Pheasant Hunt

In September, I had signed up for my first pheasant hunt with ODFW (Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife) . They provide various workshops throughout the state to help teach beginners how to hunt or fish for as much as $40. This was a two day class in which they teach you everything you need to know about hunting pheasant and then provide you with a handler and dogs for an afternoon and morning hunt. It was located at a wildlife preserve in Klamath Falls.

It is a fabulous program that is great for woman who want to get into hunting but don't know how or have someone to show them. See, I had graciously been gifted a beautiful Benelli Legacy 12G shotgun for Christmas the year before and was anxious to put it to good use. My only problem was pheasant season was during big game season so I jumped on this class. It was something I could do all on my own without the help of Hacker who had elk and deer on the brain.

It turned out to be a beautiful weekend. That first morning they ran through all the hunting rules and regs. Then they took us out for some practice shooting with clays. Let me tell you, it is not as easy as it looks. Then we were paired up with our handlers and their dogs for an afternoon hunt. It was so much fun. We headed out into these grass fields and would watch the dogs work. My handler had a pointer instead of a flusher so I learned how the dog worked and its actions. Just learning the dog was an experience in and of its self. She did end up  getting a couple birds up for me that day but, I missed. The following morning we headed out again. I got one shot off, missed and then put the stock on another. I was able to see the bird sitting there in the pond just fluffing away. It was a beautiful bird and although I missed the shot, it was fabulous sneaking up on it and seeing it fly.

Sadly, I was having so much fun I never took any pictures but I highly recomend checking your local states calendar for programs such as this one. Oregon also offers BOW which does various outdoor activities and hunts specifically for women. For more visit:
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/education/outdoor_skills/workshops/

My first successful hunt in pictures

 This was our beautiful backdrop! We camped on the side of a dirt road by a little creek! It was absolutely fabulous! We had quite the setup and I'm regretting not taking a picture of it. It was nice waking up to this view every morning though.

 Opening day

 The Guide....

 My first Mule Deer!!!!

 I shot it down a deep canyon which meant packing it up wasn't going to be easy.

 Thankfully our friend brought some mule tape and hooked it to his quad. We dropped it over the side wrapped it around the buck and slowly, painfully lifted the buck up the canyon. Taking care not to damage the horns or hair for a mount.

 Thankfully my guide is also a mountain man so I booked it up the side of the hill and guided them from the top while they did the grunt work.

 The end result: A happy couple. :)

I suck at Blogging

Okay so... lets be honest. I kind of suck at blogging but I've promised to re-new myself and be better at it.
That being said, you have to watch this youtube video called lhamas with hats. Random, I know but it has hilarious, sick humor and yes, there are 4 of them. Don't blame me if you start walking around saying Charlie.

http://youtu.be/kZUPCB9533Y

BowCast at the Bird 2011

I know its been a while but I went to a really fantastic event back in early July and wanted to share my experiences with you all! It's called BowCast at the Bird and it's held at Snow Bird resort in Utah. BowCast, an online podcast site, puts the event on. It includes 4 different 3D courses that are from easy to extreme and this year Shannon and I flew out to represent Nikon Sport Optics sponsorship. As soon as we got there we met up with some of our industry friends and got our bows out. Let the games begin!

The first day four of us ladies, Kerry, Shannon, Melissa and I, set out to test the intermediate course before opening day. We found ourselves blazing a trail through creeks, ant hills and brumble bushes and had an absolute blast. We were slightly muddy by the end of the course but we felt pretty bad ass when it was all said and done. ;)
The next morning we met with people an

Turkey Trophy!

I'm sorry its taken me so long to post this but it's been quite busy at work and well I'm in the midst of getting ready for yet another adventure. That being said... here are some fav photo's from my South Dakota hunt. I was successful in shooting my first turkey, a jake (aka teenager). Therefore, there were not any beards or spurs to show off but I was incredibly excited that I shot my first Turkey. Whole story to come shortly.

PS. Hanging out with Justin Moore was super cool. What a talented bunch of artists!

 Justin Moore, his manager and song writer

 My host, Mike Lipa from Outdoor hub. An awesome outdoor online advertising company!

Proud as puck over my first turkey kill (even if he is a wee little thing)!

 This is my "bad ass" shot

 The band jamin' out in the lodge

 Amy showing off her layers

 Half dazed at 5 am in the blind

Turkey Hunting in Michigan

Hi Friends and Family, 

So I'm going turkey hunting this week. I leave Sunday and fly into Detroit, MI. From there I'll be riding with Mike and his co-worker Andrea to their company's ranch. 

