There I was on my eighth birthday, standing with my dad in the checkout line at Smith & Edwards, a local sporting goods store in Ogden, Utah, about to buy my first Red Ryder BB gun. My stomach was in knots and I was shaking from excitement. My mom waited patiently in the car with no idea what was taking place. Needless to say, when she saw what we had done she did not share the excitement. From that day forth, she was constantly warning me to be careful and reminding me to not shoot my eye out. I have always been extra careful, just for her!

As I grew up, my parents did not share my same passion of hunting, but they always knew how much I loved it, and always supported me and my dreams. I had the best childhood any young boy could ask for. I grew up in a valley that provided the means for numerous outdoor activities like deer hunting, waterfowl and upland game hunting, fly fishing, dirt biking, smashing pennies on the train tracks and plenty more. I was very fortunate to say the least.

I was born to hunt — plain and simple. Growing up, I was blessed to have great role models, both family and friends who taught me the importance of conservation along with being respectful of the wildlife and land that we hunted each year.

The word that comes to mind each time I think about my hobby of hunting is passion. To be passionate about something, you cannot pursue it light-heartedly, but instead it requires 100% of your effort. This realization became obvious to me when I embarked on my first-ever backcountry mule deer hunt in Wyoming.

To help shine a more positive light on the hunting lifestyle and to show the true passion that I have for this sport, I have begun filming and documenting the entire experience from the off-season preparation to the end result in the field. I do not expect everyone to become hunters themselves, but hopefully as the world sees the amount of work we put into this each year, they will begin to understand and respect what we do and why we do it.