A Little Hunting Poem

I found a bow hunting poem a while back that I really enjoyed. So I thought I would give it a try.
Here is my little hunting poem

I climb up this ladder stand, 

15 ft up in the air,

 have to be still, quiet and stealthy,

Now I  WAIT, 

sometimes for days I WAIT to see deer,

when and if the opportunity presents itself, 

I MUST carefully place my arrow straight into my prey, 

ethically... in order to put dinner on the table.

 For non hunters,
 this is just a little glimpse of hunting. 
Providing for my family on a whole other level.
Bow hunting is not for everyone. 
Yet I love the challenge. 
 I cherish the opportunities and the successes.
The thrill of the hunt can only be felt by a hunter. 

 I am a bow hunter! :)

Meet Hunter James

This is the first of two "Meet Hunter".... I want to introduce you to the 2 men in my life that inspire me and help me to continually grow as a huntress.  So today I want you to meet my brother...James. I asked James the same questions that I ask my Huntresses.

1. What was your first hunting experience? 
Sparrows, in the backyard with my Quicksilver BB gun. Actual first chance to wack something nice was in Cuba, New York.  I was with my dad, it was the 3rd drive of the day, I was about 10 years old and all bundled up in a snowsuit. We had walked across a blustery field and then came to a pine block and I saw 3 ruffed grouse on the ground about 10 yards away. I told dad not to move, we stopped and I eased up my 760 with the cross-hairs on the bird. Snap PFFFFFTTTT. Dad was shocked. 

2. Who got you into hunting? My dad.

3. What is your most memorable hunting experience? 
Most memorable hunting experience, wow I need a criteria for that. I would have to say bird hunting for the first time I ever went to Tonowanda swamp duck hunting with dad. We got there late but the birds were like mosquitoes. I shot my first drake wood duck, a drake mallard and 2 green wing teal (AKA...pocket ducks). We didn't hunt the pocket ducks after the first year because there was not much to eat on them.

4. What are your hobbies, besides hunting?
Hockey, fishing, football, watching sports, movies at the drive-inn and shopping at Gander Mountain or Bass Pro shops. I really like bass tournaments. I also like to teach people to hunt and fish. It is challenging and rewarding to see them succeed.  I also like to break clay with a shotgun.

5. What are the obstacles you face when hunting? 
My patience. I have to probably be the best impatient hunter there is. I have some techniques that work for my impatience. As I get older I am more impatient. My eyes also. I will have to switch from open sights to a scope in the future. The bugs and poison ivy when spring turkey hunting.

6. What are your favorite hunting sites/shows? 
Roger Raglin Outdoors because he slug hunts whitetails, Pheasants Forever, NWTF turkey shows and Ducks Unlimited (especially now that it's dirty bird Browning sponsored). I like to research on ballistic calculators, bullet trajectory and wind resistance coefficients. I frequent Browning and other major shotgun sites. Airgun reporter is also a favorite.

7. Who inspires you to stay involved in hunting? 
Mainly my nephew and my sister. I like to help people learn to hunt. I might consider retirement after they figure out hunting and kill a big monster. lol

8. How do you stay informed on hunting issues?  
I read Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, what the news and listen to people's scuttle butt. I think it's a jungle out there and a lot of good gun owners/hunters get a bad rap. But it is like every game, it only takes one or two bad apples to spoil the whole crate.

I  hope that all of the huntresses out there have someone in their life to help and inspire them to be the best huntress they can be.

Sarah the Huntress

As I said before, I want to introduce some of my friends that are huntress'. So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to Sarah Thomas (aka...soon to be Mrs. Sarah Brickner!).

What was your first hunting experience?

With my grandpa Masson. I would say I was 8 or 9 and we went squirrel hunting in the woods behind my grandparents house. I also got to use the .22 that was given to my mom on her 12th birthday from my grandpa.

Who got you into hunting?

I would say my grandfather, Masson, at a young age...but now my fiance got me back into it a little over 2 years ago.

What is your most memorable hunting experience?

Hunting with Cristy (the author) on a "girls day hunt". It was a lot of fun and we didn't have the guys there telling us what we were doing wrong or anything. :) We had good quality girl time in the woods and we didn't even see a deer. 

Since you are getting married soon. Do you plan to continue hunting as you start your new family?

We absolutely will continue to hunt and as kids arrive we will be teaching them to

hunt also. Chad and I are disagreeing on the age...but our children will definitely be involved in the hunting world.

Can you elaborate on things you are excited to pass on to your kids?

I am most excited to pass on the 30/30 that I use to hunt with. It was Chad's grandfather's gun that has been passed down through his family. I am also excited to pass on stories of my grandfather's hunting days.

What are your hobbies, besides hunting?