This is the town the ranch is near... and the town is near nothing. 

http://maps.google.com

This is the projected weather.... UGH

And this is what I will be wearing thanks to Shannon. 

SHE Outdoor Apparel Rocks

Outside Hub owns the land they are taking me hunting on (this means good odds) and they use it for their clients. While there, we will be meeting up with a team from Chevrolet who will also be there to film a 30 sec tv spot featuring the up and coming country singer, Justin Moore. Justin is actually bringing his whole tour bus so I'm looking forward to the jam session that I was told will take place. He will also be filmed on his turkey hunt, which will be featured in an upcoming TV show. 

I, on the other hand, will be tromping around in the woods in the second rate blind, praying that I get a turkey so I don't look like a complete idiot in front of Justin Moore... And probably freezing my butt off!

Anyways the Outdoor Hub guys are great and I'm stoked to go on this adventure! I've never been to Michigan, let alone Northern Michigan and I'm excited to see a video shoot, especially when the truck is 8 ft high and Justin if 5ft 2in. Not quite sure how they are going to do that camera angle. 

More importantly, this will be my third season turkey hunting so if I can't shoot a bird, with a shotgun and a guide I think I'll just move on with my life. 

Gobble Gobble!

National Geographic un-contacted tribe

Saw this today and it kind of blew my mind. It's amazing to me that their are still humans in the world who have know idea what the world has become... contacted or un-contacted. Very Cool.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/02/pictures/110202-uncontacted-tribe-pictures-photos-amazon-science-indians-brazil-arrows/?source=fohomesc1#/uncontacted-tribes-new-pictures-huts_31965_600x450.jpg

Rogue Blackberry Pie

Making a pie isn't the easiest of things. There have been many a times where I've thrown my hands up as well as the pie crust and landed it in the trash. However, over time and my mom's amazing pie skills, I've slowly learned the secrets.

Last night I was cleaning out the freezer and noticed a frozen bag of blackberries from last september when we had gone picking on the Rogue River. So... I decided to work on my pie skills and whipped up a blackberry pie. With a little effort and some vanilla ice cream, I was quickly ascending into heaven.

Pie Shell:
2 slightly mounded Cups of Flour
1 t Salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
3-4 T cold water (put a glass of water in the freezer before you start)

Filling:
Enough blackberries to fill a pie shell (4 cups or till its nicely mounded)
1 Cup Sugar
3 T tapioca pudding balls
1 T Salted Butter (cut into small pieces)

Filling: Combine everything except the butter. Let sit for 15 min or while you make your crust.

Pie Shell: Combine flour and salt then add your butter (making sure it is straight out of the fridge so it is cold). Use your pastry cutter to cut in the butter. After a couple minutes you'll start to see clumps forming, if not... keep working. Once you see these clumps, get your water out and a fork. Throw in 3 T of the cold water and then quickly stir it around with your fork until its starts to combine and their aren't any little bits of dry flour, but instead little dough balls. If it still seems dry, add 1/2 T water at a time till it starts to combine. Then Feel the weight of it. It should be slightly moist and heavy (not dry and crumble-y. Then gather the bits of dough to form 2 small balls. One will be for the bottom crust, the other for the top.

Role out normally and place the bottom crust in pie pan - make sure to press it against the sides and bottom. Poor your filling into it and cut up the 1 T Salted butter evenly on top of the berries.

Role out your top crust and pinch together with the bottom crust. Then take a knife and put slits in the top for the liquid to breathe.

Bake at 450 for 10 min, then reduce to 350 and cook for another 40 (or more) minutes.
Wen the crust is dry looking and golden brown on top, it is done. If your dish is clear you can also check the bottom to see if it is cooked. That is the best indicator.

Top with ice cream and enjoy!

Sturgeon Derby on the Willamette

This Saturday I was finally able to get out onto the water and it was absolutely, ridiculously fun! As soon as we got to our hole (around 10 am... my kind of fishing day) they were jumpin' all around us having a hay day. 5 minutes with our lines in and we were catchin' fish left and right. Unfortunately we could only catch and release but we ended the day totaling 15 caught!!!

I hooked and reeled this bad boy in all by myself! (Although I did need help getting it in the boat)

P.S. Thankfully my wildwoodsman has some style. Check out my purple LaCrosse boots. Best insulated rubber boot out there... I heart them!!! Thanks Christopher! Check their site out if you're itchin' for a pair. 

