Last Day of Squirrel Season and Our Weekend

Monday was the last day of the Illinois squirrel season -- a sad day at our house. Squirrel hunting is always a good excuse for us to enter the woods from August 1 until now. Paul had to work part of the day, but Skyler and I were home so we decided to head out to the timbers to look for squirrels. We came home empty handed - but had one close encounter with a big red squirrel -- he just wouldn't stay put long enough for Skyler to get situated and make the shot. However, we had a great time tryin' and we were glad to have gotten some hiking, scouting and exploring done at the same time.






Recognize this face? I was so excited to get to see my buck's face one last time. A friend of ours used my big buck's cape to mount this huge buck. I was glad to see that the cape went to good use and it really was great to get to see my buck's face again!


Our Valentine's day consisted of A LOT of ice fishing -- the picture of Skyler is from when she was plugging her ears because I had just screamed when my big bass broke the line JUST as I was pulling it out of the hole (I think the plugging of the ears is a little overkill -- I didn't scream that loud ;-).

Skyler is the Ice Fishing Queen -- she easily outfished both Paul and I and continually declared "I love to ice fish!"

Paul had a lot of luck in the beginning while I got nothing so I was able to help Skyler put wax worms on the hook and untangle lines. She takes her own fish off the hook for the most part. I finally started getting some fish at the end (including my big largemouth bass) while Paul wasn't getting any bites so we traded off and he helped Skyler. I think Skyler was catching 2-3 fish a minute during the best times and about 1 fish every minute during the slow times. It was super fun! So this means that when most others went out for Valentine's supper -- we were all cleaning fish. Skyler kept us entertained by giving the fish we hadn't cleaned yet CPR. The fish would occasionally jump and she was sure she had brought them back to life. Skyler also used one of the fishes tails to "paint" the puddles of slime over all the fish. I wouldn't trade our Valentine's Day for anyone else's!! ;-)

Happy Valentine's Day

Mark Twain once said:

“Love seems the swiftest,

but it is the slowest of all growths.

No man or woman really knows what perfect love is

until they have been married a quarter of a century.”

Since Paul and I have been together going on 21 years,

I can attest to the fact that the above quote is quite true --

I'll let you know for sure in 4 more years.

To those of you, like me, who started the day off making heart-shaped pancakes to start off a fun day, I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Now, off we go to ice fish!!

Winter Fun

Thought I would post a picture showing my 2 favorite people in the world! We took Skyler out this weekend to get her new rifle sighted in (yep, it says Skyler on the side of the stock). I am so proud of Skyler for being such a trooper! It was super cold for this type of activity but she kept with it and made several great shots. We hope that this rifle will help her in harvesting a deer this coming year. There will be MANY more days of shooting this year for all of us, like always, so that we will know that she (and we) can confidently and ethically harvest a deer. I have so many pictures I want to scrap from hiking, sledding, skiing, shooting, etc. -- but I just can't get motivated.

Skyler has been so patient following us out into the timber on an almost daily basis -- hunting, hiking, scouting and exploring. I am pretty sure she has put more miles on her feet than most people 3 times her age. We occasionally give her a break - but not often. I sometimes look over at her when she is trudging through the snow and almost want to laugh. We have gone from the tiny 1 month old baby who we would hold in our arms so that we wouldn't miss out on our timber activities - to this strong 9 year old who can hold her own against most adults in the timbers. She has come a long way!!

Worldwide Publication Holds my Photos

A couple months back I was fortunate enough to be selected to have a photo shoot for Lewis Machine & Tool, a local company who manufactures weapons for military, law enforcement and civilian use worldwide. They wanted a woman who hunts and knows how to hold a weapon. I thought this would be a "once in a lifetime" opportunity so I said I was game. The 2010 catalog is now in print and can be viewed here:

http://www.lewismachine.net/media/2010_LMT_Catalog.pdf

My photos are on pages 19 and 30 (or 21 and 32, depending on how you view it). Thought I would share my 2 seconds of fame ;-)