It was windy and Hunter was cranky...

So this afternoon my son and I hopped into the truck, and we headed to Ma Ma's house to see if she wanted to go to see the big wind turbines they have been erecting in West Central Indiana. She did! She quickly jumped in the passenger side of the truck and off we went, looking for the new wave of energy that will eventually wean us off of foreign oil.

After about 20 minutes into the ride Hunter who usually falls asleep when we go on a truck adventure, did again today for a brief 10 minute spell, but then after stopping and rolling down the windows to listen to the massive wind turbines, he woke up. Boy, he couldn't believe his eyes! These are the pictures I took this day: (Next time, I will post on you tube so you can hear them for yourself. They aren't as loud as I thought they would be.)







These pictures really don't do these justice as far as how large they are. If you double click on the second picture you can see a generator (i think) at the bottom of the wind turbine which is about 6 feet tall!

Phone call

This afternoon/early evening I hear my phone ringing, but to no avail can I find my phone! So I hit the button that tells me where the phone is...and I search for it...It was underneath a pile of pillows that Hunter and I were playing with. I peer at it, thinking who may be calling me.

It's Dreamer..not his real name. He asks, "Can I bring something down to show me?", and he says it's hunting related. So of course, I say, "Yes, bring it on down." I figured it must have been something with deer because this guy has harvested a monster 140" plus deer and has many impressive deer on his property.

Lo and Behold...

He finds what I have searched for on purpose 2 times before.. antlers!

But these aren't shedded antlers...this is a remarkable, unbelievable set of antlers with deer skull. Check it out!



Dreamer could probably sell this on Ebay and get a nice bit of money for it, but when do you ever come across that..Hunter and Dancer? He probably never will again. What would you do??

4 Wheeling Kid Style

Dancer and Hunter received a gift last year that makes them look like seasoned hunters. As you can tell by the picture, the gift was an electric 4 wheeler. Obviously Dancer was getting too big for the small car she used to ride and Hunter doesnt want to be riding around in a pink car that Dancer had for quite a few years. Here are some pictures from today:

(..Hunter was at home with Mom..you'll get your chance sometime in the years to come)This picture she is SO Serious but after a while....


~"I'm starting to get the hang of this Dad"~


(Now she's just showing off)


ALWAYS stop to smell the roses kids..life is too short...well in this case Grandma Gail's tulips (I think)

3-D shoots.....

With Spring here and warmer weather making its comeback, the possibility of having 3-d shoots out at the archery range, treatment from the winter blues that have been upon us for the last 4 months, a fantasticly fun reality. Yes! This Sunday morning, Papa and I pulled up to the archery range with anticipation and excitement.

The parking lot was about quarter full. Usually the parking lot is about half full; maybe, the other archers were out hunting turkeys since turkey season is upon us.

As I told you in an earlier post, I'd show you some pictures of a 3-d shoot. What exactly is a 3-d shoot? Well, it's kind of like golf you have 2 sides. In golf there is the front 9 holes, then there is another 9 holes called the back nine and the object of the game is to get that tiny ball into a hole anywhere from 100 yards to 500 yards away, counting the strokes it takes you to get the ball in the hole.

Likewise, in 3-d shoots, there is a A side which has 20 shots at different three dimensional animals and a back side with 20 shots or what they call it out at the archery range, the B side. You try to get an arrow into a small circle about the size of a silver dollar coin. The distance you are shooting from is anywhere from approximately 20 yards up to 35 yards. The picture below gives you a better feel for how long and how precise you have to be.



IF you hit that small circle it's 11 points for that shot and target. (Notice on the picture below..this 11 point area is to the right of the black arrow approximately 4 inches so it was a good shot. Definitely would have harvested that animal. But in 3-d shoots it would only score an 8.)



However, if you miss slightly outside there is another circular ring about the size of a large grapefruit, or softball that is drawn on the animal that you'd receive 10 points for that shot. Can you see it on the above picture? Outside of that is a freeform shape, similar to a lung shape that you would receive 8 points for hitting that and any other shot outside that final ring that you hit the animal is 5 points. I hope you can see that. You might notice some of the point areas in the next few pictures.

DOUBLE CLICK ON THIS PICTURE BELOW>>IT SHOWS THE POINT AREAS WELL.



You can see the archery range has a diverse set of 3-d animals from gazelles, turkeys, raccoons, bears, deer, mountain lions, alligators, and more!



By the way, the maximum score you can get is 440 points, I shot a 287. Need more practice! I believe I missed 3 targets so there is 33 possible points I missed just in those 3 shots. So have I done a good job of telling you about 3-d targets? Do you understand a little more about 3-d shoots? Could you tell me how to score a shot? Let me know!

Everyone has to do some hunting!

Dancer and Hunter decided to give hunting a try. No- not the type you're thinking of, but rather kids hunting...Easter style...Here's some pictures of their first "hunting" trip together.






and they even had their picture taken with the Easter Bunny!

Deer Sounds ?!?!

Practice, Practice, Practice

Dancer and I decided to go to the archery range this morning where I normally practice shooting my bow. Today it is pretty chilly so I decided to shoot indoors.
Here's the place I practice every so often...I'm not the best archer out there by any means, but have fun doing it! The picture turned out darker than it is:



The archery range is fairly cheap around this area...$40.00 for single and $50.00 for a family membership for the year. Plus the range is open 24/7, so if you can't sleep, you could pass the time by shooting in there at 3:30 a.m. if you wanted to. Not that I have done that!

Here are some pictures of the range and club...
It has a nice woodburning stove in it to keep you warm, but I always come out of there in the winter time smelling really smoky for obvious reasons.



Here's Dancer by her favorite thing at the archery range...goodies!



She usually enjoys a 3 Musketeer but today it was a bag of Cheetos (One of your great Grandpa W.'s favorites). Off to the far right is the kitchen and next to the Pepsi dispenser is the entrance to the range.



Here's a picture of the Kitchen...



So Dancer decided to take a picture of Daddy shooting...(look at the perfect form) Ha!



The club will have 3-D shoots at least once a month in the spring/summer/fall months...which I will have to show you that sometime. Until then, I will continue to practice, practice, and practice some more!