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

Second to Last weekend of Archery Season

I regret that it has taken me a month to post this but, I still find myself laughing over it at my desk so I feel it is necessary to share the last few moments of hunting season with all of you. Enjoy!

As I grumble and tug at my camo and well, almost poke my eyeballs out trying to get my contacts in, my darling Caveman finally gets me out the door and into the truck.

By the time we get to our normal spot it has warmed up a bit and we start our normal hike to where we drop in. Now the previous week I had been mentally preparing myself for this... the early morning, the cold weather, the big climb up that bastard of a mountain so as we hike in, I'm thrilled by the fact that it's actually warm this morning, when all of a sudden my darling wild woodsman veers right. Wait a minute, we always go left! I begin to panic... this isn't good. I thrive on predictability and he just threw me a curve ball, but I continue quietly so as not to disturb the animal that lives within him (and comes out when I unthinkably step on a stick).

Now by this time of year, a majority of the leaves cover the ground and as we start to cut the side of Goliath it starts to drizzle. Between the rain from the night before, the drizzle now and the wet leaves, I find my self slipping and sliding along the deer trail Caveman has (for some reason) chosen to go this morning.

By the time my right calf is cramping up from trying to hold my body perpendicular to the hill (so as not to tumble into the abyss) I finally hiss, "Where are you going?" Of course I get the normal "shhh." I begin to worry... we are getting very far from the truck and I fear this might turn into a whole day affair of hiking up and down the side of Goliath with no Elk in sight (I am not a billy goat for crying out loud.)

It's beginning to rain slightly heavier now and I’m majorly regretting not putting on my rain gear. Eventually though, Caveman decides to head down hill (thank heavens) where we spot fresh tracks. We get our stalk mode on and of course I step on a stick. He then graces me with the usual comment that I need to step quietly and that I sound like an elephant in the woods but, by this point in the season I'm immune and choose instead to ignore him or give him, the "I'll poke your eyes out look if you turn around one more time and tell me to be quiet darling."

Finally, an hour into the hunt, it starts to poor and lets just say it’s not that warm anymore. The rain wouldn't bother me if I had prepared but, since it was warm and not raining when I left the house I didn't grab my ultra plush SHE rain gear. Bad idea. I smother Caveman as I try to stay warm by sucking all his body heat and we wait out the rain.

We eventually start trudging along again. By the way... we haven't seen a thing and my hopes of sluicing a big one are quickly disintegrating.

Finally after a couple hours, no sight of elk and some lunch, we begin the trek up goliath. UGG! I grin and bare it and thankfully I can keep up with Caveman and his 70 pound pack this time (Side Note: He was a sherpa in his other life and possess a 3rd lung). But this is mainly because all I have to carry is my 4 pound bow. J

Now since I know we are headed for the truck, I’m like a horse headed back to the barn but for some reason Chris keeps stopping. Of course when he starts to slow down I push him on from behind, urging him to keep going. Finally he turns around out of breath and suggests I carry the pack for a while. Sure I say, and with a shocked look on his face, I throw it on, synch it up and take off. His smirk doesn’t detour me and a little bit up the hill I turn around and wait for him.

Now to give you a little insight as to how Cavemen hunts, he’s outfitted from head to toe in his camo gear, carry’s a huge heavy pack filled with everything you might ever need for packing out an elk, (including my 4 cliff bars & sandwich I will devour in less then 4 hrs (I have a really good metabolism) my water, his water and his one cliff bar), and of course his bow. He usually always takes the lead and has a wheat strand hanging from his mouth which he chews the whole time. Then he usually turns around every 5 seconds and says one of the following 3 things to me… shhh, walk quietly, or Kelly, you need to be really quiet because they (the elk) are probably right over this hill. In which case they never are. So.. what do I do. As he’s climbing the hill towards me, I stick a strand of wheat in my mouth, turn around as he approaches me and say real serious like, “Now Chris your going to need to be real quite because they are probably right over this hill.” He is laughing so hard that I’m afraid he’s going to fall over dead and scare off all the living creatures in the woods but I can’t help laughing either. He comments on how good my impression is and I turn around to continue up the hill when he grabs the pack on my back and pulls me towards him.

“oh no you don’t give that back.”

“oh no sweetie really its ok, I understand that your tired and that you need a break, so don’t worry I can carry it”

“I’m not tired, hand it over”

“No really I understand you can’t do it, its to strenues, really I’m fine”

Meanwhile an intense tickling match ensues over who will carry the pack and I fall to the ground swearing that I’ll never give it up and that I am more then capable of carrying it for him since he’s sooooo tired. While he swears that I’ll use this against him for the rest of his life and that there is no way I am carrying the pack.

By this time I’m pretty sure the elk are probably laughing at us as we role around in the wet dirty and leaves arguing and laughing over who is going to carry the pack.

So for those of you brave women who choose to go hunting with your oh so serious bowhunter boyfriends, don’t fret. If I can survive hunting with the wild woodsman you can survive too. J

Hunting Education 101

Here is a little run down on the differences between Elk and Deer

ELK - AKA The Elusive Ungulate (hoofed animal)

Elk can weigh between 400 and 600 pounds.

