My last hunt

Tomorrow in the morning will be my last hunt of the 2009 season. I might not have shot anything to put in a starving persons stomach which I feel bad about because I had a few opportunities that I passed on...if you remember I usually donate my deer to the FHFH..Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry, but I did feel I learned from all of my failures and will move on to next season.

Even though without a doubt I always felt I was set up properly, I never did see the monster buck walk under my stand, go by my setup blind, or ambush point. I felt that any given moment a deer would step out and I would get my chance. However, a meatless freezer is my proof that nothing of measurable antler size deer came by. How many others did the same thing? I bet a lot.

Hunters in the NW Indiana area will definitely be anticipating next years season. Hopefully the weather cooperates and the corn will be taken out before the deer rutting season.

Tomorrow, my philosophy is ...."if it's brown, it's down." Any doe or buck that walks within 30 yards will be taken.

Happy Birthday GRANDMA G

Enjoy your day!

Here are some pictures of today's outdoor adventures:





Dancer's wet gloves...funny!









Since it snowed over the night, we decided to play in the snow....The snow was alittle dry, but we did manage to make a decent snowball...just not large snow ball types for a huge snowman. Hunter and Dancer became cold very fast so we were only out there for 20 minutes tops...which was okay by me because I forgot to bring a hat and gloves.

No skill

I'm finding that when I believe I might have the perfect setup...good wind direction..so on and so forth...I just don't have any luck or maybe it's just that I don't have the skills to be a good whitetail hunter. But it is very depressing..all these years...no trophy, alot of good memories and peaceful times, but nothing hanging on my wall.

another try...

Going later today...fresh snow on the ground...deer hungry...I must sit by corn field or beans...I'm going to try corn this evening. I'll keep you posted....this has to be the day!!!!!

Okay the craziness..

People obviously know the passion of deer hunters because I just woke up to my alarm 15 minutes ago...while most are sleeping, hunters are sitting in the woods waiting for daybreak....but they have to get out there early so as to not alarm the deer. I usually get out there 1 hour before "shooting" time. THIS is IT!

Last day

Tomorrow is the last day of Muzzleloader season...will it be the day?

Faith, love and.....

No I haven't forgotten about this blog, it's just that I haven't had much to say about my hunting ordeals. It has been without a doubt the slowest deer hunting season on record. Not just for my sake, but for all seasoned hunters as well; they have not witnessed the deer move like they have had in previous years. We (my hunting friends) have tried to figure it out. Is it because of the weather? Rainy? Unseasonably warm? Deer movement in the night rather than at daybreak, or dusk? Standing corn?

A lot of hunters thought it was the last question...Corn. A bunch of corn was standing late into the 2009 year because of the rain and the cost of drying the corn in bins, the farmers let it stand, creating great cover for the deer. The deer really never had to move far from the corn. They had everything they needed right in the cover of the corn....food from the corn, water from the puddles in the rows of corn, and acres upon acres of standing cover.

But after the rain had dwindled, the corn had been harvested, still no signs of deer movement. Why!! (Notice I exclaimed that not questioned the Why!) The deer are perplexing creatures...they outsmarted a great many hunters this year.

Deer season is not over...I have a few more weeks left. After most have put away their guns, waiting for another season, I will be sitting anxiously with my bow in arms, hoping that the MONSTER buck will walk under my stand! I have faith that I will see a big buck; I love the outdoors even if it's below freezing, and HOPE that one day I will be lucky enough to say I outwitted, outlasted, and outplayed a mature whitetail!

Learning to ride

A few short hours of July 27 and July 28th 2009 for Dancer was huge. This picture is right before your first attempt at riding your bike. You were all worried that you were going to hurt yourself, even though the picture doesn't show it.



Learning to ride a bike was something that I remember was very challenging, and a bit awkward. Your Great Grandpa W. was visiting us on Nellis AFB out in Las Vegas when it happened to me- that monumental occasion in a child's life when you gain a little more freedom by riding your bike. At first, I took short trips of pedaling then I would fall. Great Grandpa would take his time, keep his patience and help me restart. After awhile, I eventually went all the way around the block all by myself, beaming with pride as I sped faster and faster in the direction of Grandpa W. and my mom. I could see on their faces the happiness they felt for me and it was comforting, but out of nowhere it seems a car appeared. Oh no, what do I do? I remember thinking. This was not a moving car, but a car that was parked and before I could make any quick adjustments, I ran directly into it, racking myself in the process. Ouch! The next thing I knew Mom and Great Grandpa were running in my direction and all I remember after that was soaking in the tub.

I fell off my bike a lot because I couldn't keep my balance all that well; however, Dancer you learned how to ride a bike in a matter of hours.



Mom and I took turns following you around. You first took approximately 2 turns of the pedal then the bike would fall over, but you were on grass and never really scraped your body up. After pedaling on grass and going around Grandma Gail's house a few times, you ended up pedaling about 20 yards all by yourself. This hour long practice session was very exceptional, then we called it quits for the evening.

The next morning, we were over at Grandma and Papa's house and within 10 minutes you were going 50-100 yards on the road without stopping. What a few great hours and you had a blast!



Here are a few pictures of your first evening of bike riding without training wheels.



Congratulations Dancer!! This will probably be something you will remember the rest of your life as well...a bit more freedom and it all happened in the great outdoors!

Sibling Fighting

A few days ago, Dancer and Hunter decided to play outside. It was cool enough; low humidity and the sun meandered in and out of the clouds, helping to relieve some of the heat of the sun rays.

