Kids, Phones & Blood

       My daughter recently had a birthday. She was so sneaky at "borrowing" people's smart phones to play the games, that we thought we would be the best mom and dad "ever!" and get her an ipod so that she can play her own silly games. We were right of course, she was blown away when she saw it. We were not however, ready for the backlash. She became a droid! We never see her anymore, she stays in her room constantly consumed by electronic drunkenness. We get her school work done in the mornings and she always ask, "Can I go play my phone now?" I know this is something I need to get her away from because we are an active family and I can not get her to go to the grocery store now. Not that I myself like going there either. I remember those days when I was a kid. Wake up early if you wanted breakfast, help out my grandparents in the shop, garden, yard, etc. then play OUTSIDE until supper time. That was it. We were full of creativeness. My cousin and I used to play at my uncle's construction site and build ramps, play houses, and tunnels in dirt piles for our matchbox cars. We didn't want to go inside, even when it rained. Luckily we had the place to do that stuff and granted I currently live in town with a tiny yard, but just sitting on your butt playing on a device is a waste of a perfectly good butt. I chose to home school her because I remember my summers at my grandparents and how much I learned from that experience, why shouldn't she get that year round?
       I grew up in the country, so I proudly accept the label "country". At my daughter's age I got up at 4:00 a.m. with my mom and met up with friends at the truck stop, then headed to the deer camp. I didn't have a choice, but I liked it too. I helped her listen for direction of deer since she is deaf in one ear. But my favorite hunting experiences were going with the men who followed the dogs to trail and jump deer. I learned how to walk quietly and the difference between how a kid will be still, and how I was supposed to be still, ha ha. So imagine our surprise when our daughter simply refuses to be outdoors or go hunting. "It's too cold, it's too buggy, it's too bright, it's too hot, and I KANT be quiet!" Who is this child? We currently hunt on farm land. Because we don't gun hunt, we are allowed to hunt if we help keep the hogs away. I appreciate it so much, but we can't bring a four wheeler and it is not close to home. Preparing for deer season has its battles, such as, carrying a 50 lb bag of corn a mile walk to the stand and an eight year old stomping and complaining the whole trip. It isn't fun being hot, I get it, but, my dad always worked hard on our farm and it is that good kind of hard work. Yes, you are tired, hot, hungry and sore but it is the kind of work that makes you proud and accomplished. She did not however get the insight.
       I'm not sure if the weather change, the passing of another year, or the t.v.  is to be applauded, but, something clicked in Harli that was unexpected. We check the game cam pretty regularly on the t.v. and are blustered by a gazelle looking spike that keeps eating all the corn. When Harli found out she may be the answer to our prayers she suddenly felt like it was her duty to rid us of this genetic sadness that this deer would bring upon future hunters. Because my husband and I  share a stand, and share a daughter who is not particularly fond of getting up or the hunting experience, we take turns hunting. Harli is so curious if anyone has seen "her" deer. I told her she should learn to hunt and maybe we can take her out on youth hunt and see what happens. Well hearing about a special day just for her perked those little ears up.

        Yesterday evening we had a cold snap and Colt went to the stand to sit a while. It seemed as if all the horns had other things on their mind and after watching a turkey eat corn for two hours, Colt decided he might as well get a doe and get some meat stocked up in the freezer. Because of the long walk, I stay by the phone so I can assist on retrieval. I told Harli we needed to go and in a hurry because it was getting dark and we had to track where the deer went. This child was ready and out the door before I was! Colt and I taught Harli how to follow a deer using blood, tracks, and branches, and I showed Harli how at night, you shouldn't be scared of getting lost because the sky is like a map. My science loving daughter finally made the connection between science and outdoors thanks to blood, the t.v. and this wonderful fall weather in the South. She is now so excited about doing more, maybe she will get a Hoyt  from MR. Santa Clause, and maybe a hunting app or two from her momma. =0)

Fall is Here

                                          Fall is Here!

I'm so excited about this fall season!  I am finally done with school and life has started to slow down enough to enjoy things again. I have now found enough time to get back on here and make some stuff happen.

One of the great things about fall is that hunting season has returned. This is only the second year that I have taken it on with my Hoyt by my side. I tell ya, there are still some nerves when I walk to the stand every since the coyote tried camping out with me in my blind last year. I love bow hunting so much but I will never go without a gun with me! So, it is still early in the season and the game cam has had a lot of activity. Here are just a few things that have been hanging around.

