Dreaming of Hunting Season

This past weekend we were out on our boat fishing for blue gill. As I sat there watching my bobber, I found myself daydreaming of hunting. So today I looked up the opening date.
 There are 110 days until PA archery hunting season starts.

Typically the temperature is on the rise in June and we are starting to spend our weekends on the lake. I love the long lazy sunny days playing in the water and reading in the sun or fishing. I would be extremely happy if we had a few more weeks of warm weather here in PA. This year my mind is skipping over summer and looking forward to the fall and hunting season. (I'm NOT trying to wish my summer away by any means.) Usually I don't start thinking about the fall until August.

I have started watching hunting shows again. When ever I am home and in the house I turn either the Outdoor Channel or Sportsman Channel on. Even if I am not sitting down watching. I like to listen while I'm cooking dinner or doing other chores.  I would venture to say that I might have deer on the brain!

All the new promos for the new season of hunting shows are starting to surface. They are just fueling my daydreaming. I can't wait for July when the new seasons start.

This time of year can really get you excited for hunting, whether you are starting to watch hunting shows again, starting to practice shooting, scouting for places to put your tree stands or getting your food plot in. Which ever stage you are at, have and keep dreaming!

Are you getting excited about hunting season? What gets you excited to hunt?

Girls Hunt Day

Sarah & I

This week I had my first ever Girls Hunting Day!

Last week Sarah and I got to go out in the woods after work. Unfortunately we did not see anything in the stand. We did see 2 does when we were walking out of the woods.

This is also Sarah's first archery season. She started hunting last year during rifle season, but has been eluded by the whitetails of PA.

I get to Sarah's house to change my clothes and she greets me with gifts. A new flashlight and a head lamp. Sarah is so good to me! As we are putting on our face paint,  before going out in the woods, Sarah says to me "Is bad that I love painting my face?" I reply, "I like doing it to. I never put it on the same way." Our you can take the girl out of girly things but you will never take the girly out of the girl. Common it is still putting make-up on.

Maybe a reason why we did not see many deer was that Sarah's alarm on her phone went off while we were in the treestand. Nope...It's because all the crazy squirrels talking to the deer and telling them we were out there waiting for them. We are convinced that the animals communicate. We will not let our lack of seeing deer get us down. We will be back out in the woods again on another girls hunt. After hunting, we went down to our local tavern for a couple of beers. We talked about someday going on a big all women's hunt. Maybe for boars. How many of you ladies go on women only hunting trips? Do you get to hunt with your girl friends regularly? I know that this was just the first of many girls hunts, but I will remember this day always.

Going hunting with my hubby is a great bonding experience. But there is just something about hunting with your girlfriends.

Anticipation....

Opening archery day in PA, has been looming for so long. When it was finally the week before opening day, I was just so bubbly and excited. I couldn't stop smiling or contain myself. We had some trail came pictures of deer near my stand.

I had been doing my reading of Bowhunting World magazine and Hunting Mature Whitetails. I guess you could say I was on deer overload.  Can you sympathize with me?

Now remember, this was my first ever deer hunt. Like any new adventure...you really have no idea what you are getting yourself into. I started to realize that part of my excitement for my first hunt was that I was hopefully going to be able to provide for my family in a way that I have never done before. I grew up eating venison and I love it! So for me thinking about myself, shooting the deer and putting food on the table was unreal. I would eventually be cooking venison that I harvested.  It still excites me. I'm getting excited to hunt again this weekend, just thinking about it. I am going to take great pride in know that I can put food on our table that I harvested from the woods and not just meat that I bought at the supermarket.

Some Light Reading

(both cover pictures stolen from respective webpages)

I have been doing some reading over the winter months. I am trying to become more knowledgeable about whitetail hunting, especially bow hunting. Since I am new to hunting and archery, I figured there was not a better way than to read up on my new found past times.

Lee & Tiffany are my favorite hunting couples to watch. (Although I am becoming really fond of Driven TV and The Chase.) So of course, I had to read Hunting Mature Whitetails The Lakosky Way. I learned a lot about food plots and land management. You also get the background on Lee and Tiffany, I really enjoyed that part.

It was my hubby's decision on which magazine we would subscribe to. He chose Bowhunting World. Each month there is a wealth of information on bow hunting. In my current issue, I am reading about the must have deer calls. I do have Primos Tiffany Mid Tone Deer Grunt Call. But I have not mastered how to use it so I haven't taken it out to the woods.  One thing this article has convinced me of is that I want to purchase a doe bleat. What are your go to deer calls?

Now I need to find a new hunting book to read. Any suggestions?