They decided to play with a small plastic basketball out in the yard.



Hunter being the all-boy that he his- took it and quickly ran for a 21 month old, saying "Mine, mine!"







Both had a good time bickering back and forth over who played with the ball, just another part of growing up sibling style!

Beautiful Quotes(click on this to go to where I found these quotes) and if it doesnt take you there it's deeranddeerhunting.com

The following are quotes that I found on a website that influential people said. The first is by Aldo Leopold.(here's a pic of him and his shack in Wisconsin)



Aldo Leopold (1887- 1948, ecologist, forester, and environmentalist) was considered the father of wildlife management in the U.S. and an avid fisherman and hunter said the following:


“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we many begin to use it with love and respect. “ Aldo Leopold



The next quote is from Fred Bear, bow hunter and bow maker (1902-1988) Picture is of his 1000 lb brown bear he shot while in Alaska in 1960)



“Go afield with a good attitude, with respect for the wildlife you hunt and for the forest and fields in which you walk. Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience. It will cleanse your soul and make you a better person.” Fred Bear

When “The Everyday Hunter” isn’t hunting, he’s thinking about hunting, talking about hunting, dreaming about hunting, writing about hunting, or wishing he were hunting. (from the everyday hunter website)

To my readers, what quote is your favorite quote ( it doesnt have to be about hunting either) ????

July 5th Celebration!

July 4th in the state of Indiana was rainy all day long. In the evening, we traveled 20 miles to our southwest to watch a fireworks display, but it was cancelled because of the rain. Hunter you didn't make to the neighboring town without going to sleep in your car seat and Dancer you stayed up late again, but no fireworks.







Here we were playing a friendly, no cheating game of Wa-Shoos..a game similar to Horseshoes without the danger of a heavy metal horseshoe flying through the air. Look up the game at this site www.wa-shoos.com


The following day was absolutely gorgeous! A bit hot at times but it's July- you should expect that and we had the pool to cool us off, so all in all a great 4th of July one day late :)

Here are a few pics: (Once again enjoy the great Indiana skies!)
Later that evening we tried to see a display of fireworks again in another town, and success...



...here's a couple of shots of fireworks.





Happy 5th of July America!

Happy 4th of July!

Every Fourth of July and Memorial Day, I think of people that have served in our Armed Forces. Civilians, people who never served in the military, really take their citizenship of the U.S. for granted. They go about their life trying to make a living and they usually talk a good game about the servicemen of their country but they really don't understand the sacrifices that servicemen must partake. I guess I am fortunate to really understand. You see if my dad had been shot down while fighting over Vietnam, which almost occurred as a missile went right past one of the wings. Fortunately for Dad and I the missile didn't explode because if it had, I never would have been here and Dancer and Hunter you would have never existed.

Dancer and Hunter- You had a grandpa Kenny that served in the Korean Conflict (War). Grandma says that he never ate rice back in the States because it reminded him of Korea and all the times he ate rice. He had enough!



Your Great Grandpa on your Dad's side served in World War 2 on a ship. He was in the Navy. His boat was sunk. I guess maybe that's why he hardly ever went in the water at a pool we used to have in Las Vegas. You also had an Uncle Wally who also served in the Navy and his boat sunk too. He saved a friend from drowning after the boat sunk. I never saw him go into the water as well. Everyone's memories haunt us or we enjoy our memories! The mind is crazy blob of matter. Isn't it?

Here are a few pictures of the plane Grandpa (Papa) flew in Vietnam:



Here's a picture of a squadron of F-105's. I wonder how many of these were shot down, changing the lives of so many.




Here's another F-105...This plane would go in first, knock out all the Surface to Air Missiles (S.A.M.S), and then they would bring in the big B-52's and bomb the Viet Kong into oblivion.



HAPPY 4th of JULY everyone! Don't take our United States for granted!

The Drive In experience

On the big OUTDOOR screen before the movie started, the theater had information about the number of DRIVE In movie theaters during the height of this niche in the movie industry. I didnt find any research about the amount but they said there was at one time over 4,300 drive ins; however, today there are only 400. I guess we are priviliged to partake in this outdoor theater experience!



The first one was located in Camden, New Jersey in 1933. The price of admission was 25 cents for the car and 25 cents per person. Last night, with 2 adults, 1 child, and a child under 2 the price was $20.00. How things have changed?

We saw the movie ICE AGE: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Hunter eventually fell asleep, but Dancer stayed up to 10:00p.m., enjoying the movie, eating Gobstoppers, Red Vine Cherry Licorice, and Starcrunches. Needless to say, her stomach hurt.



This was just another way to enjoy the great outdoors!

Kite flying.mov

Kite Flying 101

Dancer and Hunter tagged along with Old Hunter again and we went to the most wide open space we could think of...I guess maybe we could have driven over to the high school but we ended up in the newest part of the town cemetary. No big trees or utility poles around and the wind was blowing hard again today, so what better way than to fly a kite. Now Hunter had never been before, but Dancer had. She loved it and so did he!












You can tell by the pictures that they were enjoying themselves!



Hunter had to go inspect the truck and make sure his dad cleaned the wheels enough. (Remember, he's not even 2 yet..so the attention span is not much)




Dancer actually was flying the kite herself for over 5 minutes and the kite was diving all over the place.



The vlog above this blog was one of her first attempts, she did awesome, and Hunter loved helping, running around, and being in the great outdoors.