There are 3 different types in N. America:

Tulle Elk (why bother)

Rocky Mountain Elk (Everyone's got one)

Roosevelt Elk (Largest of its kind and the rarest - This is of course what we hunt)

Bull- male elk

Cow- female elk

Deer - Venison, Summer Sausage, Jerky... Yum Yum

Deer weigh between 150 and 250 pounds

There are 3 popular types in N. America:

Whitetail Deer - Yes they do have a white tail, very common in the Midwest and Eastern states

Blacktail Deer - What we have in the Great Pacific Northwest

Mule Deer- Can be found all over the Western states but the majority live in the Southwestern region of the US. (Caveman will actually be rifle hunting for one of these next week!)

Buck - Male deer

Doe - Female deer

Both species loose their antler's in January/February only to re-grow them larger and thicker the next time.

Bowhunting Rule # 1

Bowhunting Rule #1 : Always make sure your 50 yards pin is really 50 yards

Over Labor Day weekend I spent a lot of time in the field. My Caveman and I packed our granola bars, woke up at 3 am and had a blast yelling at each other when one of us was to loud in the woods. We bonded while scaling the sides of cliffs, eating dirt over barbed wire fences and worrying that one or the other was drinking to much of the water and some how, throughout it all, I got 2 shots off and no, one wasn't aimed at him (although I came close). I've learned throughout the years that hunting with my caveman has its price but, no matter what we love hunting and most of all hunting with each other.

I am a recent bow gal. This is only my second season so on Saturday morning when we spot and stalked into a field where we could see to huge branch bulls, cow calling and fighting one another it was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. It felt like I was watching a Lee & Tiff episode only it was real time. In my daze I forgot the whole point of being there but that quickly disintegrated when Caveman started poking me in the ribs and telling me to move faster in a hushed whisper. As we hastily stalked around the side of a knoll we could also hear another bull rubbing his rack on a tree. I was too focussed on the 2 huge branch bulls to pay attention to the one on the hill until I heard, STOP. I did exactly that and slowly spun around. Caveman whispered 50 yrds top of his back. I yanked my bow back, tried to remain calm, put my pin on him and let it fly. As I watched the bull dance off into the woods I look over at Caveman to see if he was going to cry or yell (thankfully neither) he just looked at me and said "welp better luck next time." I smiled, to me that was the closest I'd ever been to really killing a bull. That was a rush in itself. (Later when we analyzed the situation, I realized I was so worked up I didn't hear "top of the back" and proceeded to miss my bull by a long shot... Oh I also failed to mention that the bull on the knoll I was shooting at was standing next to two other branch bulls and they were all standing broad side starring at me. It doesn't get much easier then that. Oh but wait, it gets better.)

After my right leg had stopped shaking uncontrollably and not two minutes later after the elk had spooked, do we see a large group of deer headed our way about 100 yards out. Caveman proceeds to tell me to hurry as we hastily sneak up on them. I'm struggling though because I feel completely exposed stalking in the middle of a road while they cross right in front of me. However, none of them seem to notice. By the time we get up to 50 yards the last buck is passing by. Caveman yelps, I shoot and for a second we both think I nailed him but to our dismay the only thing that buck got was a hair cut. Yep, one lonely, little hair was the only evidence to show that I had come close to killing my first buck.

Either way, it was the most amazing experience ever. Yes I could have tagged out both my buck and bull in less then 2 minutes in one day but, I've forced myself to look on the bright side. Next year they will be bigger and I will be better prepared.

The good news is I might not be as bad of a shot as I thought. Later, when we got home, we found out my 50 yard pin wasn't really 50 yards but more like 45 yards. You can bet it is dialed in now though. So to all you new hunters out there, always make sure your 50 yard pin is sighted in because you never no when you might get a shot.

A good chunk of Sunday I spent laboring away in my kitchen over 2 boxes of peaches (33 Lbs) I had picked previously at Jossy's Farm. Jossy's is out in Hillsboro and they have peaches, pears and apples (I snagged a small bag of apples as well for some applesauce I'll be canning tonight). Jossy's Peach orchard is very nicely kept and it was a gorgeous day so I enjoyed meandering through rows of peaches smelling all there sweet goodness while soaking up some sun.

Now this was my first attempt at canning peaches and I think it was somewhat successful. Though labor intensive, they look beautiful and come Fall, when I start breaking them out, I'm sure I will be very thankful I did them. It was quite easy. The only time consuming thing was cutting and pealing the peaches. Besides that its a cinch and I highly recommend it. I also made a quick batch of peach jam which is super easy.

Hi ya'all this is one of my latest hobbies... cake decorating. I have the sweetest friend ever who is teaching me how to make my own fondant from scratch and it tastes absolutely amazing! She's also helped me tackle such things as smooth cake layers and buttercream/royal icing flowers. I've done only a few so far so hopefully as I progress they will get better. :)