Elk Hunting

The title of this post might lead you to think it is something about The Farmer. But in fact it is about me and my first elk hunting experience, my first hunting experience of any kind. We headed out in the morning to head down the road to check the neighbors property since the elk had been there recently. The Farmer peeled out around the barn to the driveway as we both looked up at the field across the street and saw the elk, now running since we spooked them pulling out.

We drove over to the neighbors and got out to weight around to see if more would come because what we saw running was no where near the whole herd. Sure enough after about ten minutes they started wondering out of the woods at the northwest corner of the field. We were in the southeast corner of the field so we got in a good position to shoot and waited for them to make there way to us. Once they came closer I took a shoot at the lead one and they all ran off back to the woods they came out of. The Farmer and I walked up to where the elk was to check for blood. There was none, after some investigation we confirmed it was a miss.

We got back in the car to see if we could find them. For the elk to leave the part of the woods they ran into they would have to cross a road or some more open terrain where we would see tracks. Wouldn't you know they had not come out. They were still in the same, small patch of wooded area. So into the woods we went to see if we could find them. The night before we got a light dusting of new snow which made it quite easy to find and follow their tracks. As we were walking as quietly as we could we could hear them moving around. Eventually we found ourselves about 20 yards away from them but too thick of brush for me to feel comfortable taking a shot. They took off running so we made our way to a nearby road and walked out to the main road. We were nearing home looked up in the same field and there were the elk again running through the field to the east. We started running up the road to the same spot I shot from before. Two coyotes scared the elk so they went running back to the west to the same woods they have been in for most of the morning.

We made a plan to set me up and The Farmer (aka He Who Hunts Buff-alow/Shooter/Over Kill), to head to woods to push the elk out. I was to give him 15 minutes and then head home. Well about ten minutes later the elk come out of the woods. My heart was definitely racing but I worked at keeping myself calm and steady. They were all standing together, as soon as one stepped out of the herd I took a shot. The elk got excited but they didn't go running off. After a bit they all wondered off except the one shot, she just stood there. At that point my brother in-law joined me and the elk stepped into the woods standing right at the tree line. We walked over to The Farmer and waited for awhile before we walked over to where the elk was, we could not see her from where we were standing. As soon as The Farmer stepped into the woods where we knew the elk went in she took off running. And that began the long track of finding her through multiple properties. Thankfully all the owners gave us permission to continue to track her. There were a few times the three of us had to split as other tracks appeared until one of us found blood. Around three hours after my shot we got her.

At this point we ended up just above a service road for the irrigation company. We were on a very steep hill covered in ice and the elk was stuck on some trees. The plan became to pull her loose and get her down to the road then we could drive the truck up to the elk. What we were unable to tell about this steep hill was that is dropped off about ten feet before the road. My brother in-law was on the downhill side of the elk and The Farmer commented that he better watch out once they get her loose because she will really start moving. She did get moving and so did my brother in-law, together down the hill and off the ten foot cliff. They landed on the road with the elk on top of my brother in-law. We got a verbal that he was okay and then we started laughing. It is funny thinking about the fact that a dead elk landed on him. Though he is still hurting from it and I feel quite bad that it happened. At the this point The Farmer and I took off to get myself home so I could take Micah to music class and so he could get the truck. 

That was end of my involvement. I wanted nothing to do with the gutting and skinning. I wouldn’t have minded cutting up the meat but I still left that to the men.What an experience! Fun but I certainly don't plan on going hunting with all of them in the fall. We are very thankful for the harvest of meat that we get to share and enjoy.

Mr. Cook

 

Micah has been able to experience some pretty amazing this living in the country. One happened about two weeks ago. He will usually begin talking about this experience by mentioning Mr. Cook. This man made a big impression on Micah. He is the driver of a log truck that came to our house to pick up a load The Farmer had cut down. Micah got to watch Mr. Cook load all of the logs onto the truck. If you ask him about it he will give you quite a detailed description, for a three year old about how it was done. If that wasn't enough to concrete the memory in a little boys mind Mr. Cook offered to give Micah a ride from where the logs were on the back of the property up to the house. That made his day, I wasn't out there but I can imagine the look on Micah's face.

What's the Word

Apparently I have become a once a month blogger. I would prefer to be posting weekly but life doesn't seem to be giving me time for that lately. Now is usually when I would be posting my word for the year. It is a word that the Lord has placed on my heart as something to focus on for the year. Right now I don't feel lead to any word. Perhaps my problem is not being silent and still enough to hear God. So maybe my word should be something like listen or focus. I think it will be best to wait on the Lord instead of picking a word just to pick a word. So we will see, maybe it is a year without a word and that's okay.

