Hollywood Hill Run, Denver Midnight Madness & Bass Pro Shops

Wow, what a weekend!

I started off this bonsai weekend with a Friday afternoon flight to Denver,
which was two hours delayed. This meant I was going to be at least an hour
late for my seminar at Bass Pro Shops, which was a late one anyway, slated
to begin at 8:00 p.m. By the time I finally got to BPS, it was touch after
9:00 p.m. and I wouldn’t have even made it by then if it wasn’t for an
email/Internet buddy who I had never met in person, Jason Willis and Under
Armour’s Holly Huppert. They picked me up at DIA and hustled me right to
the store.

I came in through the doors and was surprised to see a big gathering
waiting for me. Man, that was a shock. Not only was I late, but it was
late in the day for a dang hunting seminar. I got right into it, talked
bowhunting, touched on fitness, signed some books and in general had a wonderful
time visiting with a lot of great Colorado bowhunters.



Thanks to my website and Facebook, prior to my arrival I had organized a
Train Hard. Hunt Easy. run that was to take place after my seminar. Any and
all were welcome to run in the name of fit hunting. I’ve done similar runs
after each of my appearances this show season in Oregon, Idaho, and Denver
with California on the immediate horizon. When we set up this run, of
course we didn’t know my flight would be two hours late. Given the
circumstances I didn’t really expect anyone to want to go running through
Denver in the dead of the night. I was wrong. There were a handful of
die-hards who were up to the challenge. I was freakin’ pumped. We all met
at my hotel and took off at about 10:45 p.m. ran 6 or 7 miles, finishing up
at midnight.

That was one of the most enjoyable night runs I’ve done.

Thanks so much guys for your commitment to giving it all you have…this
no-holds-barred mindset can and will elevate the sport of bowhunting to new heights!



Next up…Hollywood!

I got up early Saturday a.m., which was tough after the late night run, to
catch a flight to L.A. I was scheduled to speak at the Ranch Cucamonga Bass
Pro Shop on Sunday which meant I had Saturday afternoon to set up Train
Hard. Hunt Easy. run in Cali. I was on it. I figured if you are going to the L.A. area
and you are going to do some trail running, you gotta conquer the
"Hollywood" sign hill that overlooks the City of Angles.

Again, thanks to Facebook and my website, me, Tony Satamian and Kent
Roberts showed up at the trail head below the “Hollywood” hill at 4 p.m.,
the hottest part of a hot day down in SoCal, and hammered out our trail run
on the hill for a couple hours. Prior to this we had never met, but we all shared a common bond….bowhunting. We took an adventurous, and at 6 miles or
so, a longer route than necessary (partly by design) and made it to the
top, looking over the famous Hollywood sign and all of L.A.



This Train Hard. Hunt Easy. run was sweet because it was unique and also
because it was pretty dang tough. That is a decent hill and we pushed it
pretty good. Tony and Kent have heart. It was a great run and again with
awesome people. There’s a common theme here.



After the run I even swung by Kat Von D’s High Voltage Tattoo in Hollywood
to check out the scene. I wasn’t planning on getting any ink but figured
if she was there and was into it, I’d get some dice tattooed on my neck or
something. Snake Eyes! It didn’t happen, probably for the best. That shop
however was killa. Man, a lot of artistic creativity going on in there.
There was buzz and I am not talking just the ink guns. L.A. is a sweet
place to visit, bowhunting, trail running, lots of money, beautiful cars, people,
and houses….lots of excitement! It was real cool for a weekend. Thank you
Bass Pro Shops for getting me on the western store circuit!



My appearance today (Sunday – I am on the plane headed home now) at the
Rancho Bass Pro Shop was amazing. I am still shaking my head at the amount of bowhunting passion there is down here in this part of the country. My seminar at the
store was a blast, with standing room only to watch and listen, and afterwards I couldn’t believe all the people who
stayed to buy my books and videos, pose for photos or just wanted to visit.
It was all very humbling. I am really grateful to all of you.

I met a couple of good guys that are working hard in the business of bowhunting, Albert Quackenbush and Eric Welsh of www.diybowhunter.com. I really enjoyed visiting with these guys and wanted to give them a shout out. Check out Al’s great write up of my appearance at Bass Pro Shop here -- http://socalbowhunter.blogspot.com/2011/08/scouting-for-black-bear-and-meeting.html

And, the store management was the best at Rancho. They not only let me shoot my bow during the seminar, but asked me to donate my Easton FMJ so they could
leave it in the target and raffle it off. Is that awesome or what? Man, I
am still on bowhunting high after today in California. Not to mention
everyone drives at least 80 m.p.h. down there on the freeway…I finally felt
at home driving and not like a lunatic like I do back home ;-). Yup, just
like Pac and Dre, I got me some California Love.

I am going to keep building my underground Train Hard. Hunt Easy. tour as I
love promoting the benefits of the fit, tough-minded, ready for any
challenge backcountry hunter. Based on all my feedback, and the first hand
knowledge I witnessed on our runs: Denver Midnight Madness, Hollywood Hill,
Run the Mountain, Win a Bow and the Idaho Elk 101 Run, we are making some
serious headway. Together. As I mentioned, with this type of dedication I
believe the sport of bowhunting is being elevated! Exciting times!

And, finally yeah, I do practice what I preach. I did Run. Lift. Shoot.
every day of the trip. There is nothing that will, or can, stop the "Bowhunting Beast Mode" goal I have for this bow season which is closing fast. I had to get a little ingenious though to get in all my Run. Lift. Shoot. sessions.



In that regard, did you know that three hotel room pillows will not stop one of my arrows but four will? That is ludicrous. Come on Hilton Hotels. They need to start filling their pillows with Rinehart foam or something. I can’t be the first guy that didn’t have a target in their room but because of an incurable obsession for perfection must shoot their bow somehow, at something. I filled out a customer complaint card. We’ll see?

Keep it up fellas, Train Hard. Hunt Easy. Season is almost upon us, please
keep me posted on your success. Hard work always pays off! Cam

Email me anytime, www.cam@cameronhanes.com.

Train Hard. Hunt Easy. – Defined as, the act of training so hard, even the
most difficult of hunts will seem easy by comparison.

Cameron R. Hanes
www.cameronhanes.com