Becoming a Professional Hunter or Fisherman or Woman

Becoming a Professional Hunter or Fisherman or Woman

Growing up I can remember entering  fishing tournaments at Heidecke Lake outside of Morris, Illinois, watching hours of Babe Winkleman, In-Fisherman TV and Midwest Outdoors.  There were times I've even played 'hookie' to stay home and make my own show.

Capitol Outdoors has been a 3 year adventure for us and we've been blessed by this opportunity to help sportsmen and women from around Illinois. We've had our ups and downs but, the other day I received something that will make it all worth while. I had just finished launching and tieing the boat to the dock when the guy on the other side said something to me.   I didn't make it out at first so I asked him to repeat himself.

"I've watched you're show on YouTube" he said.  It was the greatest feeling in the world, someone I didn't know watched the Capitol Outdoors Show.  My whole life I wanted to be an outdoor personality.  Granted my idea of an outdoor personality was stereotypical. That person who gets paid by his sponsors to go hunting, fishing, ride around in their fancy truck, and of course promote lodges and resorts.    Who wouldn't want that job?  However, I've realized that it is the little things that make what I do worthwhile, like having a stranger tell me that they watch my videos.

It wasn't until later that I realized how far Capitol Outdoors has grown.  I remember when we first started.  We searched and googled everything under the sun.  "How do you start a hunting and fishing show"  Cliche right....but we were just starting out and had no idea what to do.  Well thankfully, there were hunting and fishing forums discussing this.

One of the people wrote a simple question asking the online hunting and fishing community; "How do I become a professional Hunter and Fisherman?"  Well, many of the answers were short.... "Good Luck, You're going to need it" or "I hope you have money".  "I've been doing Tournament Bass Fishing for years and I'm not even a professional".  If you fish tournaments and receive money; aren't you a professional?  Just because you aren't fishing with Kevin VanDam doesn't mean you are not a professional fisherman.

When a random guy talks to you about seeing my YouTube page, I already felt like I had accomplished something. It's not about how other people perceive you, its howyou perceive yourself.  That is what keeps you going.