Miss September

No, I'm not referring to a calendar model or one of those beauty pageants filled with crowns, talent acts and evening gowns. I like watching them every now and then b/c it is a bit entertaining. However, I would never dream of entering a beauty contest myself. That is just not my thing. Plus I'm getting a little old for that and you have to wear makeup and probably the color pink. No thanks. Don't get me wrong, I'm a girl through and through and enjoy getting dressed up when my man has a hunch to take me out on a date night. I've even started wearing heels to the office more often than I wear my Harley riding boots.

Anyway, I've digressed. I've recently discovered that there is a new beauty in town and if there was a beauty pageant for elk of the female gender I think that "Miss September" would win hands down. Take a look for yourself. She is a beauty and I'm sure she will do the trick to get the bulls fired up during the rut this September. So I now have yet another item added to our hunting list of things to buy: "Miss September" from Montana Decoys. Or maybe I should just ask for an elk butt for my birthday next month?? Something about that just sounds so wrong...

Too Sexy for My Camo...

I was looking through some old hunting photos recently and came across this one which made me chuckle a bit. I'm honestly not sure what is going on here...

Comparing camo patterns?

Checking for bugs?

Striking a hunting pose?

Then the next thing that popped into my head was a twisted version of the old "too sexy" song:

"I'm too sexy for my camo too sexy for my camo

so sexy it hurts

And I'm too sexy for hunting camp too sexy for this camp

And I'm too sexy for your hunting party

Too sexy for your hunting party

No way I'm disco dancing

I'm a hunter you know what I mean

And I do my little turn under the camp tent

Yeah under the camp tent under the tent yeah

I do my little turn under the camp tent..."

Okay, I think I need some sleep or exercise.. I've been cooped up in our house for two days due to a freak spring April snowstorm. The good news is that the snow should melt fast. I think it is suppose to be 60 tomorrow.

My Bucket List

Several of my blogger friends have posted their bucket lists (Kari, I love yours and think we should plan a Sturgis trip). So, I've been thinking it is about time that I compose my own list. I think it is a great idea to have a list of fun things that you want to accomplish in your lifetime.

I've been fortunate in my life to have already experienced some great moments, and I've included those also below just b/c I want to make sure that I don't take those moments for granted.

So here it is. The "been there done that" mixed amongst the "I can't wait to do someday" in no particular order...

1. Shoot a mule deer in full velvet
2. See the pyramids in Egypt while riding a camel
3. Experience pure joy of holding your child (minus the pain of childbirth)
4. Touch the Eiffel tower - CHECK
5. Caribou hunt
6. See the northern lights again
7. Put my feet in the Jordan River
8. See the White Cliffs of Dover - CHECK
9. Visit my ancestor's farms in Norway
10. Throw a coin into the Trevi fountain - CHECK
11. Fly fish the streams in Wyoming
12. Dance down the Mirabell gardens in Salzburg where the Sound of Music was filmed - CHECK
13. Take a ride on a gondola through the canals of Venice - CHECK
14. Jump off a bridge into a river just for fun - CHECK
15. Bungee jump (will probably pee my pants)
16. Take a road trip on the Harleys along the coastlines (west coast in the summer / northeast coast in the fall)
17. See the Grand Canyon from below
18. Attend the "Daddy of 'em All" rodeo and hear Chris Ledoux - CHECK
19. Drag race (Tamora if you are reading this, I'm serious.)
20. See whitetails fight during the rut
21. Listen to bagpipes in Scotland
22. Earn my grand slam turkey pin
23. Drink a beer or two at The Eagle and Child pub in Oxford - CHECK
24. Experience New Year's Eve in Times Square
25. Hear the sound of a loon echo across the lake in the Boundary Waters - CHECK

On a serious note.. there are other things that I would love to witness in my lifetime:

1. Every child would be wanted and cared for (born / unborn)
2. Justice would always prevail
3. Love would always win in the end
4. People would stop being stupid

Some ideals to strive towards.. but I know we don't live in a perfect world. The whole sin nature thing keeps getting in the way. The good news is that I believe we are standing on the title page in this lifetime. The rest of the story depends on what is written on your title page so to speak. For me, I know the best is yet to come!

Roadside Treasures

I've got time for a quick blog update before my Monday night t.v. fix, Castle. (I love that show!) I need to get through this quick too b/c my old blind dog is laying next to me and has gas so bad from the leftover venison spaghetti. I need to escape quick! So excuse any spelling errors or if this doesn't string together very well...

