Muscle Tenacity

If you happened to be lured in by the title of this post and think that you may find some great advice on building up your muscles for shooting your bow better, or learning to climb mountains with more efficiency, let me just say now - I'm sorry to disappoint you.

Girls, this one is for you - for all the lady hunters out there with amazing quad muscles due to spending time hunting in the woods. This muscle strength is not due to all the walking and hiking, but rather super muscle tenacity born out of the necessity of relieving oneself where a porcelain throne is nowhere to be found.

I honestly don't think the guys realize how easy they have it in this area. How many times have we pulled over in the truck at our final destination, and the men simply step out and turn the other direction. Problem solved for them. Not me. Every rut, boulder and crevice has been hit by our truck traveling down the dirt road, and with each bounce my bladder stretches and swells like a water balloon threatening to burst at any moment. Now in order to bring relief, I have to walk what seems like a mile because the tree line is sparse or the grove of aspen with it's twinkling little leaves does a poor job of providing any cover. Upon finding a spot where I can blend in appropriately, I then have to dig a little hole. Okay, you may be asking yourself here, why? Just go! Let me explain...

There is a little thing called gravity. When you have consumed a couple cups of coffee, the amount of liquid that can be expelled from one's body can be great. Therefore, it is important to not have to be adjusting the assumed squat position and dancing around puddles while trying to keep your scent free pants wrapped around your ankles, boots and anything tied to your pants from accidentally touching the river now flowing down the side of the hill. It is better to dig a little hole first. Comprende?

Then as your quad muscles begin to scream during the balancing act performance, you begin to wonder, "Did I find a concealed enough spot?" "Is my sun deprived rear end lighting up this hillside like the harvest moon?" (Have I mentioned my idea of camouflage butt paint before?) And as you move to adjust for the new tributary forming from the puddle below, some unseen weed has just poked you in the butt. And don't forget about the bugs!

I guess there is an upside to all of this squatting tribulation. Girls, when all the hiking in the wilderness brings about other urges than just bladder maintenance, we have great muscle tenacity for the job! However, it still may be a good idea to do a little pre-season quad muscle conditioning. I suppose you could just bring a home-made poop chair, but that may look a bit ridiculous strapped to your pack while hunting in the back country. Oh, and whatever you do - don't wear winter overalls with bad zippers. Have you seen the hunting scene from the movie New In Town? Enough said.

P.s. please don't go reporting me to the woodland police for going potty in the woods, but if you do, I may just have a similar response as this Texas judge.

Mule Deer Outside My Front Door

This morning I woke up to Mule deer playing outside my front door. I was able to get them on film - mainly because the buck was a bit distracted by his baby love, Miss Doe Eyes...

Untitled from Emily on Vimeo.

Backyard Evening Reminisce

My sister and her family just left my house a little bit ago on this Thanksgiving evening. It was a grand day filled with turkey feasting, Lego playing, hide and seek games, Holiday Inn movie watching, football cheering, and gingerbread house sticky finger messes.

As I sit here with a hot cup of sugar cookie tea looking through pictures of last summer, I came across some great pictures and thought I would share what a typical evening in our backyard looks like on a summer's night. (Is it a bad sign that winter has just begun and I'm already longing for warm summer nights?)

When you have a backyard view of the mountains, how can you not want to enjoy each evening taking in the sunset with good friends while shooting bows? I can't wait until the sun decides to shine a little bit longer and awakens spring so that this backyard festival can begin again. Until then, I'll dress up my house in white twinkly lights in anticipation for the next holiday aka Christmas.

This is how we do it at my house in the summer:

When asked to strike a pose on the way back from retrieving arrows,

I typically get poses like this...

Or this...

And once and awhile I'll strike gold

and get a pose like this...

(I asked them to strike a "Charlie's Angels" pose;

I'm not sure why they decided to listen to me??)

Reflections on Thankfulness

My husband is a previous non-football fan. Yes, you read that correctly. The recent change of heart occurred after experiencing the reality of a live game. From the sea of orange and blue cheering Bronco fans, to the rumble of the stadium as praises filled the sky, it isn't hard to let yourself surrender and join the excitement. The sport of football is appreciated at a whole new level.

