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https://www.fieldandstream.com...the-meaning-of-life/ What Is the Meaning of Life? David E. Petzal shares the most valuable lessons he’s learned during his lifetime in the outdoors By David E. Petzal December 25, 2019 I’ve been around awhile. When I was born, there were men alive who had fought in the Civil War. I can remember bits and pieces of World War II, and I clearly remember life before television. I bought my first rifle in 1956, began shooting in organized competition in 1958, and got my first hunting license in 1960. After 70-some years of fart­ing around on this planet, mostly out of doors, I can’t exactly tell you the meaning of it all. But as it says in the insurance ad, I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two. Here’s some of it. 1. Hunters, more than other people, are reverential of life because they know far better than others how difficult it is to stay alive, and how ­suddenly life can end. 2. There’s no worse experience than putting down a dog. She would die for you, and now she’s dying because of you. 3. Big-game hunting is the great leveler among men. Either you can climb the mountain or you can’t; either you can shoot or you can’t; ­either you hold up your end or you don’t. Money, education, and social standing have no ­bearing on any of this. 4. Nothing in the outdoors gets your attention like a grizzly paw print with water still oozing into it. 5. According to anthropologists, Neanderthals never built big fires to sit around and swap stories, which is one of the reasons why they vanished and our ancestors did not. 6. The best judges of ­character I have met are African trackers. Their assessments are ­brutal. One hunter with a drinking problem became “Bwana Ginni Bottle.” Of Robert ­Ruark they said, “He has bad legs and much fear.” To ­paraphrase Hamlet: Of all the people in the world, you do not want a bad review from them. 7. The great, unspoken allure of true wilderness, in an era when we are trying to remove all risk from life, is that if you screw up in it, you can die in it. 8. When The Moment comes, your armored, shockproof, waterproof, SEAL-approved $75 butane survival lighter will go click…click…click…click…click…click…. 9. Scent is the great memory jogger of the outdoors. If you smell an elk ­wallow, your hair will stand up ­every time you scent one thereafter. 10. You may have the hardest body in your gym, but you’re not going to be able to keep up with someone who runs up mountains as a regular thing, even if they’re 30 years older and smoke three packs a day. 11. Ecstasy can be defined as how you feel when you’ve gotten your critter and can stay in your sleeping bag while all the other poor ­bastards who haven’t ­gotten theirs are rolling out at 3:30 a.m. 12. Hunting and fishing are, at their core, sports of solitude, and they will end when enough sh!theads decide that nothing is worth Being Out of Touch. 13. Some of the ­greatest thinking takes place in bathrooms. If I’m told by people that they read my stuff in the john, I take it as a ­compliment. 14. Being afraid is a waste of time, in the outdoors or anywhere else. What bites you in the a$$ is going to be something you never worried about. 15. There comes a moment in the life of every hunter or angler when intuition blossoms and they Catch On. In my case, this held for hunting but not for flyfishing. I became an acceptable caster but remained baffled about everything else. If this happens to you, accept it. You don’t have a choice. 16. True marksmanship requires a tranquil mind. I’ve never met an angry man who was a good shot. 17. When Homo sapiens is ­finally gone, Earth will give a shudder of relief and clean ­itself up again, just as it ­always has, over and over, in its 4.6 billion years. 18. A long time ago, I read the words: “Like most brave men, he was also kind.” Experience has proved this out. The sons of b!tches you meet usually have a yellow streak, in addition to being sons of b!tches. 19. I’ve been writing for Field & Stream since 1972 and am proudest of the fact that every time I’ve made a mistake, the readers have caught it. 20. Hospitals ask you to describe your pain on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being unbearable. There is an 11, and you can experience it on any horseback ride longer than one-tenth of a mile. 21. If you want to be a legend in your own time, never say a word about your accomplishments; let others do it for you. 22. “Thank you” is the most ­useful phrase in any language. That’s why I learned to say it in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Swedish, Shona, Russian, ­Kikuyu, and Afrikaans. 23. For those who would be writers, here is a golden rule: Keep your big mouth shut and listen. 24. In New Zealand, a South ­African told me that the reason he hunted was to be able to stand alone in the wilderness and be reminded of his own insignificance. Ted Trueblood used to do the same thing by letting the campfire die out as he sat watching the stars. 25. If you’d like to know the true worth of a person, watch how they deal with major disappointment on a big-game hunt. 26. Whenever you leave ­wherever you’ve been, turn and look one last time to engrave in your mind what it looks like, because you’ll probably never see it again. 27. What I’d like as my epitaph: “He had just enough intelligence to appreciate it all.”

yeah yours stinks. i thought it was a good read.