Anyway, I want to share our joy about a little treasure that we found on the side of the road. My husband is way better at spotting things of value laying next to or in the road. I don't know how he does it. I can't tell you how many times we will be driving down an old dirt road or even a highway when the next thing I know he is slamming on his brakes (okay not slamming - rolling to a stop) and either he is jumping out to pick something up or I'm instructed to jump out and grab whatever it is. Usually it is a screwdriver, rope, or something that I would never think twice about. (I've been informed that tools no matter what are worth stopping for.) Once or twice we've even stopped for a snake in order to find out if it is a rattler or bull snake. Rattlers get run over and rattles taken. Bull snakes are good and therefore left alone... unless I'm the driver which in that case ALL snakes are run over and you don't stop or think twice about it. Okay, I warned you that I may ramble a bit on this one. I only have a few minutes until my show.

So, the prized possession that we stopped for the other weekend during our Turkey hunting adventures: a map. However, it wasn't just any old map. Upon opening it we learned that this was the prize of all prizes. There were hunting areas circled. Notes written down regarding secret honey holes. We could hardly believe our eyes! Someone I'm sure is truly missing their beloved hunting map. We promise to take good care of it. And since I do feel a little bit guilty that whomever owns this map didn't write down their name /phone number so that we could return it, if you describe it in detail we may consider returning it to you.

Happy Monday everyone! I'm off to watch my show.

The Turkey Escaped... for now

We've returned from our first weekend of turkey hunting. The bad news: the turkey escaped. The good news: I get to bore you all with future turkey posts b/c my tag is good until the end of May. I haven't decided if I'll venture out again this next weekend since it is suppose to rain, and with my luck it just means more snow for the mountains.

We spent a lot of time trudging through waist high snow banks. It was a heck of a work out and even comical at times. Spring time in the mountains means that warmer days are now causing the snow to melt down and the cold nights refreeze the top of the snow banks which usually allows you to walk across the snow drifts on the crusted over surface. However, every few steps one leg will break through and you are off balance with one leg up above and the other completely buried waist high in snow. I thought it was funny. The guys.. not so much. They are taller than me and weigh a bit more so the frequency of falling through the snow was greater for them. Plus I usually got to follow in their footsteps and watch the "funky chicken" walk they were doing through the snow. (I captured some on film.. but I'm saving that for later.)

I was a bit skeptical that the turkeys would even be up this high with all the snow, however, we did have one turkey gobble at us in an area that was completely surrounded by snow. We had just arrived at a new area and was enjoying lunch in the back of the pickup. In the midst of a little stump shooting, stuffing our faces, looking at maps, and practicing our Turkey calls, a turkey actually answered back. He was fairly close too and coming in fast. We all bailed out of the truck bed, threw on our camouflage, grabbed our bows and stuck a few decoys in the ground. Unfortunately, we set up right next to the trucks and we are thinking that caused him to spook b/c we couldn't get him to come the last 100 yards. Oops!

We will try again soon. The turkey quest continues...

Mountain Traffic Jams?

Dog / house sitter is on his way over, and then we will be headed to the high country to see if there are any turkeys wandering around on them thar hills. Hopefully we won't run into any traffic jams!

Bow String Slaps

OUCH! Last night we spent the evening sighting in our bows and getting everything tuned up for our Turkey hunt this weekend. Unfortunately for me this meant that my arm took a bit of a beating. I've never had this issue with my old bow and therefore haven't seen the need for an arm guard. However, I'm rethinking this now that my arm looks like this....

It looks like a big ol' hickey on my forearm.

(Speaking of hickeys, check out the new weekly webcast Your Family Live! that Focus on the Family is doing.

This week's topic was on sex and intimacy. See anyone familiar around the 32 minute mark?)

Shed Hunting and an Interesting Find

A weekend spent in the mountains is such a refreshment to me. I'm so glad that a return trip is scheduled for next weekend. However, the dogs will stay home with the house sitter next time. We have a blind dog that tends to get a bit disoriented and won't eat when he is taken out of his comfort zone. That combined with the fact that walking him in the middle of the night with the knowledge that a mountain lion has been making his presence known around the mountain tends to get on your nerves. Thankfully, my sweet husband was walking him at 2:00 while I was snuggled in bed. What a good guy!

Anyway, I was hopeful that we would be returning home with a truck full of sheds or at least ONE to show for our hiking efforts on Saturday. My hopes went unfulfilled in the antler department as most of the areas we planned on hiking were still inaccessible due to snow. (Another item has now been added to our wish lists... snowshoes!) However, I did find a pretty neat unexpected treasure. Take a look and let me know what you think this may be. I'm honestly not sure but am pretty sure it is some type of spear head or scraper used by someone long ago??? One side is quite a bit sharper than the other and there are even indents along that side as if someone sharpened it. Yes, no, maybe so?

Next weekend... Turkey hunting begins! (Hopefully the snow will melt some.)