Now as for an update...wow a lot has happened since my last post. Life as been a blur. I almost feel like I am just riding the waves, which I don't like I would much prefer to be directing life more. But I feel like I am just keeping my head above water, perhaps that is because we are coming out of the busyness of the holidays.

We had a great time seeing a lot of family.

 All the Rices got together, this is Grandpa reading to all the grand kids minus babies.

 The Sunderlands

The Wolfes

I entered a new decade. I hardly feel old enough to be 30.

Celebrating with my family, unfortunately The Farmer was sick that day.

The kids are as busy as ever. They bring constant challenges and constant joy. If you ask me what we have been doing I will be at a loss. Some how the days get filled, things get accomplished and many things beyond taking care of Jane and Micah don't get accomplished. So one day I might become better at blogging more regularly.

Wedding Day

Life is just flying by. Can't believe it has been a month since I have put a post up. Well here is a sweet moment that just made me smile on Thursday with this sweet boy.

 (That is how his eyes photographed, all I did was sharpen them. So blue!)

 We were sitting on the ground playing. 

Micah said, "Are you ready for your wedding day?"
"I already had my wedding day. I married Papa."
"No, are you ready for your wedding day?"
"Who am I going to marry?"
"Me and you."
"Okay."

We stood up and started dancing. Then he kissed me and we walked around the house. After that more dancing. All of this was initiated by Micah. So so sweet knowing I am the love of his life right now.

Blanket Love

I am not sure when Jane's attachment with her blanket began nor why, but she carries it around everywhere like Linus from Charlie Brown. Since she was a baby I would tuck her in with a blanket but not the one she loves now. She found these ones on her own and won't let go. Thankfully I do have two that are the same material and she likes them equally so I can get them washed. I am partly tempted to buy another to be on the safe side. When she is tired or in need of comfort she grabs the blanket and pulls it up to her face. As a baby it made me a bit nervous that she was covering her mouth and nose (I quickly got over that). It is nice that she developed an object as a sleep cue because I can just lay her down with one of the blankets and she is ready to sleep. I wonder when the attachment will fade, right now it looks like it is staying for quite some time.

Recent Moments

Life is adventurous, entertaining and of course busy! Here are a few of our recent captured memories.

 



Baby bums are so cute.

 

 

Micah had a blast at the harvest party this year. He worked the press for over an hour.

 

The Farmer got to go up flying with our brother in-law. He got some beautiful pictures with all the trees changing colors.

 

I am no longer nursing Jane. She seems to still miss it in the mornings but over all she has adjusted great.  

 

The kids marching with strainers on their heads. Quite entertaining. It was in fact Jane's idea to put the strainer on her head. 

 

 "Micah God's Mighty Warrior". He is dressed up resembling a character in a book we have titled Will God's Might Warrior.

Micah God's Mighty Warrior (with a different hat)

 

All of us riding in the land cruiser, a first for Jane.

12 Months

 My oh my, my baby is one! Life has flown by and shows no signs of slowing down. As I have said before Jane is a joy to us, and this past month has been no different. She continues to grow and develop. Our biggest milestone she reached this month is walking. We have a walker! She is getting pretty quick too.Walking around occupies most of her time and entertainment, she loves walking around the house. She especially loves "marching" around the house either following people or leading people around. I also get great laughs chasing her around.

Some of her other favorite activities are playing with stacking rings, stacking cups and blocks. Jane also finds it quite funny to stick her fingers in other peoples mouth. Micah and Jane both crack up laughing when she puts her finger in his mouth and thankfully he has learned how to be gentle. I love seeing their relationship develop. Her talking hasn't development too much. She says bye, daadaa, bah bah for me, and she will make a sort of barking noise when asked what a dog says. We have started to wean, I am dropping one feeding per week (we were at four a day). Jane still LOVES watermelon. You should see her smile the moment her eyes see a slice. On the flip side she already doesn't like vegetables. I guess it is pay back for all my picky years. Jane has four teeth now. Two on the bottom and two on the top. The top two are now all the way in yet, but they have broken through.

 I will write a whole post of this but another thing about Jane right now is her love of her blankets. There are two that are from the same soft fabric and she is attached. It is pretty cute. We were just at the doctors for a check up. Jane weighs 20lbs 3oz and is 29.5 inches tall. The grow so fast in the first year! Still can't believe it has been a year. What a blessing Jane has been to our family.