You sure are an angry old fukk, and your not that old.

Kevs In the return line..

Shot a pretty cool bird in the desert a couple weeks back. She was a little leucistic. Never seen one like this before. Check out the feet and topknot color. Hard to see or much different it is in photos; in person it was pretty wild.

I would be... but I feel too guilty to take advantage of these extremely good deals. I mean, it's practically stealing. Lol

I'd pay for that!

Same question, same response. A goal of >80” in AZ is achievable in almost any unit in the state. Pick the hunt experience you want. Unit 10 - A chance at finding a super big buck, potentially shooting long range, lots of other tag holders. 5BN - Same potential for a huge buck. Not as many tags but still gets plenty of attention from guides and outfitters. More vegetated areas. Unit 9 - Hunt the trees and fewer people. 19B - Lots of private’s land you buy access to and have all to yourself. Highly recommend doing muzzle loader instead of rifle in this unit. 5A - Very few tags. Open country. Not nearly as much hype as 5BN. 3A / 3C / 4A / 4B - Lower on the radar but plenty of opportunity for a buck over 80”. Not as big of a circus as the more popular units. Units I would stay away from 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3B, 7, 8, 19A (unless you do archery), anything in the 30’s. One thing to note, they reduced antelope tag numbers significantly in several units this year. When you look at gohunt it will show the draw percentages from this year but will not reflect point creep from reduced available tags. Further complicating things is the fact that many premium tag holders point guarded tags last year so they are back in the draw this year. With our current moisture conditions it’s very possible we will have similar conditions which some say lead to smaller overall horn growth. I will say this, I highly encourage you to use those points. Between aggressive tag numbers, dwindling habitat, and high predator numbers I think antelope are really struggling in this state. AZ’s days as the antelope Mecca of the world may be numbered.

Heres a few more pics, ill do the story later today. Thanks for all the nice comments

I had two days to kill to try and get on the board for 2019. The mule deer hunt didn’t pan out (so many does- not a single buck to be seen) and with the wife and middle son already successful, I bundled up and did some solo treestand time near Payson. I had no idea it was going to be so windy.. Day 2, at 4:20 pm this guy walked in with his girlfriend. Shot was a tad high, he ended up going about 120 yards. Luckily not so much downhill from the shot. I backed out and waited at the top for two hours- tracked him in about an hour (thank God I found him before the storm really kicked in) I still had to carry him up to the truck- and uphill - and at 8pm the sky just opened up and started with hail. I realized I’m not 30 anymore.. Didn’t have time for pics in the field- got a group photo at the house.

I'd bet your proctologist hates it when you visit him.

Any round Firstcoueswas80 is shooting is safe and wont make any holes in the pelt!

Brow......Weatherby sold pending funds

Agreed. Tags should say rain or shine.

Still think it’s such BS to be able to turn a tag in for weather related issues.

The recent reports I have heard from these units reflect dwindling age class and lower overall buck size. 19A has lots of big ones but there may or may not be any left after two archery hunts.

Contacted seller. Buying pending meeting up. Too pretty to pass up.

Sure looks like a Weatherby to me.

I've been waiting for the 50% off sale since last year. Unfortunately I just dont have the extra scratch right now to get anything. Maybe I'll go return some stuff elsewhere... 🤔

Just do like others do and put in and get drawn. Purchase point guard and if you don’t like what you see scouting leading up to the hunt then be a wimp and turn it back in.

Found some more unpublished photos from the hunt.

They made the rules not us.

What about if you're sick? Is it ok to turn in tag late if you're sick?

No. The regs were signed, sealed and delivered before the hunts even started. Regs have been out for a week or two.

Nope. They already issued the regs and most units went down in tag numbers. And tag allotments are based on percent success so having fewer tags probably wouldn’t change it anyway.