Archives March 2020

Why Is It So Hard To Step Out From The Comfort Zone

How many of us have felt a little uneasy while walking out to our stands in the dark?  What about climbing higher than you did last season in your stand?  The answer is probably more times than we are willing to admit.  Our fears and our comfort zone are at the continual battle against each other.

For me, I live in a household full of testosterone. The mantra at my house is “suck it up.”

Growing up as an only child, my parents didn’t teach me to push past my fears. 

At an early age, I learned that if you were too scared to try something new you didn’t have to. I was taught it was okay to settle into the place that I call your “comfort zone.”

Hunting for me didn’t start until I was in my mid 40’s.   It wasn’t that I didn’t like it.  It wasn’t that I was against it or didn’t believe in it.   My dad was a hunter, but a gun hunter only.  So although it was a long tradition in my family, I just didn’t carry any interest in it.

When I got married, to my children’s dad, I married into a bow hunting family.  My mom cooked all the wild game Dad brought home. When I became the wife of a hunter I learned how to do the same.  Hunting was all around me yet it wasn’t something my tender heart was comfortable with.

Sometimes Life Will Give You A Hard Push Out Of Your Safe Place

In the fall of 2009, my mom passed away from lung cancer.  My dad had previously died from heart problems two years prior thus leaving me without any parents. 

When you wake up one morning and you’re basically an adult orphan, you begin to contemplate and question many things. Your capabilities for one. 

It was an odd time in my life. What sparked my interest in hunting was the one question that kept running through my head. Would I be able to take care of my family if I needed to?  Would I be able to kill our food if we were starving? 

Turns out that the answer to those questions would end up being YES! It’s here that I want to give all the credit to the man I NOW call me husband. It was his influence and passion for hunting that led me on the hunting journey I am now on. He helped lead me OUT of my comfort zone.

It wasn’t until the fall of 2010 that I actually pulled the trigger of my dad’s Winchester .243. It just so happened to be the first snow of that season.  I had been out EVERY day up until that point. I don’t sit still well and I will admit that I had begun to get discouraged. It was a waiting game. Both of patience, to finally see a shooter, and the discipline of waiting for a clear, ethical shot. I had both physically and mentally prepared for that moment. 

Now to make a long story short, when the 70-yard moment arose I took it.   A little “unicorn” spike came in about 15 minutes after I got to my hunting spot and I dropped him. Funny, he looked A LOT bigger from 70 yards away!

That moment was bittersweet for me because I had never killed anything in my life.   Anyone who knows me, even today, knows that I am a tender heart. Killing something is always a little hard for me to do.   But at that historic moment, I was both sad and proud.  

I think my dad would have REALLY been proud.  My mom, on the other hand, would have wondered what on earth had happened to her baby girl.   For me, it was a coming of age, almost middle age. I did it by stepping out of my comfort zone.

Over the years there have been many times I have been afraid while hunting. I have had to push past my own fears. One example is learning to use a climbing tree stand.   I’m somewhat afraid of heights. However, I am REALLY afraid of falling out of a tree and breaking my neck or back or all of the above.    

There’s something a little unsettling about inching yourself up a tree to over 20 feet. Then once you’re up you must twist your bow hanger into the bark. All the while hoisting your bow up in hopes of not falling out.

 I’ll admit, that the whole scenario has frightened me many times. However, I continue to do it and continue to push past the fear.  Am I better than I was at first? You bet I am.  Do I still sweat profusely? Yes, I do.  

But I refuse to let fear take hold of me. I refuse to let it keep me from learning further into something I love to do. 

This past season I climbed into a hang-on stand that was a little higher than I normally go.    I wouldn’t have attempted it had my son not secured it. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the stand was completely safe.  Also, I was wearing my harness, so in the event, I was to fall I was secure.

Once I got up into the stand and my stomach stopped hurting. I calmed down a bit and relaxed into the hunt.   As I sat there, looking down, I realized that it wasn’t that high and I was okay.  And the best part was that I was looking at deer from a new view.  It was really pretty awesome and again I had the “proud of myself” moment.

Take That First Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Every time I walk out in the dark, to go to my stand, I am stepping out of my comfort zone.

I don’t know about you but walking in the pitch black is a little unnerving. Every time, I am basically blindly feeling my way to the ladder stand.   I know that path like the back of my hand and have made the trek a million times, in the daylight and the dark. 

There’s just something about total darkness that I think makes us all a little uneasy. 