I love to be out in the sun! I love boating. I also want to see all the 7 wonders of the world before I die. I hope that as a family, down the road, we will travel as much or more than I did growing up.

What are the obstacles you face when hunting?

The biggest 2 obstacles that I face are: 1. being color blind. I have a really hard time seeing different colors. 2. I want to shoot to kill. I struggle with the possibility of walking up onto an animal laying there suffering.

What are your favorite hunting sites?

I don't spend a lot of time online looking at hunting stuff....however I am a sucker for Girls with Guns, Just for Does and Her Camo Shop.

Who inspires you to stay involved in hunting?

My fiance Chad does. I would say in our lifestyle I don't have much room to say no or not be interested. Also another big motivator is our friends...almost all of them hunt.

How do you stay informed on hunting issues?

Chad and his father are very up to date on all that stuff, so I always hear it from them!

Hunting with Toddlers

Spring gobbler season is wrapping up here and I'm bummed that I didn't get to go out hunting more. But at the same time I had been feeling guilty about going hunting. We have a toddler, so when ever we go hunting we have to have G spend the night at a grandparent's house.

So this spring between hunting and working, G had to be with a his grandparents or a babysitter 3 weekends in a row. That makes me feel very guilty. I work all week long, then to have him be with someone else on the weekends really ramps up the mommy guilt. When I was out hunting I was thinking about much better it will be when G is old enough to go hunting with us. But when is old enough?

When did you first take your toddler hunting? What animal where you hunting for?  Our soon to be 4 year old has been out squirrel, rabbit and wood chuck hunting with his Dad and Poppa. We plan to continue doing this when ever we can.

Our tot is not ready to sit quietly for a couple hours to be able to go hunting with us. Heck, he gets bored fishing if the fish are not "jumping in the boat".   :)

He does like to go small game hunting with us during the fall and I know when he is ready we will love hunting. But until that point I don't think my mommy guilt will be going away anytime soon. But I want to keep hunting and I want to hunt more. But until he is ready we will keep asking Grandma and Grandpa to keep G over night, so that Mommy and Daddy can hunt.

So for the parents of toddlers, how do/did you handle hunting with small children?

Cristy the Huntress...

So I thought that it might be nice for my readers to get to know me the huntress a bit better. So I came up with a series of questions to answer for you.  Feel free to ask more questions in the comment section.

What was my first hunting experience?  My first time hunting was for spring gobbler. My hubby took me out and we sat in a blind on a very cold spring morning. The first sounds of the turkeys gobbling were amazing.  I will always remember that morning. And of course, I didn't dress warm enough.

Who got me interested in hunting?  Myself. I have been around hunting my whole life but never really wanted to go.  After my hubby got me a compound bow so that we could shoot together and go to 3D shoots. I started surfing the web for articles on women bow shooters and I discovered that lots of women hunted and enjoyed doing it. Seeing the pictures of their harvests was inspiring and so I decided to ask hubby if he would take me hunting. He was SHOCKED!

My most memorable hunt?  Since I have only been hunting a short time, I would say when I got my deer. To read more about getting my first deer, click here.

What do I do when I am not hunting?  I am a wife and mom of a 4 year old boy. I work full time at a college. When I'm not doing house work or working, I enjoy spending time with my family, going to 3D archery shoots, 4 wheeling, fishing, boating, and occasional nights out with my girls dancing.

What inspires me to keep hunting?  My main inspirations are my husband and son. Right now hunting give hubby and I some quiet time together while enjoying nature. And in the future hunting with my son and husband will be wonderful. I am a firm believer in the saying "The family that hunts together stays together." My brother is also a big part of my continued interest. He is always giving me gifts that have to do with hunting. Last Christmas he got me a bunch of turkey calls and a pair of hunting gloves. Of course, the adrenalin rush you get when you are in the woods and you see the animal that you are hunting for.

Left to right: CJ, me, cousin Josh, brother Jimmy

My son shooting

What obstacles have I faced being a huntress?  My first big obstacle is gutting a deer and dragging it. Which I have not yet had to do either of, since I have only harvested one deer so far. I am a bit squeamish when it comes to blood and guts. So I bought field dressing gloves for my next kill. I would also say buying  clothing and boots that are made for a huntress is a little difficult in my neck of the woods. Not a lot of options. I know you can buy stuff online, but I really like to try things on especially if I am spend a hundred plus dollars on something.

So if you have not shared your huntress lifestyle with your family and friends, "What are you waiting for?" It is up to our generation of hunters and huntresses to teach the new generation the ins and outs of hunting so that they may pass the tradition on to the next generation. Take pride in being able to harvest your own food. Go be a great huntress role model.

