They said it would be fun, as I walk through the darkness, slapping the eighty-ninth mosquito on my neck. I look left, I look right darkness. Moving cautious trying to avoid cow shit on the ground or running into another spider web. Then here comes the horrific sounds of a pig squealing, dogs barking, and heavy footsteps of people sprinting. This is my story when I chose to join a friend take a trip into the wild to go boar hunting. Now let’s start from the beginning. Here I am sitting on my couch one day, scrolling through Instagram, when I came across a photo of my business partner, Peso, holding a large boar with his two large blooding dogs flexing by his side. “Double tap” I liked the picture because of the aesthetic and personally found it cool. So the next thought that came to mind was, “Well if I am going into business with this person. I might as well step into his world.” Little did I know what I was getting myself into. “Whats up man, when’s the next time you are going hunting, I’m trying go,” as I pressed send to the direct message. Not even a minute later he replied, “I’m actually getting ready to get on the road now. I’ll pick you up, bring some clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.” With slight hesitation I replied, “Sounds good I’ll be ready,” knowing in the back of my head I am telling myself it can’t be that bad. Plus as a former football player, and track athlete I know I can run if anything were to happen. At Peso’s arrival I hop into the dog infested truck full of confidence as we ride three hours to Kissimmee, Florida. Every hour that passed my confidence started to dwindle, but I kept reminding myself, “I’m not a punk.” We finally arrive late that evening, as we approach six country boys and their dogs. One of them look up at me and say, “ You’re right, he is a big fella. I heard you like to workout.” With me being a physically fit personal trainer I replied, “Of course!” He mumbled back, “Aight we’ll see,” as confused look popped up on my face. We then ride out and come to a dark dead end. It’s almost midnight and I am wondering when are we getting started. Another hour passes as we wait around the truck, the dogs are also getting anxious. Peso then says, “Let them loose,” as the dogs sprint into the woods. Another look of confusion, shows up on my face as the guys surround Peso to get a peek of the remote tracking the dogs’ movement. Here comes the fun, as I get asked, “Are you ready? Keep up!” They all take off sprinting into the dark, its two o’clock in the morning when I am normally sleep, but doesn’t look like I will be sleeping anytime soon. I take off staying within the middle of the group, after about running a mile the guys slow up to take another look at the tracker. The guys start walking towards a dark body of water, swamp water at that. “You guys ready to get wet?” One of the guys yell out. I didn’t sign up to walk in some alligator infested water, luckily Peso yells out, “ They are this way!,” saving us from have to get wet. After another mile or two scavenging through the wilderness we approach some open land. You can then hear a stampede running away from us. We were on a farm and the cattle were running away from us. “Turn your flashlights out, if the owner sees us he will shoot us.” What the hell is going on as I think to myself. One hundred yards across the farm was more wilderness, in this case that was our touchdown. I have had my fair share of touchdowns in the past, but never did I vision dodging cattle instead of players in the dark, with the chance of also being shot. The guys take off in a full sprint, bodies drop near me. No shots were fired but the guys were falling in holes or slipping on cow shit. Half way through I turn my flash light and go full speed as I watch my every step. A smile finally shows up on my face as I make it across and quickly realize this isn’t the goal for the night, we are still looking for boar and we have to back into the dark woods. As the last person makes it across, we continue the journey, it is almost five in the morning. Every ten steps, I walk into another spider web. At this point, I just want to go home. Finally a signal, the dogs are barking along with a squeal from a pig. Another sprint occurs, as we approach the dogs tussling with the large boar. It was like watching Animal Planet in person. As the boar tires out, Peso then mounts the pig and ties him up to take a picture, he then neuters the animal with a knife. I have no idea whats going on at this point, but after asking one of the guys a question, it was top the reproduction of boar infestation in the area. After a successful catch, we let the boar go back into the woods. As the sun starts to rise on our journey back to the truck, “You made it!” yells the country boy that doubted me in the beginning. I replied without any enthusiasm, “ Yeah, this definitely my first and last time doing this.” The grouped of guys laughed at me and said their goodbyes as Peso and I got back on the road to head home. Moral of the story, “ Know your boundaries, and do your research before jumping into certain situations.