Thankful for the Hunt — What Hunting Really Gives Us
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Thanksgiving week has a way of slowing things down just enough for you to look back and realize how much this lifestyle actually gives you. Not the tags, not the antlers, not the grip-and-grins—but the real reasons we keep showing up year after year.
If you’ve hunted long enough, you know the truth: hunting gives far more than it takes. It gives you places that still feel wild. It gives you moments with wildlife you’ll remember for the rest of your life. It gives you failure that shapes you, discipline that strengthens you, and challenges that remind you who you really are. It gives you something meaningful to pass on to your kids. And maybe more than anything, it gives you perspective—on life, humility, and what actually matters.
This is what I’m grateful for as a hunter.
Gratitude for Opportunity
For me, gratitude begins with opportunity. The ability to step onto millions of acres of public land and pursue elk, mule deer, bear, or antelope is something I never take lightly. Most people around the world will never experience anything like it—and even here in the U.S., many never will. Yet we get to live in a country where anyone, regardless of money or last name, can grab a tag and go hunt wild animals in wild country.
Public land is one of the greatest equalizers we have. A brand-new hunter with a hand-me-down bow and a seasoned hunter with decades of experience are both chasing the same animals on the same ground. No shortcuts. No VIP access. No guarantees. You earn everything through effort, preparation, and how hard you’re willing to push yourself.
And around Thanksgiving, that hits even harder. The wildlife belongs to all of us. The land belongs to all of us. It’s rare, fragile, and worth protecting.
Opportunity is also the foundation for every memory we’ve ever made out there. Every bugle. Every blown stalk. Every sunrise on a ridge. None of that happens without access. None of it happens without wild places staying wild.
That alone is worth being grateful for.
Gratitude for Encounters
The moments that stay with you the longest are rarely the shots. It’s the encounters.
The bull that bugled from sixty yards but never stepped into an opening.
The mule deer buck that skyline-walked at first light.
The cow elk that fed past at fifteen yards, completely unaware.
These moments anchor us to the lifestyle. They’re unscripted, raw, real—and they remind us why we keep coming back. In a world full of distraction, wildlife encounters force you into presence. You’re not thinking about your phone, work, or anything else. You’re right there. Completely alive.
Encounters teach you more than any book or podcast ever will. They show you how animals move, bed, feed, avoid danger, and live. They sharpen your instincts and refine your woodsmanship.
And during Thanksgiving, when you look back on your season, those encounters rise to the top. They’re gifts—every single one.
Gratitude for Failure
If you hunt long enough, failure becomes one of the greatest teachers you’ll ever have. It’s not the exception—it’s the rule.
Blown stalks.
Missed shots.
The basin that should’ve been loaded with animals—but isn’t.
The days when you hike ten miles and see nothing.
Failure stings, but it shapes you. It builds humility, discipline, and resilience. It breaks down your ego and replaces it with awareness.
The stalks you blew taught you patience.
The shots you missed taught you how to shoot under pressure.
The empty days taught you to grind.
Over time, you look back and realize your failures built you into the hunter you are today. Thanksgiving has a way of highlighting that. When the season slows down, you finally see how much those hard days gave you.
Gratitude for Passing the Torch
One of the deepest honors in hunting is passing it on—whether to your kids, family members, or brand-new hunters who never had someone to guide them. Hunting survives only when the next generation values it and feels connected to it.
Teaching someone new forces you to slow down, explain, and break things apart. In the process, you sharpen your own skills. You hand forward respect, humility, patience, presence, and gratitude—the pillars of this lifestyle.
And maybe most importantly, you build memories that last a lifetime.
Thanksgiving reminds us that what we’re doing out there isn’t just for us—it’s part of a tradition much bigger than any individual hunter.
Gratitude for Discipline
Hunting demands a kind of discipline that modern life rarely requires anymore. The quiet kind built at 3:30 a.m. when the alarm goes off. The kind built halfway up a ridge when your legs are burning. The kind forged on days when everything goes wrong and you push forward anyway.
The mountain doesn’t care about your excuses or goals. It rewards preparation and punishes shortcuts.
That’s something to be grateful for.
Because in the real world, you can avoid hard things. But not in the backcountry. Hunting builds discipline that spills into the rest of your life—your work, your health, your relationships, your mindset.
It sharpens you. It steadies you. It strengthens you.
Gratitude for Being Kept Honest
The mountains keep you honest in a way few things do. They don’t care about your past success or how tough you think you are. If you’re unprepared, you’ll feel it. If you’re out of shape, you’ll know it. If you cut corners, the season will expose it.
Humility is one of the greatest gifts hunting gives. You learn quickly that nature makes the final call. Elk and mule deer are masters at survival, and the more you fail, the more respect you gain for them.
That perspective carries into the rest of life. It resets you. It quiets the noise. It reminds you what really matters.
Gratitude for Purpose, Confidence, and Presence
When you strip away the gear, the tactics, the miles, and the grind—hunting gives you something far deeper.
Confidence built through hard things.
Purpose built through preparation and pursuit.
Focus sharpened by watching wind, terrain, and movement.
Presence anchored in the moment, where nothing else matters but what’s unfolding right in front of you.
These traits don’t stay on the mountain—they follow you home. They make you better in every part of your life.
Thanksgiving makes you realize hunting didn’t just make you a better woodsman. It made you a better human.
Final Thoughts
When you look at everything hunting gives—opportunity, encounters, hard lessons, discipline, humility, presence, purpose—you start to see the bigger picture.
Hunting isn’t just something we do.
It’s something that shapes us.
It’s something that steadies us.
It’s something that keeps us grounded.
And this time of year, especially, it’s something to be truly grateful for.
TEAM BACKBONE
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