End of Spring Inventory

It's that time of the year to sort through all of our hunting gear. See what needs washed, repaired or replaced.  If I don't go through things now, it will be September and I will not be ready for hunting season.  Here is my hunting inventory list:

* Equipment- Make sure all your guns are clean and even take the time to clean your bow.  (A good time for me to finally learn how to clean my guns..oops...I''m a bit spoiled!) Make sure your strings on your bow are waxed or get them replaced if they are really frayed.

* Apparel- Make sure to wash everything. I use Scent-A-Way by Hunter's Specialties. In addition to my clothing I also wash my backpack and fanny pack. They get dirty too! I just recently discovered gortex wash, so I might give that a try this year for my rain clothes.  Also make sure to inspect your clothes to see if they need any repairs. I'm ready to get my needle and thread out to stitch up a few rips my hubby has in his pants. Does all your clothing still fit? If not think about handing it down to a younger hunter that may have outgrown last years clothing. Or better yet, give it to a new hunter!

* Footwear- Do you need new boots? Check your boots over for any holes or rips. If you need new boots get them now so you have time to break them in. You will be happy when you don't have blisters during hunting season.

* Stand or blind maintenance- Check over your tree stand or blind thoroughly.  Do you need new tie straps, tree steps or does your blind need a patch job? Or is just time for a new one? Do some research and decided what stand you want to get. Then watch for it to go on sale!

* Scent products- Make sure all your sprays have not expired. Do you need a new bottle of Tinks? How about scent wafers? What is your supply like?

Once you have you inventoried your hunting gear, shop for things that need replaced. You will be happy when hunting season comes around and you are already to go. Now head outside and practice shooting your bow and/or guns!

My Biggest Challenge

You all know that 2012 was my first hunting season. And that I was hooked from the first morning I spent in the woods waiting for the sun to rise and hearing the turkeys gobbling. I thrive to be a better hunter. I work at shooting my bow and my guns (I shoot my bow the most). I read magazines, blogs, and books to help me learn and grow. However, there is one big challenge for me every time I  go into the woods. It didn't surprise me when I realized I was doing it.

The biggest challenge I'm talking about sitting still while I am in the woods. I have always been a bit of a fidgety person. When I am in meetings I cross my legs, uncross them, cross my legs the other way, and uncross them again. I am less fidgety when sitting in my treestand, but I still struggle. I get into my fanny pack to get my chapstick and then I put it back. I switch the way I am holding my bow or gun. When it got colder, I was adjusting my neck gaiter often, because my hair would get in the way when I turned to scan the field behind me.

Usually the first hour is easy, I get lost in my quiet and beautiful surroundings. Then I realize that I will need to sit still for a few more hours. But I am happy to be out in my treestand and can't wait to see what mother nature lets me see.

During archery season, we mainly hunted in the evenings. So after getting situated in my tree stand, I would play on my phone to pass the time. I would post a status update on Facebook or text with friends to see if they were out in the woods or just play a game. As it got closer to "go time" I would put my phone away. But I still had trouble with actually sitting still. I did get a deer this fall so I guess my fidgeting wasn't that bad.

What has a girl go to do to stop fidgeting all the time?

Do you fidget while you are hunting?

What is your biggest challenge?

Balancing Life

Trying to balance everything in life can be tough sometimes. Especially for a family with young children that would like to get out in the woods to whitetail hunt as much as possible. We have been juggling our commitments, activities and family time to be able to squeeze in some deer hunting time.

Since I have discovered my new passion for hunting,  I want to be out in the woods all the time. My job is a 8-5 job so that prevents me from getting out during the week. We also have a 3 year old, so that prevents us from just picking up and going to the woods when ever we feel like. Then there is the weekends that I have to work and all the social engagements we have this time of year.  I am not able to get out in the woods as often as I would like too.

Today is our 6th annual pumpkin carving party. I don't want to give up our party, but I am bummed that I don't get to go out hunting today. The wind is supposed to be the perfect direction for my treestand tonight...but I won't be there. 

The kicker is that next weekend I have to work in the morning then we have another Halloween party to go to in the evening. (However, we may end up going late so that we can go hunting in the evening.) The first weekend in November I have a baby shower for a very dear friend and I wouldn't miss it for anything. So I'm gonna try to get out in the morning.  November 10th will be my last chance to get out, because the 12th is the last day of the first archery season. I will most likely have to work some, but I will try to schedule it so that I can get out for either a morning or afternoon hunt.

The shining light at the end of the tunnel is that we have taken the week of Thanksgiving off. We will be heading to New York to spend some time with my family and get out hunting with my brother and dad for their shotgun season. Then we get back home and will be able to get out to do some small game and turkey hunting. Monday, November 26th is opening day of rifle season in northwest PA. I took the first 2 days off. And I have not even really thought about the second season of archery or muzzleloader season (However, I don't have a muzzleloader. I'll have to see if I can borrow one.)

So the good news is, I do still have plenty of time to kill a big buck this year!