By: Johnny Mack
Instagram: @soulseekersnation
Ten years ago this fall at the age of 30 years old, I found myself answering a call upon my soul that had been there ever since I was a young boy. A stirring in the depths of who I was and what I wanted. The call of the wild and the ability to be self-sufficient is a funny and curious thing in a boy’s life, and from my experience never goes away from adolescence to adulthood. It simply becomes ignored and dismissed as life becomes more saturated with expectations and deadlines further distancing our present life from the goals and desires we once held dear.
I grew up an average boy in the Pacific Northwest, playing sports and reading books like Hatchet, while watching country western movies that continually showcased character challenging situations of grit, courage and mental fortitude. To this day, I am still fascinated by shows that depict those scenarios such as “Alone” on the History Channel. The idea of constantly measuring yourself to the challenges of life that present themselves, whether to face survival or failure captivates my mind like a Siren calling to the sailors of old. As a husband and father of three young boys now, I hold a responsibility to my family to remain present and invested in them while still satiating the urge to challenge myself on the open range like the Lone Ranger. Although there are moments where being solo out in the wild is appealing and nourishing to my soul, my heart yearns for community and the love of others as if I am continually caught up in the ultimate catch 22.
I did not grow up in a household where hunting was an option or even a thought of possibility. My father, who loved to fish and backpack and shared his love of that with me, was always gone in the fall coaching football and I was too afraid to ever voice my desire for something more in life or to share the call upon my soul. Whether I was a coward or ignorant to the fact that I wanted something else beyond the typical day to day monotony has yet to be determined, but I somehow managed to stuff my desire and adventurous dreams aside. Only letting them out when I had my Red Ryder BB gun in hand chasing imaginary bad guys or animals in the backyard.
I know that humans are created to live free in a manner that does not kill or extinguish the spark of life and adventure that burns within us. I believe our Founding Fathers had it correct in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence when they stated, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness have always resonated with me my entire life since hearing those words back in my youth. For the first time in my life, I had clarity to this call upon my soul and why I had such a strong desire to become a hunter and to begin entering into my role of self sufficiency and a provider lifestyle. We all have our very own manifest destiny moments in our lives and how we react and choose to handle them leaves a legacy, a ripple effect through time resulting in how history remembers us. It is something that we rarely consider and yet if we begin with the end in mind as author Stephen Covey mentions, we start a trajectory of being a highly effective person thus creating our own legacy and setting an example for others to see and mimic. Inspiration comes in many shapes and forms but what people often forget is that inspiration comes from within. It is not a carrot dangled in front of us or some extrinsic reward waiting at the finish line. Inspiration comes from identifying how you want to live your life and what you want from it. As I like to say, “Inspired people, inspire people.”
This inspiration of living a life with the end in mind and striving towards the goals of what you want out of life ultimately shines like a beacon on a hill for others who find themselves in the mundane minutiae of their daily existence. We hunger for adventure and yet settle for entertainment. This is where the separation truly lies. The ability to objectively look at one’s life in a manner that can separate the difference between a fulfilling adventure and distracting entertainment.
What I know to be true is that humanity inherently has a desire for adventure yet most of us never scratch that itch or do anything about it. We simply dismiss it as an annoyance, distracting us from climbing the corporate ladder or simply something that gets in the way of paying off the debts of our life choices and creditors. For me, the call on my soul for something beyond what I was experiencing in my day to day life grew louder and became stronger until I felt like I was living a lie. I chose to finally scratch the itch of wanting more which resulted in having my life transformed through the primal adventure of being a hunter.
When I made the conscious decision at the age of 30 to finally pursue the life I always wanted, I broke the cycle of falling prey and settling into a life that is “good enough” or what I like to say as the “should’s.” The external pressure whether verbally spoken to us or not of, “You SHOULD do this or you SHOULD do that,” is a form of guilt that others unwarrantedly dispose upon us. Ten years ago, for the first time in my life, I chose myself. I chose my goals. I chose my dreams and I stopped allowing my scared little boy mentality of appeasing others to get the best of me while finding the intestinal fortitude and courage to live the life I wanted while pursuing my own happiness. Which in the end, is exactly what the Founding Fathers meant. For us to live guilt free from outside pressures of others dictating to us the ability of what we can and cannot do.
During this period of flexing my unused muscles of high quality character, I found myself stepping into a new role of fatherhood. While at the sametime knowing that I was about to embark on a journey that would create a lasting legacy beyond myself. The ability to pass on my love for the outdoors and that of being courageous, self reliant and knowledge of how to provide sustenance, is one of the best gifts I could ever give them. Not to mention modeling for them what it looks like to listen to the small voice within us and actually pursue our life’s goals and aspirations.
When we are young we are told that we can do or become anything we want. That the world is our oyster. And yet when our children look at us in our eyes with innocence and their life before them and ask if we are living out our dream, how will you be able to answer that question? Will you be able to answer truthfully or will your answer become a mirror of your life? A life of giving up, giving in and surrendering to the pressures and expectations of what others think we SHOULD do or be?
As humans we learn in multiple ways and as a school teacher with 18 years of experience, I know that modeling is one of the strongest and most concrete ways of solidifying information in someone’s mind. Not simply just for recall of skills but for confidence in completing any task. The concept of modeling goes hand in hand with the investment of time. It takes time to model for others and through the time invested creates the opportunity of experiences. Those experiences help us form perspectives and answer the question of “why” we do what we do.
