Failed to Prepare | Beeville, TX

Everything they said was true. After only one weekend, one experience, one moment, I'm officially hooked on turkey hunting. I never imagined loving it this much, but then again I tend to enjoy anything outdoors. It was an extremely exciting weekend - we saw dozens of birds, heard even more gobbling, and Braxton laid down his very first Rio Grande turkey with his bow. It was an eventful weekend for many reasons, but I've been constantly replaying a moment in my head for over 3 weeks now. It's a moment that truly magnifies the type of hunter that I am and what I stand for - it's the moment that I didn't pull the trigger on a beautiful, mature bird.

In Part 2, I mention that the shot was "out of my comfort zone." I was purposely vague with the statement because I knew I would have a Part 3 to my YouTube Turkey Hunt (see below) - a video fully dedicated to being transparent. Without rambling too much, I wanted my followers to see the raw emotion of my decision. I was heartbroken, I truly was and still am, but I'd like to be very clear about something: I'm not heartbroken because I didn't pull the trigger. I'm heartbroken because I failed to prepare for the unknown.

What is the unknown? For me, in this particular situation, it was anything past 40 yards. I had just purchased my new Hoyt Defiant a little over a week prior to this hunt and I hadn't made time to dial it in past 40 yards. On top of that, I was not confident enough with my new weapon to be be maxing out my yardage. I really felt hesitant past 30 yards even though I was grouping at 40 yards and killing. I think some of it goes back to the fact that I've shot the same bow for over 3 years now, so a week is just not long enough to adjust and really feel your weapon. Also, hunting a new animal, one that is much smaller, didn't help the situation. I'm not making excuses, I'm truly happy with my decision to let off, but these are just little thoughts running through my mind. I can make myself sick thinking about "what ifs," but it's truly what I do from this point moving forward that matters.

I've shared this story with many friends and family since it happened and I find it so interesting how mixed the opinions are when it comes to my decision not to shoot. I'm fully aware that some would shoot for the simple fact that you never know if you don't try. Others would shoot because they don't think they need to put their pin on the animal but rather aim higher to account for those extra yards. And to those people I will say this - do what you're comfortable doing. It's legal! It is simply not what I chose to do. One day I hope to be doing much more advanced things than raising my pin a few inches to hit a target. I want to learn traditional archery, then go spot and stalk the toughest game - I want to do it all. So much of my reason for hunting revolves around personal growth, so I don't have an end in mind. If there's something harder, I automatically have a new goal. This is just where I am RIGHT NOW - not forever. I hope that wherever you are with archery hunting, that you embrace each little discouraging or challenging step! I'm still teaching myself to do this and it's a powerful tool to keep moving forward.

If you haven't already, take less than 15 minutes to watch ALL 3 videos of our first time bowhunting for turkey.

PART 1