Hunter's Wife vs Hunter

Well, the countdown has begun.  You can’t get on Twitter or Facebook without someone pointing out there are only a few weeks till the start of deer season.  It is a little bitter sweet for me.  Normally, I would be looking forward to the early archery season in Oklahoma.  However, this year my season will not start until after the first weekend of rifle season in Texas.  I have a feeling by that point, I am going to be chomping at the bit! 

I have been reading everything I can get my hands on! Magazines, blogs, books, etc to learn all the “behind the scenes” actions of a deer hunter.  As a “Hunter’s Wife” I now realize there were so many things taken care of for me.  Hunting in the past consisted of looking through trail camera pics, picking out shooter deer, waking up early, sitting in the pre-positioned deer stand in front of the already filled feeder, and hopefully shooting a deer!  Wow, I was so naïve to call myself a “hunter”.  In the last few weeks I have learned about positioning trail cameras for the best pictures and best results, locating deer stands in the most opportune location, food plots and wind management.  Not only that, but then I’ve learned about the rut, looking for scrapes, and deer habits.  Then I move into hunting equipment – I’ll be honest,  I have nothing but my camouflage, my bow and hopefully a deer feeder and blind at the deer lease.  So, I start looking into trail cameras, ground blinds, scent control, guns, and knives.  After all that, then I start thinking about how to clean a deer.  As a “Hunter’s Wife” we had an agreement: I don’t clean deer!  Now, I will admit, I really don’t want to clean a deer, but I realize that is part of being a hunter, and I will do it!  I just don’t know how! 

I will swallow my pride a little here and tell you that I missed a great opportunity to learn many of these things from a great hunter.  I wish I had taken the time to have Chad teach me some of these things because he seriously is probably one of the best.  I just took advantage of the fact he would take care of all these things for me. 

It has been fun learning how to do many of these “behind the scenes” activities, but it has been overwhelming. I am so thankful that I have my family to help me.  They are the absolute best and they have been so supportive.  I look forward to my first hunting season as a real “hunter”.   

Sunrise over Lake Texoma

I recently read a blog post by Carrie Zylka titled, “Closing the Chapters on All That Has Come Before”.  In that blog she states, “Some people come into our life for a reason… They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually.  Sometimes it is to teach you a lesson or to create the conflict you need to discover your own courage and self-worth…Sometimes a person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end… What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done.”

On June 9, my husband decided to leave our family.  He felt someone else could fulfill the desires of his heart better than I.  I apologize for not posting until now, but two months later I am finally able to accept what Carrie is trying to say.  I won’t say that I understand it, or that I chose it, but I will accept it and move on.  

This past weekend I had the opportunity to spend on Lake Texoma.  I sat on the bank of the Texas side looking over into the Oklahoma side trying to figure out where I wanted to go with this blog and if I wanted to continue writing “Above and Below the Red River”.  Trust me, the irony of the title and my location were not lost on me. 

For the last two months I have struggled with my identity.  I created myself into the wife my husband wanted me to be.  As you know from this blog, I started hunting to spend more time with him and to embrace his passions.  I developed a love of hunting because he loved it and because I wanted him to be proud of me.  Now, I feel like I have developed myself into this person, but I don’t know how to be this person without him.  So, I sat on the bank of Lake Texoma trying to decide if I truly loved hunting or if I was trying to hold onto something that defined “us”.  “Us” is gone, so who am “I”?

“I” am a strong, independent woman with many hopes, dreams, and desires.  “I” am an amazing mother with the two most wonderful boys anyone could ever ask for.  “I” am a loyal, devoted, and loving friend with integrity and compassion.  “I” am a huntress who has a lot to learn about hunting! 

So, I will carry you on this journey with me as I learn how to go from a “Hunter’s Wife” to a “Hunter”.

Mountain Lion in Oklahoma???

We had a great Memorial Day weekend these last few days!  We took the family up to the farm in Oklahoma. It was a caravan as we towed a “new” 1984 Toyota truck my brother-in-law bought as a farm truck.  A couple new spark plugs and they had it purring like a kitten! The floor board is rotting out, the seats aren’t much more than springs, and the truck bed… well there isn’t much there! However, it runs, it hauls, and it saves our vehicles from getting scratched up. 

It was an eventful weekend! We got there on Saturday and spent the day getting the truck up and ready.  We did our ritual of checking deer feeders and food plots, fixing gates and fences, and just doing an inventory of what work needed to be done.  We woke up Sunday ready to get to work. 

On our way to fill deer feeders, Chad noticed a doe killed in the creek.  We quickly took the kids back to the cabin and went to investigate.  Sadly, a doe birthing two fawns had been attacked by a mountain lion.  There have been very few reports of lions in southeastern Oklahoma, but there is no doubt this was a lion.  The doe had obviously been killed the night before and the claw marks going up the tree were proof enough the lion was close by.  I was just a tad unnerved. 

