Outdoor Summer Fun

Temps are finally warming up (for the most part). I love being out side when the weather is warm.  However, my house suffers in the summer because I get home from work, change my clothes and head outside with my 4 year old son & hubby. I don't want to be inside cooking, let alone being side because I have to clean. I wanted to tell you what we like to do when the temperature rises.

Here are my top favorite outdoor activities in the summer:

• Being on the water. Whether we are canoeing down a creek or on our pontoon boat (we spend most of our time on the pontoon). We do a LOT of boating during the summer. We meet up with our friends, anchor the boats and hangout all day on and in the water. One water sport that I would like to try doing is kayaking. 

 

• 4 wheeling is another favorite summer activity. There is something about riding all day and getting muddy that just puts a smile on my face. 

• Cookouts & picnics. Hubby is the grill king in our house. We eat our dinner out on our porch almost every night in the summer. Eating outside after a crazy day at work just relaxes me and puts my mind at ease. We also enjoy getting together with our friends for cookouts.

• Fishing! I crave a good fish fry, especially when it is the fresh fish that you caught that day. Fishing is becoming a family weekend activity. I hope to be able to start fishing at least once a week with my hubby and son for the rest of the summer.
  
  
  
  
  
• 3D shoots. On any given shoot, we have about 3 or 4 friends with us. Sometimes we even have a larger group of friends shooting that we divide into girls/guys groups. There is just something about girl time in the woods!

• I enjoy hiking. Walking through nature trails, a field or the woods with my family looking for wildlife. Sometimes we also drive our truck around at night to spot of deer.

• Last but not least camping with my family. Last year was the first time we took our son camping in a tent.  I want to do a little more camping this year, even if we just camp in our backyard on the weekends. I think we will camp in our backyard next weekend! G will love it.

What are your favorite summer outdoor activities? What should I try?

My dream home...

If money was no object and I could have whatever I wanted in my home, I would have a lodge style home. I love all the wood, stone and openness. So I thought I would share some pictures of my favorite lodge spaces. (I LOVE Pinterest!)

The most important room in the house...the kitchen

Living room favorites

Bathrooms

Master Bedroom

Kids Bedrooms

Have you thought about what your dream house would look like? Would it look similar to mine?

Michelle the Huntress

I have decided to introduce you to some of my Huntress friends. So today I will introduce you to Huntress Michelle Mattis. Michelle and I have been friends for quite a few years. She is just getting into shooting a bow and back into hunting. Here is my brief interview with her.

What was your first hunting experience?
Michelle: At the age of 12 or 13. I went to the "big woods" in Warren with my uncle and cousins. I climbed a big hill and sat for hours with out seeing a deer.

Who got you into hunting?
My uncle when I was a child. And you. (She is referring to me, the author when she says "you".)

What is your most memorable hunt?
Climbing the hill and vomiting. Then my cousins telling me suck it up. There is also the time when my cousin lost his contact and took my glasses to wear so he could see to hunt.

How would you like to hunt with your sons someday?
Yes, I think Damon would be the one more likely to go out hunting with me.  I would also like to find a significant other someday, that likes to hunt.

What are your other hobbies?

May 3D Shoot

I work full time as a phlebotomist. I like to got to 3D archery shoots. Boating on the lake in the summer. Also like to dance. When the weather is nice I like to get outside and walk. Ride 4 wheelers.

What do you feel are your obstacles for when you go hunting?
I am afraid of being in the tree stand.  I am afraid of heights. Not seeing anything is also an obstacle I do not want to have.

What are your favorite hunting sites?
Just for Does, The Crush and A Little Pink in a Camo world. Michelle is the recent Facebook winner of a pair of Muck Boots. Just for Does and Muck Boots were having the giveaway. Way to go Michelle!

What motivates you to stay involved with hunting and the outdoors?
You and Caleb. (Caleb, author's husband.) And the strength that I am gaining from shooting my bow. Best part is the "girls" are getting perkier!


How do you stay informed on hunting issues?
You and Caleb.

Bear, Oh my...

A few weeks ago we had a night time visitor...

Now this picture was not taken by us. This was taken up the hill from us. He seams to be visiting other houses in the neighborhood.

Now let me tell you how we found our visitor.

It was around 10/10:30 pm and I had just fallen asleep. Hubby was still up watching tv. He heard some noise outside. There was a bag of garbage on our porch that I had taken out earlier in the evening. (I know, I know I should not have left it there.) He immediately thought it was a cat or a raccoon. He was going to get the .22 to go out and shoot it. As he got up, he happened to glance out the window and saw an unexpected visitor, a black bear.

