Friday night: Preperation!!!! This includes digging all your musty hunting gear out of the basement & don't even think about washing it...Too strong of a scent. The hunting crew (usually it's about 4-5 of us, me being the only girl) and catching up and having some (or in one case LOTS) of beers. This year it involved some red solo cups and A LOT of pistachios! No matter how tired or late it is, it's hard to get to sleep because of the excitement. This year I kept waking up in the middle of the night wondering if it was time. I banned myself from looking at the clock until the alarm went off.
Saturday morning: The alarm goes off no later than 4:30....Or the still drunk guy on your couch is calling your landline to wake you up :) Still half asleep, you drag yourself out of bed, put on ALL your gear and hope you don't sweat too much before making it out the door. We always drive to Vera's & thankfully to her trusty Mule we don't have to walk so far! Everyone is dropped off at their stands....And so it begins.
This is my favorite time! You can look up and see the stars. You can see your breath and it is sooo quiet....Well except for the early birds and squirrels making some ruckus...Causing you to wonder if that's what it is or if there's a big bug standing there that you can't see. Then the sun starts to wake up! Every dark spot looks like a deer. I swear many times I have stared at a bush or a tree for 30 minutes thinking it was a deer. :) And the best sound? That first shot you hear ringing from the hills (for some reason it's never mine :) A smile fills my face & I know it's begun!
This year I was lucky to bring my friend Amanda. I work with her and she has a bucket list & wanted to go hunting! It was nice to have a girl companion. We climbed up into the stand (which isn't the most stable thing in the world)....JUST DONT MOVE & the whole stand won't shake. We heard shots all around us! We saw quite a few does that were pretty far away. I didn't want to shoot at them and ruin the chance of a big ole buck walking by...The big ole buck did walk by, inbetween the cedar trees. All I saw were his ears & BIG antlers...Then he was gone :( A little fork buck walked right into view and stood there almost begging me to shoot them. But we have a rule...If it's not past the ears, you don't shoot it...Darn. Heard some shots and one of the others got a doe. We sat until about 9:30 and watched Beau and Matt get out of their stands and head our way. I saw a doe at about 300 yards. At this point I was bored, so why not? Have to shoot a doe if you shoot a buck... I shot 3 times, and missed :( Amanda says, "That's ok...You were REALLY close!
The boys came and picked us up in the mule...Amanda and I crawled in the back & sat down...Of course, trusty ole Mule wouldn't start. The boys walked back to the house. I am sitting in the back of the mule & I get a text (I'm thinking this has enhance hunting :) text says: Deer coming your way...OOHHH! Deer! I set my gun down and jump out of the back of the mule. The next 30 seconds is a blur ending in pain. What I can figure out is I cought my foot on the tailgate, tripped out of the mule and tried to catch myself. My knee gave out, my ankle twisted & something popped in my lower back. Laying on the ground on my back I think, "This really hurts!" & "Dangit...This is going to cost a lot of money if I have to go to the Dr."
So I hobbled back to the house & spent the next 3 hours napping & icing. My bum knee really limited where we could sit...So Amanda & I went and sat along the crick in the gay barn...Yes I know, the gay barn? It's an enclosed stand sitting on the ground & I have NO clue why they call it the gay barn. We didn't see 1 deer, but I had so much fun! With 3 kids, it makes it tough to spend time with friends...And if I do get time to spend with friends half of it is spent meeting my kids needs, breaking up fights & kissing boo boos. So this uninterrupted time talking to Amanda was just what I needed!
The boys dropped us off & went to their stands. Beau was in his stand a whopping 7 minutes before he took his first shot. We heard the shot...It was only 2:30pm which is not a time where there are a lot of deer moving. We hear the Mule flying through the cornfield toward our stand...We get out & see boy....The kid who looks like he just raided a candy store. And in the back of the mule, a BIG buck! It had an 18 inch spread and was the biggest buck Beau has ever shot! He had me take a pic (Of course I had the camera) and off they went to get back into their stands :)
Darkness sets in & a whole new type of fun sets in...SMALL TOWN BAR! It is tradition to bring your truck, with your BIG deer in it and park it on Main Street in front of the bar. There were 4 of us and of course Beau's truck is not an extended cab. All of us crammed into the truck sitting sideways and getting very cozy ready to go. Beau drove & Amanda had to shift :) We pulled right in the front and here they all come. Half drunken, or completely tanked hunter's file out of the bar to Ooh and Aahh over the "nice rack". We drink, eat gizzards and fried onion rings and be merry! It's always a good time. Lyle's is great!
This year I had to go get the boys and had to leave our house by 11. However, there are very few mornings we don't have the kiddos and can sleep in (our boys are up by 7, every day!)....So this year I opted out of hunting and spent some quality time with my bed..Although I kept waking up feeling guilty I didn't go.
We took the boys out Tuesday night & they of course loved it. Neither one could sit still or shut up to save their lives, but it's always a good time. I can't wait until they get old enough so we can all spend the weekend together huntings a family.
Whew! You weren't prepared to read all of this ;) If you haven't been hunting, you need to go!!!
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