What’s kept me getting up at 4:16 a.m. most mornings, what’s made me go just “five minutes more” on the treadmill, what’s made me pick up that pack and go hiking when there were 10 other things I should be doing and five I wanted to be doing – is visualization. I just pictured a big ol’ ram on a mountain face across a deep, steep valley. He’s well beyond shooting range, but in my mental perspective he fills the spotting scope with full curls plus! He’s laying there among a group of rams. They haven’t seen a hunter in years and are in no hurry to go anywhere.
I stare at him through the scope until his image is burned in my brain. I think, “There he is Miller. There’s your sheep.” Then I look back at the valley we have to cross to get him. That’s what inspires me. If I’m not in shape for this trip, I might not as well not even go. If I don’t do everything I possibly can to prepare to cross that valley and reach a position to take the shot, then what difference does it make if I’m on the opposite mountainside or back in Minnesota? The result would be the same.
So I get up; I go on; I work around. This sheep hunt only comes once, and I’m going to be ready for it!
Shoot straight –
Bill Miller
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