The majority of the pictures day and night are of this crazy looking spike. He seems to be friends with  everyone, even the coons and "screamer" the rabbit.

This guy reminds me of Crabclaw from last year.

And I quickly claimed this guy as mine, ALL mine! I get into the habit of naming what we see so Colt and I can say who we saw while hunting.  When I talk about this guy, his name is none other but Mr. Mine! HAHA

Hunting is a sport, it is an addiction, but, most importantly for us it means food. There is a sadness I feel every time there is a kill, and every time I was in lab dissecting and capturing animals in the name of science.  But there is also a good feeling when I know that I can make it through the winter months when we don't work because of the opportunity to hunt and fish. It has made us stronger as a family because everyone is involved and helping. My daughter turned eight this year and she has come to understand what this means for us. Maybe Santa will bring her a pink camo bow for Christmas! *wink* In school, the animals were already gone, and in the most humane ways. The captured animals were always released and learning their behavior was so valuable.  I think the best thing that could have happen did not happen to me. My daughter, Harli, took such an interest in Science. She was there through herpetology and ichthyology and she is in love with nature. 

Thanks to my pal JJ, Harli loves to go fishing, she even calls him "My fishing Buddy".  She is no longer fearful of killer mosquitos and her strange allergy to being bitten/stung. I am so proud of her!

Looks like it is going to be a good Fall to me!

An Experiment

       My daughter loves science as much as I do. I love that instead of toys she likes the things that teach her about what's around her. Last year on vacation she found a Preying Mantis kit in a book store and begged us to buy it. When in season, the company sent us a nest to place in the hut. A few weeks went by and with the first sign of spring they hatched! They kept coming out! We read the booklet again and it said the nest could have up to 400 eggs at a time! They sounded like rain hitting the top of a tent as they plummeted out of the nest and onto the floor of the hut. We took them outside and released them into the flower gardens so that they can be our little garden fairies. It was so much fun and exciting to see how many creatures could come out of such a small place.

                                                                          The nest

                                                                     So many babies!

I guess we will be ordering another batch soon. If Harli has anything to do with it, we will be ordering a lot more, the magazine is already circled front to back!

Dreaming

My mind has been racing the last few days since I started blogging. It is just days away from my last semester of school. I am not sure if I am ready for that anxiety again. I am tired of being broke and at the same time I am totally a wreck about what I am going to do after I graduate. I would love to home school my kids, work from home, work on my hobbies, start taxidermy, and move somewhere so I can be outdoors all day. How great would it be if you were a kid that gets to have their school lessons outside, on a trail, or in the back yard??? Unfortunately no job means no money and being stuck on this corner lot. To de-stress I would usually go to the lake because there is so many possibilities. I would actually consider going hunting today if it wasn't for the drive to the land (that we don't own) and the walk from the barbed wire fence to the stand because I don't have a four wheeler and the fact that I can't buy the gas for the car or the four wheeler. I am ready for some changes in my life, I pray something comes for me. Because of the on again anxiety, I am having some crazy dreams. Some make no sense and some I wish I could make happen. I obsessively look at overpriced houses on the market just to look at them. Last night I had a dream about this house in Amity that would be amazing to have. The house had a swimming pool that overlooks the pond/lake in the backyard. In my dream I was tanning in the pool with the girls and our horses all jumped in to swim with us. HA so crazy. Another dream I had was that blogging allowed me to get free products from my favorite hunting/outdoors stores. It was so much fun I just wanted to go back to sleep!! The dream probably would have got better but I woke when Colt was leaving at 5:00 this morning for his first job of the year. That in itself is a blessing but hopefully my fortune cookie has something in store for me...not just Colt finally getting work.