Learning how to hunt was a decision that transformed my life and left a ripple effect that is still impacting my life and the lives of others to this day. The decision I made to start and complete my hunter’s safety education training and become a hunter has challenged my grit, courage, fortitude and belief system. In my opinion, a large majority of the population lie to themselves daily when asked if they are happy. If this wasn’t true, then I believe we would see depression rates drop significantly. Instead, we are medicated with pharmaceuticals and fed a distraction of bread and circus entertainment to ignore our true calling and desires and the ability to take action in pursuing them.
Ten years ago, I met my wife, got married and have since had three young boys. They have watched me pursue hunting with an unrivaled passion and build a mission and legacy of “Mentorship is Conservation” that I diligently share. During the early years of fatherhood I have eagerly anticipated the day in which I would get to take my own son’s hunting and share my knowledge and passion with them. Pursuing my passion of hunting later in life brought with it a sense of urgency to hone my craft while viewing my own mortality not by years of age, but rather by the number of seasons I had left. This viewpoint did not serve me well early on, as it applied undue pressure to the moment and robbed me of joy at times. As President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “comparison is the thief of joy,” and my comparison of the age at which I started in contrast to others with more experience created a feeling of playing catch up which I did not enjoy.
It took a while but I finally was able to conquer my skewed view of mortality and number of seasons left to hunt, as my quest to become the best hunter I could be remained steadfast in my crosshairs. It didn’t take long for me to start notching tags on animals and progressing through the stages of a hunter. Before long, I felt confident in my skill set and prepared to pass on what I have learned to my children who were growing season by season.
This past fall my oldest son Carter and I were invited by a friend to go deer hunting during youth weekend in the state of Texas. It was an opportunity that came by surprise as I gathered my emotions and excitement as this opportunity was one that I had engraved into my mind since Carter’s birth. Preparing for the hunt, I quickly centered and grounded myself in the experience of passing on a tradition that transformed my life as I was overjoyed with the anticipation of sharing this experience with my oldest son.
Going through my mental checklist to make sure we had everything we both needed in order to make the hunt memorable in a good way, I was quickly reminded about everything a parent needs to prepare for an outing with their young children. Gun and ammunition, check. Binoculars, check. Warm clothes, check. Snacks, check. Would mom be satiated with everything packed? The answer was yes and the final mental box was checked.
Waking him up before the sunlight was a magical moment as it felt like Christmas morning for me as I was able to have one on one time with my son. While driving to our destination and climbing into our stand all before sunrise, the energy was palpable as I could tell that we were both in for a treat. It didn’t take long for the sun to rise and for the deer to come out of the brush and into our shooting lane. As time passed and a spike buck revealed itself, it was as if I could see myself in my son. Challenging the courage within as he wavered on whether or not he was good enough to take the 109 yard shot.
With every word whispered between the two of us, I helped steady his nerves and the crosshairs on the young buck as my son Carter settled into the shot. It wasn’t long after that moment, which is etched into my mind, for my son to squeeze the trigger and successfully harvest his first deer. For me to experience the joy of fatherhood and the continuation and transfer of my legacy of being a hunter to my son, words cannot describe. Not only was I impacting the trajectory of my son’s life, I was also impacting conservation on a grander scale by welcoming another hunter into the fold.
As I reflect on my journey of transformation and legacy, I am often reminded about the evolution of a hunter. The Boone and Crockett Club identifies and explains that there are 5 stages that a hunter experiences. The first stage is the “Shooter Stage” which is defined as being satisfied by the ability to shoot your weapon on a hunt. The second stage is the “Limiting Out Stage” in which satisfaction is reached based upon filling your tags or maxing out your limits. The third stage is the “Trophy Stage.” In the trophy stage, satisfaction as a hunter is found in the quality of species rather than the quantity of animals taken. The fourth stage is the “Method Stage.” In the method stage, satisfaction is gained in the “how” rather than the “what” of taking animals. This is where type of weapon, location of hunt and challenge of shot comes into play. The fifth stage is what is known as the “Sportsmans Stage.” During this final stage, hunter’s satisfaction is found within conservation and mentorship of the next generation of hunters.
By starting my journey at an older age, even though I experienced self induced pressure to be successful and notch tags, my evolution as a hunter progressed through the first two stages quickly and actually landed me in the 5th category quicker than if I would have started at a younger age. Thus allowing my perspectives and anecdotes of the transformative power of hunting to be that much more powerful in my life while establishing my mission and legacy for others.
By fulfilling something within myself that could not be found anywhere else in this life, I grew in my manhood. I grew as a father. I grew as a husband, friend, worker and beyond. Taking action towards achieving and conquering the dreams of our life, sets a trajectory of inspiration for yourself and others. If there is one thing that I want you to take away from reading this, it would be that hunting has the power to transform lives through primal adventure as you can never out give good while providing experiences for others as “Mentorship is Conservation.” It is up to us to be the change in this world and to move the needle of public opinion towards a positive view of hunting. In the end, hunting is human and it only takes a spark to start a fire. Before you know it, you will be creating a legacy of transformation that will last for generations to come.
If you want to know more about the author and his experiences, go to soulseekersnation.com. You can also listen to the Soul Seekers Podcast hosted by Johnny Mack on all major podcasting platforms and watch his show Soul Seekers on CarbonTV. Freedom on and stay soulful!