Who We Are
I grew up on the gulf coast in the Florida panhandle, and as you know if it has happened to you, the sea just became part of who I am. Maybe because I swallowed enough salt water as a kid that it flows through my veins now. I didn’t get into surfing until my early teens but it quickly became a passion and pursuit of mine that would get me and my brothers out into some of the flattest water or some of the craziest storms, all in search of the next wave.
Fast forward a few years and I end up in Tennessee where surfing became kind of hard to do a whole lot of. So in search of an activity while landlocked I stumbled into bowhunting. With the help of some good buddies and my father’s hunting stories from the northeast, it soon became a passion for me. As life goes, one thing leads to another and I find myself out west chasing bugles, and back east, in a stand going after whitetails, dreaming of bulls, bucks, waves, and mountains covered with snow.
I am just one of those guys that lives for the moments in life. Whether that moment is a gorgeous peaceful sunset over a mountain range or reflecting on the water while waiting for the next peak to find your spot on the break, the feeling of a fish swimming hard on the end of your line after you made a perfect shot. The majestic, powerful sound, of a bugling bull only yards away but still unseen through the thickness of the vegetation, while you wait in expectation of beating him at his game. The feeling of flying down a snow covered mountain with a board strapped onto your feet and gravity being your jet pack. It is the feeling of raw freedom and pleasure, awe and gratitude for life itself.
I not only love those moments, but I realize that there is always some sort of discomfort/hard work involved in getting to live in those moments. If you’ve experienced them you know what I am talking about, training all year to be ready for September, paddling your arms off to get out through the surf, eating it when you are figuring out a new break, diving longer than your mind wants to while pursuing elusive fish, hiking hard to get yourself in the right position to make a play on an animal (not to mention a pack out) but even in the challenges and the hard work we are dedicated to the pursuit. Not only the pursuit of the moments, but the pursuit to become better humans through the lessons learned in the midst of the hard work and in the awe of those moments.
Keep it real,
Jon