This is what hunting is all about.
In the modern age of bowhunting, so many hunters get hung up on the harvest of a big animal that they cannot see the forest for the trees. Sure, harvesting an animal and filling our freezers every fall is the primary goal of any hunt, but it should not be the only one. It is easy to forget this unless we step back to take time to reflect upon the moment.
This is exactly what Brendan Burns does for a late September bowhunt deep into the Alaskan bush looking for a giant bull moose with KUIU camo. For Brendan, this hunt is about more than taking an animal. It is about spending time with friends in the great outdoors.
This is a beautiful hunt, and it serves to remind us to soak it all in and appreciate these moments when they happen. Because we do not get to share in these memories with friends nearly often enough.
Brendan's patience paid off on this hunt with a beautiful older bull. According to KUIU's website, he was 59 ½ inches wide and scored 216 inches green. A great bull that any hunter would be happy to harvest. The fact he did it with some great company and captured the whole thing on video just made the hunt even more special.
In all seriousness, we would consider this hunt to be a major success even if they had not harvested a bull. The great thing was all these friends getting together maybe one time a year to do some hunting. Just seeing all those bulls would be enough to make this a memorable hunt for us. Kudos to KUIU for recognizing the most important aspects of hunting do not lay solely in putting an animal on the ground.
This video does make us anxious to get out there and spend some quality time with family and friends this season. We just hope we are able to make some great memories like this ourselves this season!
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For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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