Am I afraid of running into another person? Absolutely not!   Am I afraid of running into a skunk and getting sprayed? Or having a wild boar growl at me? YES!   I’ve been out there many a morning and hear deer blow at me and I’m okay with that.   Tripping over a skunk and getting sprayed is just something I am not interested in doing.

This year I’ve started strapping a light on my cap when I head out before first light.   I hate it because it’s cumbersome but I do it anyway. I’ve seen several skunks, and even had one hang out under my stand. But to date I’ve been lucky to have not ever been “skunked.”

It’s Actually Healthy To Push Past Your Fears

To push past your fears and step out of secure places applies to all areas of your life. It’s not confined to just hunting.

I think it’s healthy to push past your fears when you’re afraid to do something that you want to do. It’s a must when it comes to doing something that you NEED to do.

Like when I held my mother’s hand, as she took her last breath. That was waaaaaaaay out of my comfort zone. I had to literally force myself to push back against my fears. To be in the moment to comfort her, as she was about to make that transition.

Also, having run a half marathon TWICE was way out of my comfort zone because I was afraid of failure. But I “sucked it up” and crossed that finish line TWICE and improved my time the second time around.

“ I think it’s healthy to push past your fears when you’re afraid to do something that you want to do.”

We all have times in our lives when we need to take a step forward in faith. That’s why we call it faith. But we’ve got to trust that God will be there with us and he’ll work it out to our good. If we don’t, our fears will put a chokehold on us. We’ll live from a place of being afraid instead of a place of truly living. Life is meant to be lived.

All it takes is four little words…I can do this! 

And then you will.

A Creative Alternative For Your European Mount And Dead Heads You Find In The Woods In The Spring

I love going shed hunting. It’s one of my favorite things to do in the spring. Although I don’t have the best success rate of finding them, I do have a good success rate of finding dead heads. But mostly I like preserving them to appreciate for years to come. One way I do that is by spray painting the deer skulls and hanging them up to display.

A couple of years ago I paid someone to paint my six pointer that I had shot the previous hunting season. She did an amazing job. When the next bow season rolled around and I took another buck. I decided I wanted to try my hand at doing it myself.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am NOT a good painter. I’m not even good at painting walls. But I can use spray paint to create a beautiful deer skull. When I am holding my harvest in my hands I know how much work went into that hunt. It just feels like the right thing to do. To honor that deer by using my own two hands to create something I can proudly display.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am NOT a good painter. But I can use spray paint to create a beautiful deer skull.

Painting deer skulls and turtles shells is an easy project to do and so rewarding when you see your finished piece. It’s also a powerful way to get kids excited about nature. I started doing it for fun a couple of years ago after having collected a multitude of turtle shells that I found in the woods. I wanted to find a creative way to display them.

Turtle shells moved on to my buck skulls which moved on to any skulls I found while out in the woods. Below is a step by step video of what works best for me in creating a decorative skull. There are only a few supplies you need to get started: Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic, Krylon Color Master White Paint + Primer, Krylon Color Master Black Paint + Primer along with your choice of various Krylon Color Master Paint colors.

Painting A Deer Skull With Spray Paint Is Easy

Out in nature is my favorite place to spend my time. I love bringing home treasures from treks through the woods.

My 3 year old granddaughter loves to go out and gather acorns with me for future projects. It’s such a bonding time when you can share your love of nature with future generations.

However, what I love even more is creating something from my finds and then sharing it with others. I would love to share YOUR nature creations. TAG ME in your art and I’ll proudly display it on my page.

Remember that sharing our lives with others inspires them to share THEIRS.

Be An Inspirer!

As for me and my house we shall eat gravy… every chance we get

Who doesn’t like gravy? Better yet, who doesn’t like finding a recipe that will stand the test of time in their family? My creamy country gravy recipe is one for the books.

I grew up with a mom who made gravy at every dinner meal. My parents didn’t have a lot of money so Mom’s thinking was that she needed to fill our bellies with as much as she could with the little that she had.

As a mom now myself, and with our every growing family, we eat the gravy. Usually on our deer steaks but we definitely eat it with biscuits and gravy.

And although I use whatever sausage I have on hand, deer breakfast sausage is my fave. Very little grease and ooh-la-la, that flavor. As I tell one of my little granddaughters it’s “yum to tum.”

I consider myself to be a good cook. Actually I consider myself to be a GREAT cook. But I have BEEN KNOWN to over season things once or twice. Maybe THREE times. Possibly FOUR, but no more than that, depending on who you ask.

