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!