Bob Luna loved to hunt and fish growing up in Northern California.
The 59-year-old loved it so much, he has essentially done it his whole life, leisurely and professionally.
I just loved to hunt and fish. That was everything that I did, Luna said. I knew thats what my life was telling me that I wanted to do.
Luna became a ranger with the U.S. National Park Service, which took him from California to Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona.
His next adventure was in retail. After saving up enough money, in 1979 Luna opened a sporting goods store in Chester, Calif.
Owning and operating his own business for a decade, Luna also used his outdoors expertise to pass out a few secrets to catching big fish at the local lake. But for a while, there was one problem.
After telling people where to go, how to catch the fish in certain places, I realized, that I was giving out information, but I wasnt getting paid for it, Luna said.
Thats when Luna used that realization to move into his next adventure.
I got a guides license and started running a guide business out of my sporting goods store, he said.
Lunas fishing guide business hooked customers immediately, and it eventually led to guiding hunts. Luna started guiding for goose, deer and antelope hunts. What was once just a sporting goods store, turned into a booking agency for guided hunts around the world.
Luna sold the business and returned for one more stint as a ranger at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. It was in the Grand Canyon State where Luna fell in love with the land of the 14,000-foot peaks.
I had a plan to come up here (Southwest Colorado) on the weekends to meet some more ranchers and try to line up some property, he said.
Luna eventually bought some prime Colorado hunting real estate.
Once I got up here meeting more ranchers, it just grew bigger and bigger. This is what I love to do, he said. The hunting here is some of the best around. Hunting is my passion. Id rather be out in the woods.
Luna and his wife Terri opened Colorado Hunting Expeditions in 1996 north of McPhee Reservoir near Dolores. The outfitting business accommodates big game hunting trips in Southwest Colorado year-round on leased private ranches. Colorado Hunting Expeditions also offers guided hunting and fishing trips around the globe.
Giving back
With all the business for 16 years, Bob and Terri Luna have given plenty back. Colorado Hunting Expeditions has donated big game hunts to the National Rifle Association, the Boy Scouts of America, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Florida, Hunt for Heroes and the Wild Turkey Federation among others. An average rifle hunt for deer and elk at Colorado Hunting Expeditions ranges from $2,500 to $5,000.
The Lunas donate a big game hunt every year to the Hunters Hope Foundation, which is a charitable nonprofit organization that raises awareness for Krabbe Leukodystrophy, an inherited fatal nervous system disease. Hunters Hope is a foundation founded and run by NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly. Its named after Kellys son, the late Hunter Kelly, who passed away in 2005 at age 8 from Krabbe Leukodystrophy. Jim Kelly, a former Buffalo Bills QB, has hunted through Colorado Hunting Expeditions since 2009. Kelly and Luna have since developed a great friendship.
Bob believed in my sons foundation. Just getting to talk to Bob and getting to know him, I just love the camaraderie, said Kelly on Oct. 22 at the Colorado Hunting Expeditions lodge.
Like Luna, Kelly said the great outdoors is the real appeal of hunting.
Its not always just about the hunting. Just the sights and the smell. I love the woods. Thats why I come back every year, he said.
Although Luna has made friends with people around the world, including famous athletes, its ultimately all about one thing giving people the opportunity to hunt.
Its about the cause, Luna said. Its getting youths and underprivileged kids, people with handicap disabilities to give them the opportunity (to hunt).
Hunt for heroes
The annual Hunt for Heroes veterans benefit gives soldiers with disabilities the opportunity to hunt. Colorado Hunting Expeditions will host the fifth annual Mark Ecker II Memorial Heroes Hunt beginning Friday, Jan. 13. The cow elk hunt will welcome seven to 10 veterans for a chance at Colorado big game. This charity is the most special to Luna.
Ecker was among the first group of disabled veteran hunters in 2008. He survived the blast of an improvised explosive device while serving in Ramadi, Iraq. He eventually learned to walk with prosthetic legs. Ecker was killed in a car accident in the summer of 2009 near Lawrence, Mass. He was 23.
Everybody fell in love with Mark Ecker, Luna said. Hes everybodys type of son youd want to have. To become close with the family, it brings up a lot of emotions this time of year. This time of year is really a special time. It brings up memories of other loved ones who were lost (serving in the U.S. military). It means a lot to have this hunt put on.
For Lunas charitable work with the Mark Ecker II Memorial Heroes Hunt, he has been recognized by Cortez native and U.S. congressman Scott Tipton. Luna received an inscribed plaque and a letter of recognition from Tipton.
Its quite an honor. Ive never seen anything like this, said Luna of the plaque. Thats pretty cool. This is a big deal!
Luna has more than 40 years of guiding experience. Even a kidney transplant last year has only slowed Luna down, but it hasnt stopped him.
The avid outdoorsman is well on his way to doing what he loves for the rest of his life.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at [email protected].