We live and then we learn…sometimes the hard way

However, there might have been this one time that, ironically enough, it was opening morning of rifle season and we had a whole KITCHEN FULL of people. We had all just come in from our morning hunt and I was going to make biscuits and gravy for everyone.

A little back story. My father-in-law, who was there that morning also, had just had a heart attack the year before and had three, I believe, stints put in. He was watching his diet, sodium in particular.

That morning my cooking skills were on display because there were a couple of people that I didn’t really know that well. I was in performance mode.

We all know what happens to us when all eyes are on us, at least for me. I tried way to hard to impress and ended up, ACCIDENTALLY, putting too much salt in the gravy. I tried to mask it with more milk but that didn’t dilute it enough.

I served it like that hoping no one would notice. But they did, althought they did a REALLY great job of pretending it was edible. I watched each and every face as they took that first bite.

No one said a word, except for my father-in-law. He took that first bite and said, “Damn, Kelly! Are you trying to give me another heart attack? That gravy’s salty.” With that, everyone laughed. Even me. But even today, when I make this recipe, I hold that salt shaker in a little bit different position so that I don’t add too much.

For the record, I like salt.

My creamy country gravy recipe is really simple and one that you’re going to want to keep in your recipe arsenal. It’s so easy and has so few ingredients. Because it’s a favorite recipe in our family I wanted to share it with you.

Creamy Country Gravy Recipe

1/2 Cup  Canola Oil (I don’t think olive oil would work)

1/2 to 3/4 Cup  All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Ground Black Pepper

4 Cups Milk

In a large skillet (because there will end up being so much) heat the oil over a medium heat. 

Carefully whisk in flour, pepper, and salt. I usually put my flour, salt, and pepper in a bowl separately and blend it first before adding it.

Stir until smooth, making sure it’s blended well and browned. 

Gradually stir in the milk and stir, stir, stir making sure there are no lumps forming.  It will bubble some but keep stirring until its the consistency that you desire and then take off the heat.

Moms really do always know best

One thing my mom taught me about making gravy, and believe it or not it was the ONLY thing she let me cook as a child (except macaroni and cheese out of the box) was that you have to stir CONTINUALLY. Because if you don’t it will clump up on the bottom of the skillet and be lumpy, not smooth.

I want to also say that when I make this recipe for biscuits and gravy I brown up some sausage before hand and add it in WHILE the gravy is being cooked.

So…listen to me, but especially listen to my mama. She put the “good” in being a good cook.

And that’s it!!! Perfect every time! Just remember to watch that salt!

Tips On Setting Up Your Trail Camera To Attract Mature Bucks

Tips on Setting Up Your Game Camera for Attracting Mature Bucks

Trail cameras are a very popular tool in increasing your chances of getting a shot at a mature buck.  They are also a lot of fun to use.   Everyone I know that hunts has at least ONE game camera placed on their hunting grounds if not at least several.  Trail/Game cameras have actually become as important a piece of equipment for hunting as the compound bow.   Over the last six years, through trial and error, I have learned a lot about setting up my cameras to bring in the big bucks.

Before you take your camera out in the woods you really must be familiar with it.  Although trail cameras are pretty much the same, they are also somewhat different.  That being said, my advice is to play around with it and really check out what all the buttons do and how the camera itself operates.  Don’t wait until you’re out there to figure it out.  PREPARATION is vital!  Practice different lighting times to see how the pictures take.  Also, play around with different heights to find out about high your camera needs to be on the tree to get good footage of the deer.

Now you’re ready to take it to the timber.  First, you need to set it up about 10 to 15 feet from where you think the deer are going to come through and possibly camp out for a bit.  Find a pretty sturdy tree with a decent size trunk, not too big, but stout enough that your camera will stay securely in place.  Next, you’re going to want to place it about waist high.  Sometimes if there’s a bend in the tree where I can see the camera is facing up a little, I’ll find a stick and place it between the tree and camera forcing it to position downward.    Make sure you position your camera facing north to prevent sun’s glare on your camera.  A lot of time when the sun’s hitting it, there’s more movement causing your camera to go off when nothing is actually out there.  Facing it north prevents that.   Also, make sure there are no limbs hanging down in the way obscuring the view of the lens.   Avoid placing your camera right there by your stand.  The cameras will alert the deer.

Scouting is part of the hunting process and putting up trail cameras is an excellent way to do just that.   Game cameras let you know just which deer are coming and going through your hunting spot.  To effectively identify mature bucks you need to have at least one camera for every 50 -100 acres.  Usually we put our cameras out about August, the month before bow season starts, but this year our plan is to leave them up all year round.  We live right next to Corp. property so hunters hunting conservation land tend to push deer onto our property.   Through the cameras we keep tabs on which deer have made it through gun season giving us hope of having a shot next season. 