Next I was being shaken awake...."Babe wake up there is a bear on the front porch!!!"

By the time I got to the window, the bear was just off the porch in the lawn. I was in shock. I had never been that close to a bear. I was speechless. I am not sure I want to be that close again without a gun in my hand.
 (I know I had a window between us, but I was still a bit scared.) Hubby tried to get some pictures, but there was a glare in the window from the light on in the house. :(

In the morning we were outside looking around to see if our visitor left any trace of being there.
 This is what we found.

Those are 5 AA batteries. Wow!

I'm sure glad that hubby didn't just get  the gun and head outside.

Have you had any visitors lately?

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?

Summer... the off Season

Do you put your bow away after spring turkey season or at the end of deer season? Do you wait until a month before archery season to get your bow out and start shooting?  I like archery shooting so much, I shoot almost all year long. I do take a little time off around Christmas.

My favorite off-season activity is 3D shoots at our local archery club. I also enjoy the indoor video hunt league at the archery shops. We shoot pretty much every night, now that the weather has gotten nicer, in my back yard. My good buds Michelle and Sarah come over. Some of hubby's buddies also join us.  I think this summer we should start and annual backyard 3D shoot.  Just something fun to do and a little

friendly competition to push ourselves. (More on that at a later time.)

Michelle

We also take family walks in the woods. Ride our four wheeler. And spend time on the lake, either fishing or just boating with friends.

Then of course we get our practice in with our guns.  Sometimes we go to a shooting range. Other times we shoot in our backyard at targets. Either way is great. We are sharpening our shooting skills and having fun while we do it. I really need to get more target shooting in this summer with my shotgun and my rifle.  However I do not want to shoot to much because I don't want to use up my ammunition. (That still frustrates me that we can't get ammo, I digress.) But I do need to practice so I will have to break down and use some ammo. I have to work on getting my reaction time faster for rabbit hunting.

I have a goal to be at a 50 pound draw weight by hunting season.  So in order to do this, I need to shoot often and I need to train the muscles involved in shooting a bow. Purchasing a bow trainer is a great way to strengthen your back and shoulders.  Here is another exercise that Bowhunter Magazine recommends to strengthen your bow hunting muscles:

Prone T's- improves shoulder stability, strengthens the rotator cuffs, and increases muscle patterns.

To perform the exercise, pull your shoulder blades in toward your spine and extend your arms to the sides to create a T with your torso. Keep your arms long and straight, 90 degrees to your torso. Point your thumbs up, toward the ceiling. Keep your head in line with your spine. Keep your shoulder blades back and down, trying to squeeze them together. You should feel the contraction in the backs of your shoulders and in your upper back between the shoulder blades. I need to do this exercise more often. 

Don't hang your bow up when hunting season is over. Get out there and enjoy the outdoors. Make it a family event.  Who knows you may just make a better kill shot during the next hunting season.

Gun Safety

In today's world gun safety is a very hot topic. Yes, gun safety has always been an important topic, but with the gun-related incidences occurring lately, concerns are at an all time high. With this heightened awareness gun owners have found their selves fighting to preserve our second amendment rights. We want to keep the traditions of hunting and shooting alive for future generations, and the big issue of being able to protect ourselves.

As a child, I grew up knowing that my father hunted and that there were guns in our house. I respected my father's guns. I knew they were not to be played with and it never crossed my mind to look for them or play with them. Back then guns were not portrayed as evil, like they are today. There were not all the school shootings. Guns do not kill people. People kill people.

I want my son to grow up with the same respect for guns that my husband I have. For G's first Christmas he got  a Rossi .410/.22 combo.

So from that point on we have taught him that he does not touch a gun unless he asks first and an adult is with him. We remind him every time we have the guns out. Just because we are teaching him to respect guns and not to touch them, doesn't mean we can now be lax on watching him. Gun safety is a continual education for children. As parents we always need to be aware of  what our children are doing when guns are around.

In this fight to protect our gun rights, we need to strengthen our gun safety efforts. Education is the key. The hunter safety courses are a great start. I think it would be a good thing if there was a gun safety course for younger children. It can' t hurt for children to hear the gun safety from another person even though their parents are teaching them also.

Since we have guns in our home we also don't tempt our child with the guns. We keep most guns out of reach and the few guns that are in the gun cabinet are off limits and G knows that. Ammunition is locked up so he can not get into them.

If you are unsure how to start teaching your child gun safety, check out the NRA's materials for children. They have workbooks and a DVD. The NRA is a great resource for any gun related questions you have.

So please make sure you talk about gun safety with your children every time they are around guns. You could help save a life someday.