The plywood was probably my best and toughest catch of the day!  

                                                       Another little guy! Check out the whiskers on these dinosaurs!  

Sturgeon on the Willamette

Chris recently wet his line, while I slaved away at my desk.

Santa came early!

I must have been a good girl this year because santa came early and brought me Benelli Legacy 12G!

Outdoor Trails Network Interview

Hey ya'll

I got the opportunity last week to be interviewed on the Outdoor Trails Network, one of the best outdoor radio shows out there. Give 'em listen and hear how I got introduced to bowhunting.
Just click on the link below and hit the play button under "Click Below."

www.outdoortrailsnetwork.com

Cheers!

The Issue with the Window

Being with a Caveman, I have learned many things. 

1. Weather is never an issue 

2. Always be prepared (layer and never leave home without a granola bar)

3. Patience

4. Car windows are impossible to see thru, they must be rolled down when looking for deer, elk or anything that might crawl

It is this last point that brings me to my subject... the clear glass, car door WINDOW. 

First of all when ever you are riding in a car with Chris, you are always looking for deer. Correction, Chris is looking for deer, I'm pretending to look while making sure we don't get killed. And yes, Chris is the guy on I5 that you can't figure out why he is honking (note: This is because he wants the deer to look up to see if any of them have a rack). Also, if deer/elk are clearly in site, or might possibly be in sight, the window must be rolled down. Also note, the window being rolled up and then back down, and then me asking him to role it back up is a constant issue because at some point my nose begins to freeze. 

Now, your probalby asking why he must have the window rolled down, instead of the obvious... looking thru it? I'm not sure. His truck has great windows with a nice side view of wherever he may be  driving but for some reason this window is an obstruction of his view. No not from glare, just the glass itself. I have learned to make use of the other 3 things I've learned from him to cope with this one habit but the last weekend of hunting season I just couldn't help but laugh at it all. 

We sat there in his old 1970's truck, both bundled up to go christmas tree hunting. We headed out at 5 AM for a pre-hunt, hoping to score me a buck before we met up with everyone to find trees. It was freezing cold though so we had the old heater blasting but what do you know, when we get to deer territory the window goes down. "Chris you have a perfectly good window, why don't you just look through it." Like I've said probably a 1,000 times, "Because I can't." hm... 5 min later, can you role it up half way?" He roles it up half way. 20 minutes pass, "Can you put your window up for a couple minutes... please?" He roles it up. Not a minute later, "I think I see buck!" Window goes down, throws it in reverse, "nope its a rock." He continues on... "Chris can you role the window up a bit?" 

And so our hunting adventure went on.... like normal. Finally I got to a point where I was dying laughing at the whole thing. In order to keep me warm and him sane, he stretched his torso so that he could peer out of the top 1/3 of the window he had rolled down. Enjoy the pic! 

There have been many trials and tribulations throughout our relationship but none so much as when I missed a trophy buck.

The second to last Saturday of season, we had gone out around 3 PM to drop something off at a friends house (who lives in the woods) and on the way, looked for deer, just in case. He said he didn't have any good feelings about seeing something but we were giving it a shot. I told him, "Really? Cause I have a great feeling about this. I think we'll see something" But maybe thats because I had just taken an awesome 2 hour nap after our earlier hunt and I was actually able to keep my eyes open this time. Not two minutes later does he slam on the breaks, grab his Monarch X's (that I so graciously supplied him with) and goes wholly S*%$ that's a huge buck! He had so awesomely noticed something very white in a bunch of green shrubbery (He's such an awesome hunter) and that white object was the nose of a ginormous buck... a wall-hanger as Chris would say. We quickly parked and hiked in. 

At this point, I'm really nervous and thinking holly crap.. I have to kill a deer? Actually, I think I even asked Chris as we got out of the truck if I had to kill it, but he was in deer zone already. Chris' eyes instantly have focussed and narrowed, his Cherokee nostrils are flaring and his feet are so quite I can tell the slow elephant behind him is killing him. And then... we step out and there's a beautiful buck beaded down. The wind is in our favor and now I'm thinking, holly S*%$ myself. I start to freak out and grab chris, "What's the plan... I'll draw back and wait for him to stand?" Yes, he says. So I step out draw back and look at the buck. I'm waiting for the buck to slowly stand but he doesn't. He looks at me and 10 seconds later puts his ears forward, then all of a sudden chris lets out a bleep. But sadly the buck doesn't stand, he instead bolts through a whole in the shrubs we didn't account for and he is gone. I'm so stoked that I got that far I'm more excited then anything.. and then I realize I'm standing there while chris is chasing after the deer. Shit, I'm the one with the bow, as I see him hollering at me to follow, but the bucks gone. 

