Archery equipment $2,000
Round trip airfare from Baltimore, MD to Great Falls, MT $1,000
Hunting tags $200
Food for 2 teenage boys $300

3 DOUBLE-LUNG PASS THROUGH SHOTS... "PRICELESS"

Some memorable moments of last week's hunt....
* Changing 3 flat tires in one week..
* Being too tired to get up at 4:30am day after day, but doing it anyway..
* Watching elk on two different occasions feed within bow-range of my "un-occupied" ground blind.. F@#&!!!!!
* The early morning "smell" in the camper after eating boiled eggs, beans, and back-strap for dinner the previous night..whew!!!
* Missing a beauty 25-inch muley buck just out of velvet... S@#$!!!!
* Watching a screetch owl pick up a rabbit and drop it.
* Studying entry/exit holes and internal anatomy of bow-shot critters..
* Not having a close encounter with a rattlesnake while afield for a week---That's the first time EVER
* Listening to elk bugle.
* Watching a couple of young boys, turning into fine young men.
* Butchering/Boning 4 critters in summer like heat.
* Observing two teenage boys polish off 17 box's of assorted Little Debbie cakes in less than a week. (should have bought more)
* Being full drawn (3 times!!!) at 31 yards on a 6-point bull raking a tree, and not being able to get a shot!!! (I'm still sick over that one.)
* Seeing 2 bears-one walked by me at 18 yards (of course season was not open for a week.)
* Driving up on a dead antelope with a bow laid across it, and a happy young man sky-lined on the horizon with "victory fist" held high in the air.
* Watching Hunter walk afield on a hunt dressed in full camo, but also wearing a pair of purple skateboard shoes ("fashion statement" I guess?)
* Putting the boys on the airplane and counting the days 'till the 2010 archery season when we can together hunt again..

This is why I bow hunt..

Steve Thomas