Randy Couture is known for his work in the UFC. He's a six-time champion after all and one of the most famous icons to come from the sport. But outside of fighting, Couture also developed a love for hunting.
Sadly, it came from a deeply personal and heartbreaking place. Speaking with Hook & Barrel, Couture said he started hunting as a child because he wanted to be close to his father. It's the only time that the two ever connected in what was a messy relationship.
"The only time I'd ever really get to see my dad was when he'd take me out of school to take me hunting," he says. "That was the only time we'd ever have to bond, so I've been an avid outdoorsman ever since. I don't think I ever shot a deer or elk with my dad, it was just about being outdoors."
As he got older, Couture later learned to bowhunt with his stepfather as well. The two also didn't have a good relationship.
Randy Couture Talks Hunting
"I shot an elk with him, I think he was a better hunter," Couture says. "The trade-off was that he was a verbally abusive a—hole. But he was a man's man. Worked construction, worked on cars, which as a young boy is the stuff you wanna be around. I didn't like him very much, but I liked the stuff he did."
When he grew up, Couture abandoned hunting. Instead of hunting, he turned his attention to fighting and wrestling. But while coaching, he went bowhunting with a group, finding his love for the outdoors again.
"It's up close and personal," he says. "You have to make a good shot, especially with elk and the rut. You get to talk to the animals. Same with turkeys. You call 'em and they come, they answer, they talk. It's a very personal thing."
Ultimately, Couture approached hunting with a similar mindset to fighting.
"I walked out onto that mat in some of the biggest matches you could ever be in, and lost," he says. "So, I had developed mental skills to embrace that adversity. Wrestling and fighting are problem-solving at its finest. That guy I step in the cage with poses physical problems I gotta figure out how to solve. And sometimes you get it right, and sometimes you get it wrong."
