Find Your Crucible
One of the first topics we ever covered in the Mountain Fitness column was mental fitness. As we quoted in that original article we firmly believe that the mind is primary, an ethos and training …
The 15-Year Bull, By Andrew Schaefer
This story starts with a six-year-old, his dad, and a bagel on an aspen slope. It ends 24 years later with that six-year-old, at the time of this story 30, killing his first elk with …
Backcountry Mobility – The Mountain Hunter’s Playbook
One of the most overlooked aspects of the physical preparation that goes into mountain hunting is the hunter’s movement quality, both in terms of how they train — a topic we’ve written about extensively in …
Romancing the Ram, By Vern Peters
Part I: The Sheep Hunter’s Dilemma It was decision time. The four of us were hunkered down behind weathered, black boulders on a windy ridge gazing into a shallow basin with a small rivulet meandering …
Paying It Forward
Each individual hunter has his or her reasons for going afield every year, none better than the other. I’ll admit, for years I wouldn’t have agreed with that statement. I hid behind the “meat hunter” …
An Elk Addict Is Born, by Shawn Stafford
Truthfully I didn’t know what to expect but I was embarking on an adventure. Butterfly’s danced in my stomach as I pointed the truck West. It would remain pointed in that direction for the next …
Flatlander to Sheep Hunter, By Chad Ingersoll
“Mom? I want to start hunting. Will you help me get a shotgun?” That is how it started. I grew up in a single parent household. It was my mom, my brother and me. My …
Ancient Highways, By Bryan S. Judge
Editors Note: Bryan’s submission was originally published in Sports Afield and we would like to thank Bryan and SA for giving us the opportunity to publish his excellent story online. A chill had crept into the August …
A Glacier Dall Sheep Hunt, By Blake Rothschild
It was finally go time! August 22nd was here and things were lining up perfectly. I got out of work a few hours early to make the drive and Dale was already there. I was …
Balancing Big Horns, By Frans Diepstraten
November 24, 2013—I was on my fifth day of hunting a special bighorn sheep tag in Cadomin, Alberta. The weather had been terrible, with temperatures around -30C and winds of 60 mph, with gusts up …