We were sad to lose three deer – the doe and her two fawns.  We aren’t sure what our options are in regards to the lion.  The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife protects the mountain lion from indiscriminate shooting.  According to ODWC, “Mountain lions can be taken year round when committing or about to commit depredation on any domesticated animal or when deemed an immediate safety hazard.”  We want to protect our deer herd, but understand the protection of the mountain lion as well.  At this point we hope the animal will move out of the immediate vicinity. 

If you’ve had an experience with mountain lions and know ways we can protect the deer in our area, please leave us feedback in the comments below.  We hope everyone had a great Memorial Day!  And, we want to offer a handshake and a sincere hug of thankfulness to those who serve this magnificent country.  I pray for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defending our nation and for those families they have left behind.  “Thank you” isn’t enough.  God Bless.

My First Turkey Hunt

Chad and I had a rare opportunity to have a weekend away and, of course, we went hunting! The truth is, I wanted to attend a wedding in San Antonio and the only way I could get Chad to go with me was to offer a hunting trip along side it.  It was the opening weekend of turkey season and the deer lease in Mason is only an hour and a half from San Antonio – perfect!  

It was one of the most amazing weekends! The bluebonnets were in perfect bloom.  It was a surreal scene sitting on top of the hill with my husband watching the sun rise over the hill country, the fields coming to life, and the wildflowers waking with the morning light.   Chad and I travel many weekends so we aren’t consistently in church, but your soul is filled when you engulf yourself in His Creation and experience Him bringing to life another day.

This was my first turkey hunt.  It is definitely different than deer hunting.  I love walking around calling, listening, hunting!  Deer hunting in Texas and Oklahoma is centered around food sources – deer feeders and food plots.  You work to pick the right spot, you sit, and you wait. With turkey hunting you are constantly on the move, calling to the gobblers, listening for their response, and good, old-fashion huntin’ down those birds!  Not to mention the weather is warmer and the scenery is blossoming. 

I decided to try my hand at filming Chad on this hunt.  Chad and I have laughed for days at our unprofessional video skills and our want-to-be commentary.  There is definitely a skill to be learned in filming a hunt.  The number one lesson I learned is you don’t talk behind the camera. For some reason I always felt like I had to be talking and explaining – “this is Chad calling a turkey,” “here is the cabin and the outhouse,” “this is where I sleep,” etc.  It is worse than home videos.  At least home videos have cute kids in their underwear playing fake guitars and air drums! 

The second lesson I learned is that you cannot guess an animal.  You have to be prepared for the animal to come in any direction and at any time.  Chad was working a turkey and that bird was coming to us fast.  It was an adult version of hide and seek!  We had been trailing this bird for some time, and he finally started coming our direction.  We set up the decoy and hurried to hide in the brush knowing the bird was coming up this cleared trail way.  Only, that isn’t the way he came.  Instead he turned and started coming toward us with a large mesquite tree in the way of my view.  It took a lot of patience and a lot of calling to get that bird past the mesquite tree and in view of the camera.  I felt like Michael Waddell’s cameraman when Michael is yelling at him because he can’t get the video shot in an episode of Bone Collector.  If you’ve seen that episode, you know what I’m talking about.

The third lesson I learned is that you have to have a tripod.  If you ever have the privilege of watching our video, you better have a barf bag.  The shaking of the camera will give you motion sickness.  It reminds me of the Blair Witch Project which had people throwing up in the movie theater.  There is something to be said for having the right equipment. 

The fourth thing I learned is that I do not like editing videos!!!!!  I can’t put enough exclamation points at the end of the sentence.  Again, if I had the right equipment and the right programs, this task may be a little easier. However, I was using Microsoft Movie Maker and I spent hours cutting, splicing, story booking, and adding audio to finally get to the end and not be able to save the stupid thing.  I will try to find a different program to use, but it is going to take me a while to get over that experience and sit down to edit a video again! 

Well, I can’t wait to go turkey hunting again.  Turkey season doesn’t start in Oklahoma for a couple more weeks, and hopefully I’ll have a chance to go again.  One of these days maybe we will have the funds to invest in good video equipment, but for now, I will practice with my hand-held home video camera and share precious memories with my husband and kids laughing at our unprofessional, want-to-be hunting videos. 