There is a beautiful mystery that takes place when praises flow from a thankful heart. It isn't enough simply to be thankful. The mystery is in the expression, e.g, cheering on a football team, sharing a good hunt, or even delighting in a sunrise's glory. The praise isn't complete until verbalized, and the overflow of joy is allowed to be released.

I'm reminded of the times spent in the woods, the moment when the pursued animal is claimed and the words of thanks pour from the hunter's lips. The joy seems to complete itself the instant when the excitement is shared with friends, family and even strangers. You want to tell everyone - right? How often have your heard, "I can't wait to tell..." When someone joins the excitement, it is as if the glorious moment in time lasts a little longer and lingers with each retelling of the story.

C.S Lewis eloquently put it this way in his book, Reflections on the Psalms...

"I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with..."

Lewis is really dealing with the concept of praising God and his struggle with understanding why people should 'praise' God. It is an interesting question, and I think I understand a little more with each moment of praise expressed.

So, my challenge for you this week... Express this Thanksgiving what you are thankful for. Don't just merely "be thankful" - verbalize it, express it and let your praise be complete. What are you thankful for?

Oh, and to catch a glimpse into the moment of my husband's football conversion. Here is a short video I made of the game:

Broncos Game 2010 from Emily on Vimeo.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Narnia Premiere - Win a Trip to London!

For my next post on my "share the joy" theme of all things related to blessings, contest, and sweepstakes, I've chosen to highlight an opportunity to win a trip to London for the premiere of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I know I have a few CS Lewis / Narnia fans out there that would love to win this!

This contest is wrapping up and will end this Saturday, so act fast! All you have to do is enter a short essay on who your favorite character is and why. If you are chosen as the Grand Prize winner on Monday (Nov 22nd), you could find yourself on a plane to London for the movie premier on November 30th. So, if you are up for a spontaneous trip across the pond - go and enter this contest!

Plus, it sounds like a fun time to be in London right now with the royal engagement just announced. I hope you have your passport ready!

Enter the contest here: www.focusonchristmas.com

Vixens of Versus Country

For the second post of my "share the love" of blessings, contests and sweepstakes, I'm highlighting a sweepstakes currently going on by Versus Country. (Check out their great Friday night shows!)

The "Vixens of Versus Country" Sweepstakes is opportunity for you ladies out there who enjoy the sport of hunting to win a complete hunting outfit from She's Safari. How cool is that!! Now, I have to admit that I'm partial to Prois hunting gear (more on that later), but who would turn down an opportunity to win a complete hunting setup? I always love trying out new hunting gear - how about you?

The details of the contest are found here.

Go - upload photos and talk it up on the Versus site. Have fun!

Disclosure: In keeping with FTC rules, I was contacted directly by Versus who kindly asked to send all my great readers their way.

Blessings, Contests, Sweepstakes, etc

In the spirit of thankfulness, I thought I would share some fun ways to bless others this holiday season. There are some great organizations out there that provide opportunities to easily spread some joy in a tangible way.

I've also been made aware of promotions, contests, sweepstakes, etc., so I'll be sharing those as well. I want all my blogging friends to share my joy and join me in all this contest fun. It will just be one big festive ball of sharing and thankfulness around here for a bit. (Okay, that was a little cheesy, I'm going to blame it on the fertility drugs though. Ha!)

The first on my list: Operation Christmas Child

One of my favorite things to do around this time of year is to participate in Operation Christmas Child. Samaritan's Purse is an international relief organization founded by Billy Graham's son, Franklin Graham. They send out shoe boxes filled with gifts each year to kids all around the world; kids are blessed by these boxes who normally wouldn't receive a gift at all this time of year. The collection for boxes is this week (Nov 15-22), so get busy and fill a box full of joy for a kiddo in need.

1. Pack your shoe box - click here for specific instructions
2. Print a label - here's the link!
3. Find a location near you to drop it off - quick locator here
4. Follow your box - donate here and track where your box goes!

