(Photo courtesy Bud Munns)By Courtesy of PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association)
Posted Thursday, May 20, 2010
Rodeo Attitude NewsBud Munns isn't your average circuit cowboy, to say the least. Not only is he the owner of two college degrees, but he also has earned a rare and distinct title few PRCA contestants have known: certified pilot.
Munns, a bareback rider who is coming off his first career Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo appearance, has been a certified pilot for nearly four years, flying planes up to 12,500 pounds. For the past year, he has worked as a flight instructor at Utah Valley University in Orem, where he earned a degree in aviation science and rodeoed for ProRodeo Hall of Famer Lewis Feild.
Growing up on a ranch in Hansel Valley, Utah, Munns and his brothers Sonny and Bill rodeoed for entertainment with high school friends at the ranch arena. Sonny went on to become a PRCA bull rider, and their uncle, Randee, is a longtime PRCA clown, barrelman and bullfighter. Their interest in the sport led Bud to high school rodeo, where he competed in all three roughstock events, and thus his career began.
Munns competed on the College of Southern Idaho rodeo team for two years under the direction of ProRodeo Hall of Famer Shawn Davis while earning an associate's degree in ag-business and liberal arts. Munns said he'd always had an interest in flying, and rodeoing for Davis – a former pilot who flew himself and others to rodeos across the country – only fueled that fire.
When he found out that UVU had an aviation science program, Munns jumped at the chance.
"I knew they had this (aviation science) program here, so I thought, 'Well, this might be my only chance to get to fly,'" said Munns, who lists Yeager: An Autobiography by legendary pilot Chuck Yeager as his favorite book. "So, I came here on a rodeo scholarship and got involved with the program then. The flight instruction gig is really good because I can set my own schedule and go rodeoing any time I want. The winter rodeos are good, because you can enter them and just go on the weekends."
Munns said his job as flight instructor at UVU is surprisingly much easier than another potential employment option.
"It's a whole heck of a lot easier than working for my dad cutting hay or chasing calves," Munns said. "I don't break a sweat at all. I think I should have been born in the '30s or '40s, because that was the golden age of pilots."
He recently beat more than 90 other candidates to earn a job flying A-10 Warthog fighter jets for the Idaho Air National Guard, a role he's thrilled about. Munns said he thinks his rodeo background helped him get the exclusive spot.
"We fly a lot of training missions to stay combat-ready in case we're deployed," Munns said. "More than 90 people applied, they interviewed 22 people, but only one got it. All the guys (who applied) are good pilots, but you have to have something that sets you apart. I definitely think rodeo helped me get it because of my diversified lifestyle and being able to adapt to certain situations."
For Munns, flying and competing in rodeo offers his life a great balance that helps keep him energized and mentally sharp.
"The balance keeps me sane, it really does," Munns said. "I come to the flight school, and the other instructors don't believe what I do on the weekends. But in the same sense, I go to a rodeo and the other cowboys don't have a clue about what my other professional career is like.
"I'll get tired of being at the flight school, then go rodeo for three or four days and completely forget about flying. If you have a bad weekend rodeoing, you can come back here and completely forget about it for a few days."
Munns said that there are some similarities to flying and riding bucking horses.
"Having to have the quick reaction and the pressure is similar," Munns said. "When you take tests to get higher ratings, it's pretty intense and you get nervous. So, I relate those "check flights" to getting on a big horse like (Kesler Rodeo's) Cool Alley or (Calgary Stampede's) Grated Coconut.
"I get more nervous on the check flights than getting on the horses. I tell myself, 'Man, if I had the choice of getting on a horse like Grated Coconut or taking this test right now, I'd take the horse any day.'"
Munns has learned many things from rodeo, especially after a pair of difficult "losses." At the 2003 National High School Finals Rodeo and again at the 2007 College National Finals Rodeo, he was announced as the bareback riding winner, only to have judges' audits reveal that he was instead the runner-up both times.
"I definitely learned a lot from those two losses," Munns said. "You can never guarantee anything until you've got that buckle in your hands. That's why I say rodeoing is 90 percent luck. Sometimes, I look back and think where I'd be if I had won those two rodeos. Would I be better off in my rodeo career, or would I be better off in my other professional career? In the long run, I think I'm better off where I am after finishing second at both of those rodeos, because when you don't win, it just makes you work harder to get back at it."
Munns has been at it in the PRCA ranks since 2004. He has gradually improved his final world standings rank each year, going from 100th in 2005 to 80th in 2006, 40th in 2007, 30th in 2008 and 29th in 2009.
He advanced deep into the bracket at RodeoHouston in 2008, giving Munns confidence to compete against the PRCA's elite bareback riders at the highest level.
"I remember looking down the chutes before I rode and seeing the caliber of guys who were there, and it was pretty neat," Munns said. "I liked the camaraderie and the competition at that level. It was a lot of fun."
He lists veterans Scott Montague and Cody DeMers as mentors, and Munns has earned the respect and admiration of his peers for his success in both careers.
"Bud, he's kind of a closet genius. He's really brilliant," DeMers said. "He's got things figured out, knows where he wants to be, has his goal and has plans of reaching of that goal. He's got his life mapped out, and he rides pretty dang well, too.
"He likes to have fun, no matter if he's digging post holes or at the bar with his friends. He's always having fun with what he's doing, and I've never seen Bud have a bad day. He's always in a good mood and excited to do whatever needs to be done."
For the entire, in-depth story, see the May 14 issue of ProRodeo Sports News, THE Voice of ProRodeo! magazine. Click here to subscribe.
SourceNote: Nice story - From a rodeo cowboy to an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot. WOW!!!
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