About Me
I grew up in Eagle River, Alaska with a father who, in many ways, had structured his life around being in the outdoors with a particular passion for traditional bowhunting. I had a bow in my hand before my earliest memories and was small game hunting with it at a young age. Not long after my 12th birthday I shot my first moose with a recurve and then a caribou shortly thereafter (early haul road days!). Twenty eight years later I’m more obsessed than ever with getting close to animals and experiencing the Alaskan wilderness with a longbow or recurve in my hand.
I’ve never measured hunting success by antlers or number of animals killed but I’ve been fortunate to fill the freezer throughout my life with my bow. Highlights have been myriad super close bull moose encounters with my dad, a variety of long solo mountain goat and Dall sheep hunts, and countless hours getting humbled by cagey old blacktail bucks. I mostly hunt solo, always with trad bow, and get as much fulfillment from weeks spent in the wilderness by myself as I do from any animal killed. So far my hunting interests remain confined to the Alaskan wilderness. I feel like there are many lifetimes worth of learning from and hunting the animals of our great state and I just can’t pry myself away to hunt anywhere else, at least August through December.
I currently live in Girdwood with my wife and my son (born May 2019) both of whom love to share in wilderness adventures whenever possible. We took our son on his first multi-day backpack hunt on Kodiak when he was 2 months old. (He didn’t protest too loudly so I assume he loved it!)
My other nearly lifelong passions include whitewater kayaking and backcountry skiing. For the past 8 years I’ve spent my winters working as a full time heli ski guide but have also pursued human powered big mountain skiing in mountains around the world. Whether summer or winter and with skis, kayak or bow as motivation, there’s nothing that makes me happier than being deep in the wilderness.
When not playing in the rivers and mountains I work as a part-time rural family doctor, usually traveling traveling to Kotzebue once per month to work in the ER. Prior to that I had a similar schedule working in Kodiak. I also teach Wilderness Medicine courses for healthcare and outdoor professionals.
I lived in Germany for a year as an 18 year old under the tutelage of a German professional hunter where I learned a lot and hunted almost every day but I found rifle hunting unsatisfying (bowhunting is illegal there) and couldn’t wait to get back to Alaska where I could bowhunt again. That year taught me that I should not take the privilege to bowhunt for granted.
I was flattered when ABA reached out to me about being a director. I’ve almost always hunted solo and tend to be bit reclusive about hunting in general but I’m excited to meet more of my fellow bowhunters and to help work to advocate for our shared passion.
