The Premier Online Resource For The Outdoor Sportsman
Blog/
I’m a Bulleaver
It has come to my attention recently that the word rut has more than just one meaning. The familiar phrase, ‘stuck in a rut’ is much of what I experienced over the last year – stuck in a rut from some personal bad luck. But, in the elk world it means quite the opposite – it’s the time when antlered ungulates mate. So it occurs to me as I emerge out of my own rut that we all can learn from the bull elk and to capture its strength to keep moving forward.
Recently there were a couple of things I felt were holding me back from enjoying my life to the fullest – three total knee replacements (thanks to a staph infection), and a personal relationship that was lost due to viewing my life as half empty rather than half full. I’ve also seen first-hand that our country as a whole has been in a rut. The job crisis continues to affect people in my home town and across the nation. Even the strongest of bulls would have been tested over the past year given the circumstances.
In nature, a wounded bull is a dead bull but in human world a wounded individual needs to be a BULLeaver in one’s own self. Personal regrets and hindsight aside, I realize now that a lot can be learned from the bull elk that bugles for attention and fights (potentially to its death) during the rut for the simple but great reward of being the herd bull.
I realized that to get out of my rut I had to accept that times can be tough and that life is not always fair. In order to survive we must all be aware that the rut can happen to anyone and that we will get through the most difficult times if we just believe in ourselves and move forward.
I’m a BULLeaver
Author: admin · 3 Comments
Tags:
Subscribe
Comments
3 Responses to “I’m a Bulleaver”Speak Your Mind
Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Yes sir, one BULLeaver here! I’ve come to realize that there are always two sides to each coin and like you and the word rut, a fresh perspective and an open mind can do wonders with life.
Good post.
I’m with you on this particular program. My status of late is similar, bloodied but unbowed. I’m reminded of the Italian Stallion. Although this series is Hollywood over the top, the concept has merit. Never give in, never give up, never say die!
Your replacement knees may slow your pace, but at least you can still scale the mount! How many are confined to wheelchairs or a walker? I’m thankful for every day, as tough as it may be sometimes, because it is often adversity that reveals the next opportunity. And I’m also thankful for every ache in my rapidly aging carcass, because it means that I still have life, limb and the ability to use them.
Being a BULLeaver is the only way.
Even your comment about a wounded bull being a dead bull in nature is not necessarily so. A BULLeaver can beat the worst of odds.
I’ll never forget an old cow elk back in the 80s that was wounded in a front leg. She ultimately lost that leg but survived… in fact, she THRIVED.
Over the course of the next three years, that three-legged cow had passed on her survivor genes to two calves. In the fourth year a mountain lion finally caught up to her in deep snow and took her home.
Heating and pounding, reheating and pounding, heating yet again and even more pounding is what it takes to make the finest of blades… and the finest of men.
Survive, thrive and pass it on… be a BULLeaver!