OK, I'll play. My most memorable was really my first handgun hunt for big game. It may have been my first gun hunt period, after only using a bow. It was for antelope in Colorado, on public land.

Hunt started at the shooting range, before. Never been to a range during the fall. Yup, it was a mess. Folks lined up at each station, taking turns sighting. That sure stuck in my mind, never to do it again.

Had to sleep in my jeep on the opener, at the gate into the unit. The mud was a foot deep in places, from pouring rain. Wiggling into my sleeping bag with muddy boots in the drivers seat of my Wrangler sure stuck in my mind.

In the morning I drove in. Me and about a zillion other hunters. This was going to be a mess, as well. I noted that everyone else seemed to be just driving around. I parked the Jeep, checked the map for the largest area of no roads, and hiked out. A couple of miles in, I eased up to the rim of a big basin, and bingo, antelope. Having not heard a shot all morning, I knew that they were all mine. I eased my 7-30 Contender onto my pack, and watched them feed in my scope. I had all the time in the world. I picked out the biggest buck, lined up, and bang. Clean miss. Antelope were gone.

It was a combination of steep downhill, and not practicing from a pack rest, but it seared a few things in my mind as I laid there in the mud on my belly, that stick to this day. Gun hunting can be a mess, unless you work harder than the other folks. A handgun is doable, but you gotta commit. Commit to practice. I had always practiced with a bow, but it was easy to pick up each summer and be back on. A rifle is pretty easy to hit with, even with little practice. this handgun thing was gonna have to be a year round, life long commitment to get good.

Driving home with an unpunched tag, I was happy. Not a lot for what I had done, but more reflecting on what could be done. The things I did right, the things I did wrong, and that herd of antelope all to myself. I can see that clear as a bell, in my mind today.

Craig