A good idea, and we have done it a time or two, is to keep the pictures of the different bucks, give them names and keep a journal so you know their patterns of where they are going and at what times of the day.  It’s actually a lot of fun.  And if you’re lucky, as I was this year, you’ll get to take a SUCCESSFUL shot at one of those bucks.  I did…during the rut…an 8 pointer.  I contribute my success to keeping records and knowing which bucks were frequenting my stand and at what times.   Game cameras can be pricey, but really all you need is a good one to get your started.  Once you use one,  you’ll be glad you did and it will become part of your hunting routine.

It’s True That Families That Hunt Together Stay Together

Hunting, for many families is more like a holiday, a yearly tradition. It’s a time of gathering together with dads, mom, sons, daughters, grandfathers, grandmothers, aunts and uncles, and although there are many common bonds between all of them, the one that has brought them all together during THIS particular time of year is “opening morning” of rifle season.

Although I am partial to bow hunting and all that that entails, I too, love to rifle hunt and my favorite part is opening morning.  In our house it’s a huge deal.  I mean a really big deal.  So big that every year, as the day gets closer, it’s all we prepare for.

Many a trip is made to the local Walmart for more ammo, more camo, and hand warmers.  It’s not rifle season until we’ve each went out and bought some cool new Under Armour Blaze Orange cap or the newest Under Armour beanie.   It’s tradition.  Yes it’s true and everyone here will agree that I have enough camo to completely dress a third world country but something about mentioning that rifle season is coming up and I instantly need a new fleece “something.”   It’s colder than bow season and by gollys I need to be warm sitting out in that blind.   That’s tradition too.

It’s always fun the night before opening morning because we, as a family, sit around the kitchen table plotting and mapping out who’s going where and with whom.  We make a plan and we STRATEGIZE just how the whole opening morning deal is going down.

I normally like to go out by myself because after only five years of hunting now I consider myself to be pretty experienced and I would rather sit in the blind alone.  I have a tendency to take A LOT of “gear” with me and really there is only enough room in my blind for me…and my “gear.”   By the way, during that time when we’re strategically figuring out just what the heck we’re doing the next morning we are also, all of us, going through and organizing our hunting bags and making sure we have everything in order before we head out.   I might add that I am one of the FEW, and I mean FEW, maybe one of the ONLY ONES, that has her “gear” organized.

I get made fun of on a daily basis for my OCD-ness but let one of my tribe lose a grunt call or a doe bleat and who do you think they come to for a spare?   You guessed it.   I usually have at least two of everything and when things can’t be found in the eleventh hour before opening morning, “I” become the Walmart.

After the plan is in place we’re usually so pumped we can’t even think about going to sleep.  It’s almost like Christmas morning for us.  I am totally serious when I say that I am so excited that I can’t sleep.  I have been known to, and actually I do it every year, lay my exact wardrobe out the night before, boots, beanie, everything because my plan is to get up early and relax.

I am the “early riser”, the “alarm clock”, the “merry sunshine” of opening morning.   I’ve always been a morning person but come mid November I am THEE “opening morning” morning person.   I spring out of bed BEFORE my alarm goes off, while everyone else is hitting the snooze on their cell phones repeatedly.  The house sounds like a medley of waterfalls and harps, retro funk, and Colt Ford.   As bad as that is to even imagine, it still does NOT wake anyone up.   Therefore, I’m always the one that makes sure we’re all up and getting around.

Opening morning is pretty standard though.   I have to enjoy a nice cup of coffee, relax, and get my head in the game before I get dressed in all my camo while my husband and the boys jump out of bed, throw their clothes on and hit the door running.   I have my clothes laid out in perfect order the night before, while they run around upon waking like chickens with their heads cut off searching in buckets and drawers for that ONE jacket or pair of gloves that hasn’t been seen all season.   I wake up chipper and excited and although they are excited as well, their demeanors are predominately sour and grouchy.

But once everyone is awake, dressed and our guns loaded, it’s all business and we’re ready to go out and get this party started.    We head in our different directions, whether it be the blind, a stand, or a climber and we sit there until a shooter comes by or we get a text saying that someone else got something and they need help.

 Either way,  I always welcome both and nothing compares to the excitement and memories opening morning brings and the tales we pack back when we return back to camp. Hunting as family is my favorite tradition.