of home will definitely be limited this year. Waking up in my own bed is a luxury I will definitely miss! When I stop to think about it, between all the hunts I’ve got lined up this season, and with hunting industry shows piled on top of that, I won’t spend two straight weeks at home again in Bozeman until late March. Luckily I’m ready and feel fortunate to have the job I do. The only thing left is to go out and share my experiences with everyone here.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my blogs and how I’ll spin the stories of my adventures this year. It takes a ton of time each day to get out these blogs/photos/videos. I really want people to get a chance to look into what my season is like, to feel as if they’re right alongside me for the 120-day adventure.

I’m not going to dive into details about the equipment I’ll be using or give the same old sales pitches you’ve seen from other hunting hosts–you know, the ones that have become the norm in the hunting industry these days. I don’t have the time nor the creativity to capture each day with an amazingly well-written blog that’s perfect–I’m just going to tell it how it is and keep it simple.

I hope everyone reading this can appreciate the honesty and effort I’ll be putting into this second season of Live Hunt. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

It’s 4:45 now, and I’ve got another 15 minutes of work packing the targets and my bow into the truck before swinging by a local hotel to pick up Jonathan Hart from Sitka. Hart’s making his 2010 early-morning Bozeman archery practice debut today. He’s in town for business and wanted to start the day with a great sunrise and put a couple hundred more broadheads into my already beaten-down targets. We’ll be testing out some new prototype Sitka jackets as well, but most likely the only real testing getting done will be how they handle getting coffee spilled on them!

More tomorrow as I begin packing all of my gear for the hunt.

Have a great day.

Mark

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