Game Cart Temptation

It may sound like a good idea to simply wheel your game down or up the side of a mountain. It's not - don't do it. If you are ever tempted with the thought of using a game cart in the mountains, let me save you - stop entertaining the thought right now! Don't even think about it. It's a bad Bad idea.

Thanks to a member of our hunting party who thought it would be a brilliant idea to bring a game cart for hauling an elk off the mountain, we tried it once. It wasn't pretty. I wanted to chuck that thing right off the mountain by the time we were done with it. I was so tired and frustrated by the time we got back to the truck that I backed the truck into a tree. Yep! I still get harassed by my husband for that one.

Here is the story...

It was the fall of 2005 when the game cart folly incident occurred. We usually don't hunt a specific area during our hunting trip until the last couple of days because no one wants to drag an elk out of there and you can pretty much guarantee that an elk encounter will happen at the bottom which means hauling an elk UP the entire mountain. It is a place reserved for the last ditch effort and lovingly referred to as the DMZ. The above photo displays this area behind us. It doesn't look so bad from the picture, but one thing I've learned while hunting in the mountains... the terrain can easily fool you!

In the hopes of my first bow elk, I led the way in the early morning hours through waist high ferns, across boulder fields magnifying each bugle like a natural amphitheater and finally to the edge of sky high pine trees marking the entrance of the bottom forest. We were chasing the sounds of a bugling elk and closing the distance with each bugling episode. As we began to inch into the edge of the forest that swallowed up the wapiti, each step taken was absorbed by the soft forest duff concealing all noise and the closeness of something else present was made known by the chill on the back of my neck. With each step forward, I knew the moment may present itself in an instant.

With arrow nocked, feeling a bit like Pocahontas leading her men through the woods - all of the sudden the forest came alive! I was closer than I realized. I had probably 5 bulls scatter all around me!! And then the sound of... "Thud!" "Crash!" was followed by crazy repetitious cow calling. Todd had gotten a shot off. It was his first bull and the excitement caused his glasses to hang from his dazed face as he looked at us with an expression of wild-eyed adrenaline.

Then the moment of realization sunk in - we were at the bottom of the mountain in no-man's land staring at a 5x5 bull elk nestled in a bed of waist-high ferns. The guys were having so much fun watching me sneak around through the woods we didn't realize how far we really were into the forbidden hunting area. Not forbidden as in it isn't legal to hunt here - forbidden as in nobody should consider dragging an elk OUT of here.

It took us probably 12 hours to get that elk out and the first mistake was trying to use a game cart to speed the process. I made the first trip to the truck to retrieve the packs and GAME CART. Now, wheeling that thing down the mountain over the boulders wasn't a big deal and I actually thought we might be able to get the elk out in just one trip. (so wrong!) The first trip up the mountain with that thing took around four hours. Game carts loaded down with 200 lbs of meat do not roll easily through jungles of ferns and rocks and uphill slopes. At one point, I think Todd and I were actually carrying the game cart instead of attempting to wheel the Dang thing!

I'm honestly surprised that Mr. Elk didn't end up at the bottom of the mountain that day in a heap of tenderized meat and game cart wheels. So, let me tell you - if you are ever tempted to simply wheel your meat back to camp. Think twice and don't give into the sweet allure of the game cart. The best option if you don't have pack mules, horses or guides while hunting in the mountains, is a good PACK FRAME. Or you can always find a good wife who is willing to carry it out for you.

For My Guys

This is a little late, but I still wanted to post it for this Veteran's Day. I'm so proud that all of the men in my life have served this country. THANK YOU!

A special thank you to my brother currently in Afghanistan. I love you!!

Rainbow or Cutthroat?

I knew we should have gone fishing on Saturday. Big Al came home with these beauties, and of course we had to come over to take pictures for him...

Since I'm still learning about fishing, I'm not sure what to think about the above fish. It almost looks like a crossbreed of a Rainbow and Cutthroat?? The red gills are throwing me. I know there are some great fishermen who stumble on my blog now and then. Anyone want to help us out on identifying this one?