It was my first time ever hunting antelope and also my first time to hunt Wyoming. I connected with a family through social media that had several girls that hunted, including a 3 year old named Lilly that completely stole my heart. Wall tent camp on public land with a new group of avid bowhunters sounded so fun and I couldn’t wait to get there. I’d been practicing every day and feeling so confident with my setup. I honestly went into it thinking it was going to be fairly easy because I always heard there were so many antelope everywhere you looked.

I sat there 20’ high, shaking uncontrollably after releasing my arrow, and thought to myself, “what if I did it again?”

Five years ago that question would be in a celebratory manner, as in, what if I’m still on my hot streak and just had another successful hunt. My first few seasons as a bowhunter were incredible; literally nothing could pass me! Not this year though. 2018 has been rough. The hesitation and shakiness from within was stemming from uncertainty after so much heartbreak during early season, from missing to wounding multiple animals.