Guns a Blazing

I'm a southern girl, and I like my guns. I know there are a lot of people out there who are against it. I just hate how those that are uneducated about gun ownership assume those of us that do just "sling 'em around and let our kids use them as rattles". My five year old has a pellet gun and is constantly reminded that it is not a toy but a tool. She actually gets to use it and hold it with us supervising to correct improper handling. I believe this keeps the curiosity away because she isn't kept from it but it has to be put away if company is over. 
With this being said, my gun is next to my bed. Since the day my daughter was born, the need for security and the feeling that we are protected became very strong. 
I saw on the news this morning that a mother, in Oklahoma, who had just lost her husband to cancer, felt threatened. She trusted her instincts that someone was stalking her, so she prepared herself. When the men broke into her home she called for help. Not much can be done over the phone to stop the bad guys when they come in your house and she knew this. Armed with a gun in each hand, she protected her baby. One man was killed and the other turned himself in. Today, she is my hero. I tell myself that if that happens to me I would do the same thing, and I hope if it ever came to that, I would have the courage to do what she did.
Bad dudes out there, you need to know that if you come in my house I will be ready with guns a blazin!!
God Bless America!

Brain storming

I hadn't realized that I sat in this chair all day doing research. I am frustrated every time I walk up to a t-shirt stand and find twice as many men styles and a small selection of women. I am seriously thinking about starting my own line of t-shirts. I thought of a name....I drew a few designs......and I looked at a lot of the legal aspects of it. I am still a litte confused about it, but, it is really exciting!  I want to create a very edgy look that still relates to hunting and outdoors that leans far away from a redneck theme.

Withdrawal

Everyone knows what withdrawal is and it comes in many forms. I focused on my classes so I can make it through the semester like a good girl. A few days ago I realized I actually had the time to take a bubble bath. Holy Cow, that doesn’t happen much. I had a stack of about 20 magazines or so that have just stared at me for months.  After simmering a good hour in the tub and reading a dozen hunting magazines, I had the fever. Good Lord I wanted to go hunting, and I didn’t care if I smelled like roses or not! I vowed that I was going to go hunting the next day.

That night I had a random dream I was married to a pro, we had a tv show,  and all we did was hunt EVERYTHING! My only comment was whoa that was cool. If that wasn’t a withdrawal inflicted dream I don’t know what is.

Feet Kickin' with Jealousy

I am finishing up my final semesters of college. This is where most of my focus is and my time goes. When bow season opened up all I kept hearing was the guys giddy with Buck fever. I of course just roll my eyes because they are rubbing it in that they get to go hunting and I don’t. Somewhere along the lines of stress, little sleep and a bad golf swing I pulled a pectoral muscle. The same week, Colt, the sweet guy that he is took my bow for a check up at Archers Image. They also decided that I should be pulling back about ten pounds more than I was.

Right before Thanksgiving break, I finally made it to the stand. I was ready to shoot anything that came to me.  Getting to the stand too early has its flaws. The shooting rail had been pushed all the way back and was jammed under a branch I couldn’t see. So I sat there with no cover and everytime I attempted to adjust, the noise was awful or that little buck would walk up behind me. I gave in and decided stealth mode would work just as well.

About 10:00 there was a lot of movement and noise. I was ready. Blood was finally starting to flow to my poor frozen toes.  A doe came out and I raised my bow waiting on the possibility. When the time came, I pulled with all of my might on that bow. My chest felt like it was shredding and the bow felt like it was pulling back. I couldn’t give up, not when I might not get a chance to come out til January and Colt had already used up two of his tags.  My feet started kicking like I was running a marathon and I swear I didn’t tell them to do that.  That pretty pink string touched my cheek and the doe was still watching. Can you believe after all that effort and all that pain, the deer stayed, and after all of that…………she was chased off by another doe. I couldn’t do anything but laugh because my legs ran faster than hers.

Let's Cuddle

I was always my mother’s assistant hunter growing up. But because she needed me to listen for her I never got the chance to do it on my own. My family is a little selfish with sharing guns or possibly letting one get away so as I got older I just stayed home or hung out at the camp. See my birthday unfortunately is November 14.  As many of you might guess, it sucks having a birthday on opening day of gun season unless you are the one hunting. My husband actually thinks I am cool enough to hang out with him on what is known as guy activities. He got me into hunting again, plus golfing which I never thought I would enjoy. I love that he likes to share these things with me instead of separating it and us. Lucky for us we actually get along great together, it takes lots and lots of patience.

