Born a city boy, I got my first exposure to hunting at age 6, trying not to be in the way as my uncle conducted his annual driven shoots for pheasants and hares. I cut my hunting teeth keeping the local sparrow population out of my uncles fruit trees, with a pellet gun.
Half way through my University study, the Horn of the Hunter sounded again. I took the mandatory hunting course and got my first license at age 21. From that moment on all my spare time went into hunting my uncle's leases for ducks, geese, pheasants, rabbits, doves and hare. As my relatives took up leases in Belgium, I got the opportunity to hunt roe and red deer, wild boar and fox. Later, I travelled extensively in Eastern Europe for my job, offering the opportunity to hunt with the locals in countries like Poland, Slovakia and Estonia.
Mylife changed indefinitely when I joined up with an Australian friend, and began my career as a hunting consultant. Together we explored, designed and marketed many extraordinary hunting trips, mainly in the South Pacific region.
Slowly though, it began to dawn that my home country The Netherlands was getting more and more crowded and that the hunting opportunities in Western Europe were not improving. In 2003, we moved to Alberta, Canada, to enjoy the outdoors and the great hunting and fishing this province offers.
I've been making up for lost time ever since. In 2003, my first spring in Alberta, I succeeded in stalking up to, and killing a giant wolf. In 2004 after spending over 20 days in the wilderness, I was lucky enough to find and kill a bighorn ram, the fulfillment of a life long dream! There is still so much wilderness to explore, I need to hurry to get i all done!
Whenever I'm not hunting, trekking, photographing, writing, editing, or otherwise making a living, I work hard at becoming the best biathlete that I can be. Biathlon has quickly become one of my great passions, and I have only one regret: that I didn't get into it sooner.