Turkey Trot for the Ages

Well... I went on my first turkey hunt!  It was a blast!  I was filmin' and Chad was shootin'!  This was also my first time filming a hunt.  It is going to take some practice!  There is so much more to consider when you carry along a camera.  We just have a little hand held home video camera. The quality isn't great, and you probably get sick watching it as the picture bumps around.  You can barely hear what we are saying and barely see what we are doing. Chad and I have laughed for days about our unprofessional, wanna-be video skills!  Then once we got home and I started trying to edit the video... all hell broke loose!  To say the least, editing that video put me in a bad mood!  Not only that, but once I finished, I couldn't save the stupid thing!  I am an engineer, but I cannot manipulate all this media mess! 

Probably the best part of the trip was getting to talk to my grandfather about the history of the deer lease and how our family has played a part in the development of the land and deer population.  I will get that part of the video edited and loaded on here if it kills me!  My grandfather is one of the men in my life that I have the utmost respect for.  I have gone through my life making many difficult decisions, and I have turned to my grandfather to help me in those decisions so many times.  He is beyond wise, and I put so much value in his opinion.  He has lived his life putting his family first and foremost, and part of who I am today is because of him. He was able to kill a turkey this past weekend at the deer lease, and he couldn't of been more excited.  It gets harder and harder for my grandfather to get down to the deer lease, and it takes the help of our entire family, but to see his excitement and thrill in the hunt makes it all worth it. My uncle, Bo, couldn't of put it any better!  Here is the weekend in Bo's words...

So the thrill of the hunt has been around our family for lots of years. In the off season my dad would take me to Gibson's Department Store and we would go to the sporting goods department and just "look" at all the new stuff and talk shop with Tommy, the sporting goods manager. That's back when the folks working in the sporting goods department really knew something about hunting and fishing. Since they talked with lots of sportsmen all day long, you just might find out what color worm the bass were biting or what jig was working best for crappie and even what depth to set your slip cork and how to rig it. You may even find which fields the geese were coming into and could volunteer to help the farmer to keep those darned old geese from trampling his wheat crop and even get his phone number. We would check out the new lures or decoys or calls. It was the beginning of the hunting gear explosion and we were primed for the latest gadget.

Well fast forward about forty years and not much has changed. We are still hunting the same ranch in Mason County and all the old guys that started the lease are gone and now my dad is the only one of the "young group" of hunters left and he is 83 years old this year. Now in the eyes of my sons and niece's and nephew's I am becoming one of the older hunters. Hard to believe while reflecting back on the day my dad asked the staunch old German landowner if he could bring his boy down to hunt. I about cried when Ruben didn't say yes. We got back in the truck and I said "Oh dad... he's not going to let me hunt." and Dad gently said "I have known that old German for lots of years and yes, he didn't say yes, but he didn't say no." About a month later we got a letter from Ruben that said to bring the boy down to hunt. Our family has had lots of great hunts and memories in that old deer cabin. Now my boys can't wait to go and they each have their special things they love to do. The little one just loves to go down to the "Indian Place" and look for arrowheads and dream about how it must have been hundreds of years ago. The twelve year old just wants to drive the camp vehicle, an old Isuzu Trooper that I let him drive on the ranch roads at times. My wife said I would never get to drive my Trooper again. She is right, but that's OK. I think I am going to kind of like being delivered to my deer stand.

My dad hasn't changed much either. He just couldn't wait to show me his new deer feeder. The latest and greatest model that you can load from the ground and it sounds like a helicopter taking off when it throws out the corn from the side. Still a sucker for the latest contraption and no, he didn't buy it at the Sporting Goods store, he found this one on the Internet of all places. Not to be outdone by these young engineers, he designed his own automatic turkey watering gizmo. Pretty slick too. I bet he told me half a dozen times how excited he was about the opening weekend of turkey season. Well we just got back home from the hunt and sure enough, he didn't sleep well, he was so excited about the hunt. When I tucked my boys into the bunk beds they too were so excited they kept the whole camp awake with their excited jabber. Kind of fun to have three generations in the cabin and not sure which one is the most excited about hunting. Well the old man doesn't see as good as he used to and he can't quite hear those really distant gobbles anymore, but guess who brought in the first big ol' gobbler. I remember my dad telling some of the old hunters that he didn't care if he got a buck or not, he just wanted his boys to get one. So now it has come full circle. I didn't care if I got a turkey or not but I wanted the boys to get one and I couldn't have been more excited to see my dad and brother drive up with my dad's gobbler in the back of the truck. 

Yes... at age 83 he is still excited about the hunt.

Post from Chad: Magical Outdoors

Some 20-odd-years ago my parents purchased a small ranch in South-Central Oklahoma. Since then I have  taken several nice deer in the 130's, a couple in the 140's, and one deer that I'm sure would have made it in the 150's. Unfortunately, I did not find him till a year later. I have been fortunate enough to see some great deer.  I have even taken a shot at a deer I later learned was killed by another hunter that scored over the 180 mark. Over the years there have been deer that I am blessed to have the privilege of seeing while hunting: a 1-year-old 10-point with split g2's, a 3-year-old with a great 130+ 14-point rack, and just two years ago a 22+ point buck. Yes, there are a lot of people that see these types of deer, but not everyone gets to see and help grow them on their own place.