The greatest thing about bow hunting is that you have way more days to hunt than you do with a gun. Once I got a chance to hunt, my husband bought me a blind and set it up for me while I was at school. The next morning I was told where to go and to take the 22 for backup.  I finally made it to the blind after walking through unknown territory in the pitch black. I spooked several sleeping critters while finding my way but I believe I was way more spooked than they were. When daylight approached I noticed some movement.  The coyotes are really bad in this area, so bad that I didn’t dare take a snack with me, even though I needed the boost.

I spotted a doe and she came right to my food plot.  She was too small but I knew if she was moving more was coming. I quickly glanced down to make sure my bow was good to go and when I looked back up that dang coyote  had her head IN MY TENT!!!! I know that hunting brings that thrill of adrenaline but this is NOT the experience I expected to make me eat my heart. Thank you Colt for making me take that rifle.  The pure talent that can be manifested when you are scared out of your mind is an amazing thing. If you had asked me to shoot a can on a log one handed with that gun, it might had taken a few trys. I reached for the gun pinkied the safety, gave a slight tilt and shot. When it was done I just closed my eyes and texted my husband in big caps….TOMORROW I GET THE CLIMBER AND YOU CUDDLE WITH THE COYOTES.

Fowl Mood

I saw on the news today that duck hunters aren’t having much luck. The weather here should be in the 40-50 range and instead it is reaching the 60 mark. This is bad news for those that actually were able to hunt this year.

See, like women do, I complained to my husband that leaving our waders and decoys in an open shed at our house was just not smart. We live on a corner lot and it makes me feel really exposed. We have had a numerous amount of things stolen, until I got smart and paraded my dogs in the yard. We have far less straglers in the neighborhood now. Without adequate storage we took our clutter to a storage unit across the street from the local PD I might add. Within the month of having it there, all of the storage units got hit hard and what did they take from ours?

They LEFT my great grandmothers antiques, a baby bed worth 700, tons of decorations that would easily sale for hundreds online, and an ugly lime green 1990 trapper keeper full of old baseball cards.

What they TOOK was both waders, all of our fishing poles and tackle boxes, our duck decoys, three mountain bikes and my lawn chairs. Now seeing how in our town you see most of the people that do the same things that you do, I always have my eye open for our treasures. I mean come on you could have taken a lot of stuff in there and it looks like these fellas were on their way to camp. Hellur I will find you. Until then I will just stay in a “fowl mood”.

The Beginning

I love adventures and challenges. Who doesn’t? Once upon a time I told myself I would never write a blog. I said to myself, “Who has time for that?” and now here I am.  It was suggested that to start a blog pick a subject or something you are interested in. Make it something you are passionate for because  you will get bored of keeping a page about the same thing if you don’t love it.  If you just write about yourself you will just find out how many people  are too opinionated. Well, I love  a lot of things. This took some thought. I took a break from brain storming and went outside for a minute. I just stood there thinking, wow for December it sure is warm and pretty. We could be getting the fishing boat running, or take a few golf swings. Then it hit me……YOU LOVE OUTDOORS!!! It is a perfect discussion because it doesn’t get boring, it changes constantly because it is what I do to escape the boring things. This got my mind racing with ideas and conversations I have with my husband about how hard it is to find “Girl themed” stuff. I love to hunt and there are few brands or gear designed for women when compared to the mass of items available for men. I am not a Girly-Girl, just girl enough that having something made for me makes me feel special. Fishing for instance, you can find a pink cheapo pole, but you won’t find a Shimano for women, and if there is cute fishing apparel for women it is hard to find. I end up getting a mans small and cutting the sides out to wear as a bathing suit cover. I was thrilled to death when my husband bought me a Hoyt Trykon for my birthday and it was customized 1) to fit me (obviously) and 2) PINK accesories!!! This truly spoke to me saying this is MINE, no one else, it is definitely a Shanna bow.

I like pink, I do, mainly because it largely represents girls. Where I am from a girl sees a jacked up truck and says damn that’s sexy, regardless of seeing the driver. If a guy sees a jacked up truck and it has  a pink logo on the window, they turn the truck around to see what the girl looks like. Having things that are customize-able will make you feel confident and perform better. I think guys can relate to this on some level.

My main objective for this site is to show a side of myself that is much like others. I want this to be a place not just for myself, but for anyone who can give  pointers, talk about their adventures and outdoors experiences.  I guarantee I will say or do something stupid and at that point I hope someone else can say “Ha you dork!”, or “Been there done that, let me give you some advice.”