At the age of 14, his mom gave him his first compound bow; it was a Bear Whitetail Hunter. It was one the first adjustable bows on the market, which was a great option for a growing boy. He remembers setting it at 45 lb and learning to shoot it without any formal training. He indicated he learned to shoot by reading magazines and lots of trial and error (i.e., many lost arrows). When he became consistent, he decided to use his compound bow to pursue whitetail deer behind his house in Prospect, Maine. Like most early bowhunters, Juan hunted from an elevated tree stand. In those early years, before ladder stands, most hunters built permanent tree stands with lumber. Today, most states do not allow hunters to permanently build stands in trees. Although Juan does enjoy his firearms, he does prefer to hunt with a bow and arrow; some of his dire hard hunting buddies don't understand it. Actually, he has not hunted with a gun in over 15 years. Now, he did use a crossbow about a year ago when he accidentally knocked off his peep sight from his bow string during a hunt in Ohio with his buddy Lance. He does admit that Lance's crossbow was sweet, but has yet to purchase one; only time will tell whether he will get a crossbow or not...

Juan has pursued game throughout the United States from Maine to Florida. He has chased elk in Colorado on two different occasions and hunted goats in the mountains of Hawaii. When he lived in Texas, he loved to hunt pigs and whitetail deer; he also hunted various exotic animals like sheep and goats. Juan feels blessed that he was able to hunt for bear in Alberta, Canada and plains animals in South Africa several years ago. He believes hunting trips like these is what life is about...memories and experiences. As a biologist, he obviously advocates management and responsible hunting. He and his wife enjoy cooking and sharing game with family and friends.