Where Did He Go? An Update
Since founding this writing project in January of 2024, I’ve been working diligently behind the scenes, but it hasn’t been without significant road blocks. The biggest of those being that I moved to a very expensive part of the country for a job that didn’t pay very well. I did this to bolster my career, but in turn, I had to make a lot of sacrifices. One of those sacrifices was this blog. Without the level of disposable income I had before, I had very little to invest in this project - both from a perspective of advertising the articles, but more importantly than that, of going out and recreating. I was living paycheck to paycheck for most of the last 8 months. If I wanted to make any kind of content, I was mostly limited to the local area, and I wasn’t really ever going to be able to afford to leave the area for some of the bigger and more exciting trips I had in mind. I quickly came to the realization that I was not living in a part of the country where making consistent and quality outdoor content was going to be tenable. I got by on telling old stories for a while, but the whole purpose of this project is to create and tell new stories and share experiences and wisdom. Something had to change.
A few months ago, I made the decision to move again. This time, I’m moving to Southwest Colorado. I have my housing secured at roughly half of what I’m paying now, and I think I will be significantly happier with not only my job, but also where I will be living. The San Juan National Forest is nearby, and as a resident, I’ll have easier and more consistent access to not only big game hunting opportunities, but also better fishing opportunities. Saving money on housing means more opportunities to travel and explore other places as well. Overall, I think my vision for Born Again Outdoors will see great benefits from this move.
All of that said, there have been a few silver linings to my short time in Southeast New Mexico. For one, the Pecos Valley is referred to by some as “the Yosemite Valley of caving.” In other words, this is one of the best parts of the country to live in as a caver. Since arriving here, I’ve met a bunch of awesome cavers who have let me join in with them and have taught me how to do it. I’ve been in a few spectacular caves since arriving here, and have fallen in love with caving in a way I never really anticipated. Hunting is always going to be the #1 priority for me, but caving has certainly risen to the #2 spot, and I plan to write lots of articles about my experiences in some of the incredible caves I’ve visited, both in the Pecos Valley and beyond.
Beyond the move, I wanted to give a few updates about plans for the future. For starters, I still have plans to start selling merchandise on our website later on, though the exact date still remains to be determined, as there are several administrative details that need to be ironed out before that can happen. Some, like logo development, have already been taken care of, but not everything has been handled just yet. I have some artists on board who will also be working on designs for prints, t-shirts, mugs, and stickers, and those will be up for sale on a new page of the website that I’ve already started designing.
I’ve also been working hard on putting together a travel schedule for the year, and things continue to be very dynamic with that schedule. However, as long as the budget lines up right, I think I have just about every destination picked out. First, let’s talk about hunting. I drew a deer tag this year for the early archery season in southeastern New Mexico, where I live. This will be a hunt for the Desert Mule Deer subspecies, (Odocoileus hemionus eremicus), and the season opens September 1st. I’m not expecting success, but I’ve got the advantage of living here in the unit and having some good local knowledge of where the deer might be. I found what I believe to be a good spot fairly recently and I will be going back when the season opens to try and whack a buck.
I always enter into the Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky elk lotteries, and will be doing so again next year, but those are incredibly unlikely and nobody should ever hold their breath on those tags, as they’re all basically a once-in-three-lifetimes type of opportunity. So, in the more reasonable future, I am also putting in for draws for deer in Montana and Colorado, and Aoudad in New Mexico. I plan to start building points in many other areas as well, such as Arizona, Nevada, and Wyoming, but don’t plan to draw tags in those places.
No western hunting schedule is complete without an elk hunt. That is my first priority next year, and living in a low-point draw unit in Colorado will make that much more attainable than it has been in previous years. I’ve been out on elk scouting trips and hunts with a close friend of mine in Montana, but this will be the first time I’ve been the one holding a tag, and it’ll also, obviously, be my first time doing it solo. While that makes the odds of actually bagging a bull low, keep in mind that my philosophy is that there is no such thing as an unsuccessful hunting trip as long as you’re learning something. However, getting a set of bull elk antlers for the empty wall in my dining room has been something I’ve wanted for a long time, and filling the freezer with a couple hundred pounds of some of the best wild game meat on Earth would be a big accomplishment for me too.
This past March, I canceled a trip I had planned to South Texas to hunt exotics. I am looking into the possibility of rescheduling that trip for the same time in 2025, when nothing else is in season. Exactly what I want to hunt remains to be seen, but hogs are very likely to be thrown into the mix. It’s not going to be a backcountry adventure hunt, but it will be a good way to get some hunting in when there are no other options.
Shortly thereafter, Colorado spring turkey season opens up, so I’m going to take a crack at arrowing a Merriam’s gobbler. I know that’s very difficult to do, but I enjoy archery hunting, and want to try and stick with that whenever possible. Since I already have an April trip to Kansas for personal reasons on the docket, I’m also going to enter the Kansas nonresident turkey lottery in hopes of taking a few additional days off to bag another turkey in that state. Those three hunts will pretty much be my spring, and the next hunting trips won’t be until fall, when the elk, deer, and bear seasons open in Colorado. However, I’ve got something really fun planned for mid-summer.
I have a flight credit I need to burn; or at least, that’s what I’m using as an excuse. I recently left the United States for the very first time - there’s an article coming about that - and now I’ve got the bug. I plan to visit another country soon, though I am not sure which one yet. My priority on this trip is fishing - fly fishing and spearfishing, specifically. Beyond that, the rest is up in the air, although caving would be a cherry on top of the trip. At this point, I’m leaning toward The Bahamas, but that is certainly subject to change. Regardless of where I go, I am sure there will be plenty of fresh fish on the dinner table, and plenty of good times to be had.
Later on in the fall is the stuff that’s closer to home. Of course, I hope I draw a mule deer tag in the unit I’ll be living in, but that is not a guarantee by any stretch. However, between deer, elk, and bear, there’s going to at least be something available to hunt. Additionally, one of my closest friends is moving to central Illinois. About an hour away is Pike County, IL - a whitetail Mecca. I’ve already contacted the outfitter I plan to go with and confirmed their availability, and I think it’s a go. I’m very excited about the possibility of chasing some truly giant whitetail bucks for the first time in my life. Beyond that, last year, I hunted whitetails in both Virginia and West Virginia, filling tags in VA and striking out in WV. Since the property I hunted on in Virginia last year has been sold, I probably won’t be hunting that state this year. However, West Virginia is still going to happen, and while the quality of bucks there isn’t the same as in Illinois, it should be a lot of fun and allow for an opportunity to top off the freezer with some high quality venison.
Beyond hunting and fishing, I want to expand the repertoire of subjects we discuss on this blog. As mentioned, I have recently gotten the caving bug, and I’ve gotten it bad. I plan on writing some entries about caving - getting into it, finding people to go with, training, expanding skills, etc. - just as I have written them about hunting and fishing, and will continue to do so. I also plan to write about international travel, even when it doesn’t involve any specific outdoor sports. My recent day trip to Ciudad Juárez is going to be the subject of a future post. A trip I’ve had planned to Iceland for several years is also going to happen sometime in the near future - perhaps 2026. Others are on the docket as well.
In 2025, I think this project will get off the ground a bit more and I will be in a better situation in terms of finances and time to invest. I’ve got so much I want to explore, and I want to share the experiences and the lessons with others. I expect this to be a year full of tough learning. As always, let’s learn together.