This is when the trials and tribulations of dating a hunter begin, when the 4 winds combine, that I have to understand his frustration only stems from the joy he wants bring me. As I catch up to him I realize he is so frustrated he looks like he's about to cry. He's cursing at the wind saying how huge it was and asking me what happened. I said, "What do you mean what happened, he ran off?" We get in the truck and a long heated discussion of how he can't believe I didn't shoot that buck, occurs. That that would of been a buck of a lifetime for me and my first one no less. He finally mentions something about how I need to draw back right away and focus on the deer and I look at him confused.  I said "Chris, I was drawn back. I was just waiting for him to stand." And thats the day I learned that you can shoot a buck that's bedded down. :) 

Awe...

Our friends father in law came across two, one day old blacktails back in September while mowing his field. He took them to his daughter in-law to be nursed back to health, which she did successfully.  It was pretty cute. Eventually, when you would drive up to their house you were greeted by 3 dogs, and 2 deer. Sadly, the doe was hit by a truck last week but, the button buck is alive and thriving.

Merry Christmas!

Second Season Tomorrow!

Wish me luck! Second season starts tomorrow.
We plan on doing some spot lighting tonight then heading out around 6:00 tomorrow morning.


P.S. I'm bringing my orange head band for you Erica!

ELK Taco Soup

Today we had a Soup Swap at work and thus I was challenged with makeing my first ever batch of Elk Taco Soup on Sunday afternoon.
It was so easy and so tasty, I know this is going to become a quick staple every year. Give it a whirl (feel free to sub beef, turkey, venison or buffalo).

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground elk
• 1/2 of an onion
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 (15 ounce) can mild chili beans (or a can of Kidney beans)
• 1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes 
• 1 (4 ounce) can Ortega fire roasted chopped green chilies
• 1 (1 ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven or large kettle, cook onions and then beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain fat. Add taco seasoning and mix well. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
2. Top with sour cream, cheddar cheese and sliced avocado
3. Serve with homemade white corn bread

For the past month I've been dabbling around with pear jam recipes and this is the best one I've found by far. Thought I'd share it with those adventurous enough to give it a try.  However, being the impatient person that I am, I did make one change to it... I used pectin. :) Good Luck!

CHUNKY VANILLA PEAR JAM
Adapted from “Perfect Preserves” by Nora Carey (Stewart Tabori and Chang, 1990)
Posted in the NY TIMES

5 pounds pears, preferably Bartlett
Grated zest of a lemon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
16 ounces frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups water

• To sterilize your jars and lids, fill a very large pot half full with boiling water. Add the empty jars and lids and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Keep the jars in the hot water.

• Peel, quarter and core the pears. Chop them in small cubes and toss them in a bowl with the lemon zest and lemon juice. Set aside.

• In a large heavy saucepan combine the apple juice concentrate with the vanilla bean and the water. Boil it over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and add the pears and their liquid.

• Bring the mixture to a boil over moderate heat and cook, stirring frequently, about 45 minutes, or until the mixture thickens enough to hold its shape on a spoon and has reached nearly 220 degrees on a candy thermometer.

• Using tongs, carefully remove the jars and lids from the hot water and drain them. Fill the jars with the hot jam, leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top of the jar. Wipe the rims of the jar clean with a dampened cloth and fit the lids on the tops of the jars. Screw on the bands very firmly. Lower the jars into the water and add more hot water so that the water is one to two inches above the jars. Bring to a boil. Cover and boil gently for 10 minutes. Remove the jars to a rack and cool completely. Do not invert.

This recipe contains no added sugar or pectin, something you’ll find in traditional jam recipes. It uses the natural fruit sugars to give a more natural sweetness. The end result is not as gelled or sweet as regular jam, but this leaves you with something that resembles a thick pear sauce. You won’t believe how flavourful this recipe is, especially with the vanilla bean. I had some of the jam over french toast the other day and it was incredible!

Back to Foraging

Now that hunting season is over I'm back to foraging again. The past weekend, Woodsman and I joined in on the infamous Hood River Fruit Loop featuring heirloom apples. It was quite rainy but the beautiful countryside made it worth it, along with the gorgeous apples and pears we came home with. I'm already looking forward to the next fruit loop featuring strawberries next June!

Some Hunting Pics