Passion

Passion; Any intense, extreme, or overpowering emotion or feeling.

If you have an activity that is on your mind from the moment you wake up until you hit the rack at night and you love it, it might be said that you have a passion. Many say you might be obsessed, but I like to think of it as a passion. Some might have a passion for restoring an old automobile,  photography, being an artist, coaching, sports, or a number of other things. I even know women who have a passion for baking or cooking. My passion happens to be my dogs. I love being with my dogs in the mountain. Even more, I love being with my dogs hunting chukars in the mountains.

Tucker began my passionate love for chukar hunting 18 years ago. From there it continued with Dakota, Riley, and now Jake. Every morning I wake up knowing I'm going chukar hunting with my boys, I feel like a child waking up on his or her birthday. Every time one of my dogs locks in on point I get as excited as the first time it ever happened. The retrieve, the shot, watching the dog cover the mountain, and all the other different things that happen on the mountain never get tiring. I even love looking back over the country and love the feeling of accomplishment at the end of a hunt. Jake and I actually walked from here to there. That in itself is gratifying.

Never in my life have I ever wished time would fly by until now. My knee is constantly in pain now. Seven years ago, when I had my right knee done, it only hurt going down hills. At least I enjoyed going uphill hunting chukars pain free. I have to admit the last half dozen hunts were not quite as fun as the hundreds of hunts in the past. But, as long as I'm going to hurt, I just as well hurt having fun. It is amazing how Jake's point or some other off the wall action he might perform can relieve the pain for a short time.

Barb says she doesn't feel sorry for me. It's self induced. She's right, but it's been worth it. But now, I just want to get this behind me and on to the fun times on the hill like I know we can have with a replaced knee. If the surgeon would call tomorrow and offer to operate, I would gladly accept and be ready to get the next two months over with so I could get on with the good life. But until then I'll gimp along with Jake and see if we can pick up a few birds. Jake deserves that.

I know Alan in Alaska is thinking about having a knee replacement. My right knee operation was one of the best things I ever did for my love of chukar hunting and I'm sure the left will give me the same result. The only thing I would do differently would be to have the operation last summer when the problem started instead of putting it off for a year. That way I would be enjoying Jake's success as much as Jake is enjoying it.

Yes, I am a chukaholic. That's what being passionate about something will do to you. Yes, I'm going to start going to chukaholic meetings and begin the rehab as soon as possible. The first step in the rehab process is to sit on a mountain and listen to chukars talking from high above and saying to myself  "I know I can, I know I can". Step two is going hunting with Greg Allen and watch him shooting from high above and coming down with a limit of birds as I walk a low trail with a dog that is disgusted with me. The final step will be Jake on point 300 yards straight above me on a shale rock hill. The point is so intense that I must make the ascent with only no breather stop before I get to him. If I still love chukar hunting after the final step, it's a passion that won't go away as long as I have a chukar dog.

I hope Jake lives forever.