I do not think anyone will disagree when I say a hunter's main goal is to see and grow big bucks.  However, one thing I have had the pleasure of seeing in my hunting career is a piebald deer. Yes, piebald deer!  For anyone that has not seen one, they are colored similar to an English pointer. About 10 years ago while hunting up the hill from our small cabin at the ranch, I saw something that, truthfully, scared the S!#T out of me. It looked like a ghost deer.  I thought this is it!  This is what I get for shooting all those small bucks!  He was facing me straight on and from his feet to his ears was solid white. When he finally turned broad side I could see that he had splotches of brown and white. I knew then that I was seeing something that I might never see again.  As I watched him, my young finger really wanted to pull the trigger on my gun, but the sportsman side of me told me not to. Still today, I am glad I didn't. Unfortunately, later on that year I was in a local hunting store and saw the picture of the same buck. Another hunter had taken the deer. I was broken hearted.  I thought for sure that I would never see anything like that again.

Well, I was wrong.  As most of you know, we had an extreme drought this year in, what I call, the southern part of the Midwest.  In June I started getting pictures of bucks and does at the feeders and protein stations, when I usually only have pics of hogs and coons.  I had some funny looking pictures on my camera and one of the deer had some funny coloring to it. I was having a hard time telling if it was the deer or the camera.  My camera had started malfunctioning  and taking bad pics, so immediately I purchased a new one which worked great. It was then I realized there was another piebald deer in the woods. She is just a yearling doe, but I was fortunate enough to see her on several occasions, and I am hoping to watch her grow over the next few years.

As hunters there are things that we take for granted, but keep in mind you are seeing things that most people do not, or something that you may not get the chance to see again.      -Chad

Female Hunting Heritage

I grew up in a hunting family.  We have had a family deer lease in Mason County, TX that has served five generations of my family.  Many people joke that Chad married me for my hunting family... not for me!  It has been a tradition for many years for my great-grandfather, grandfather, father, uncles, cousins, and now, my husband and sons to hunt at this deer lease. The weekends at the deer lease are for male bonding - because only men could stand to stay out there.  The decades old outhouse, and the mice and roach invested, tin roofed, dilapidated cabin should be burned down in my female opinion! The deer lease is definitely a man's world!  But, times are changing and hunting is no longer just a male sport.

With all these hunters in my family, I was never taken hunting as a child.  There are far too few stories of girls being brought up with their families teaching them how to hunt as children.  The growing number of huntresses I talk to got into the sport by their husbands/boyfriends in their adult years.  I believe this goes to show how the image of the female hunter is changing. It is pretty obvious from the hunting industry's attention to the female hunter that this is where the future of the hunting legacy is heading.  From hunting apparel made to fit the woman hunter, to bows and guns made to attract the female eye, to hunting organizations formed to support the female hunter, we have gained the attention of the male dominated hunting industry.

According to the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) 2012 annual report, female hunters have increased dramatically.  Female hunters have increased from 13.8% of all hunters in 2002 to 16.3% of all hunters in 2009 (see http://www.qdma.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/WR2012.pdf) and that number continues to go up.  What was even more interesting to me was that the average age of the male hunter ranges from 36.8 (in archery) to 40.9 (in muzzleloader), compared to the average age of the female hunter is 32.0 (in muzzleloader) to 35.5 (in firearms).  And on top of that, the greatest increase in female hunters was in the 17-24 year age range.

More and more moms and dads are taking their daughters hunting.  We have a good friend who takes his daughters hunting every chance he gets.  It is hard to compete with cheerleading, soccer games, and weekend sleep overs, but they love being in the woods and spending time with their daddy.  Teaching girls to love nature and how to use a gun not only increases the number of future hunters and continues the hunting heritage, but it teaches girls patience, preparation, confidence, and self worth.  Qualities that many 
girls find hard to associate with in today's society.

Unfortunately, even the hunting industry has started to feed on the female image by sporting sexy marketing ads.  I get frustrated seeing the camouflage swimsuits, lingerie, and skimpy clothing sold by major hunting retailers.  Camouflage has a purpose and it has never been to make you look sexy!  However, hunting is still a male dominated sport and sex sells! It makes me literally sick to see the "booth babes" that adorn many of the retailer's booths at trade shows and exhibitions. The degradation of women in an industry that has the opportunity to really build the self esteem of girls turns me away from those retailers and hurts the future of this sport.

Take your daughters out hunting.  It is an amazing way to increase their confidence and self worth, and it is so important in today's society and for the future of hunting.