Pheonix's First Deer

Friday! The start of the weekend. Work is done, school is out and we are scrambling to get our hunting gear together and into the truck so we have time to hunt. The sun sets at 7pm now and is black out by 7:30, so it doesn't leave a lot of time to get everything together and to get out.

We managed to get everything done and horse fed by 4:30 and we were hunting by 5. Doe season had opened up on the 10th of this month for everyone. On the way out I was telling Pheonix she had the rest of season to shoot a doe and a buck, October 10-31 was doe for everyone, and youth had a doe season Nov 1- 30 and general buck season went until the 30th of November. She had passed up so many spike bucks since September 1st, I wasn't sure she would be wanting to shoot a doe as her first deer. We have been hunting for this one big buck we have seen 4 times now and she has had a chance at twice. So I was a bit surprised when she said she was willing to shoot a doe.

Right off the get go we found a deer, from a distance it looked like a doe but as got closer you could see it was a little button buck so we continued on. We came upon a lone doe after that, she wasn't concerned about us and was just kind of milling around. I asked her if she wanted that one and she asked my thoughts on it. I told her she was a young doe and that was all she needed to hear- she wanted to pass. Onward we went. After that every doe we found had fawns with her. But it was a beautiful evening and we were having a good time. She wanted to go into the area where the buck hangs out. I told her we wouldn't see him because we are going in to early- she was ok with that. Now I drive a half ton truck and this road is basically a rough quad trail, I don't really like taking my truck in there because I have poor tires for the type of terrain I have to drive through but we took it slow and my truck made it in one piece lol. 7 o'clock hit and I told her that we didn't have much light left for hunting, so if we seen a deer and she wanted to take it, she would need to move a little faster getting set up than she usually does. Shortly after I said that she says deer! So I stop and look with my binoculars. A doe- I scanned the clearing looking for any sign of another deer with her and there was nothing to be found, so I drove the truck up a little farther and parked it. We jumped out and walked the fence line back to where we seen the deer. We got there and the doe was still there feeding. So Pheonix tried to set up using the fence as a rest- didn't work. It was either to high or too low for her. So we set up the shooting sticks aka my trekking poles strapped together. She goes mom they are to low, so I reset them and she was good. I sat watching the doe in my binos. Now she has missed 2 bucks this season already, so I was hoping she wouldn't have a threepeat. The doe was in a massive clearing up on a steep hill and Pheonix was shooting off her knees because that's the most comfortable position for her- so the shot was a steep one and more difficult than the two misses earlier. It didn't take her long to find her in her scope and after a minute- boom. I watched the doe run about 10 yards then stop and stand there. I quickly said reload reload! She did and was able to shift the gun and shooting sticks so she had a sight of the doe and within a few seconds- boom. Off goes her second shot. I said you got her! I watched her run about 30 yards and she disappeared from my sight. So we listened and sure enough you could hear her crash. Pheonix asked what was that? I replied, "That's your doe crashing. She's down! " She was pretty excited, she wanted to go find her right then and there. I told her to wait a few minutes so I could bring the truck back down and get my pack.

By the time we got the truck back down the light was fading fast. So I looked for my headlamps in my pack. I found my back up lamp- batteries were dead, crap! I looked around and couldn't find my good one, double crap. So I searched my truck to find the yellow one I kept in it for emergencies and it was no where to be found....maybe Kyle took it? uh oh. No headlamps and it was now dark...so I used the flashlight on my phone which sucks...bad. So we headed towards where we last seen her, in the dark with the flashlight on my phone. Pheonix was nervous, there was a cow bull hanging out in the clearing and now that it was dark you couldn't see him. But he never bothered us. We searched for an hour and I started to say it would be better to come back in the morning. But as we started walking down I found blood, so we searched for a little longer. Couldn't find her, so I went through my pack and found a garbage bag (my flagging tape was in the truck) and tied it to a tree marking the blood trail for morning. We got back to the truck at 9pm. She was understandably worried that coyotes were going to get it, but I reassured her it would be fine.


I got the kids up early the next morning so we could eat and get going right away. We headed back in and as we pulled up to where I had parked the truck the night before I looked up on the hill and said there she is. Pheonix was excited and asked how I knew it was her- I could see her white belly from down here. She was about 10 yards from where I tied the garbage bag onto the tree- we had walked all around her the night before! To be fair she did die in like a dug out on the hill lol. We had brought the dogs with us just encase she was hard to find- more eyes the better. But they weren't needed this time lol. So we all hiked up to her and not a hair was out of place. We looked her over and it looked like Pheonix missed her first shot and her second one was perfect- double lung shot. Unfortunately the steep angle of the shot resulted in the bullet exiting through the guts- I was careful not to puncture the bloated belly. Koda was not being helpful trying to bury the deer in dirt while I was working on it. After pictures, I got all the meat off that I could and strapped it on my backpack- Pheonix had to help me get up lol. And we hiked back down to the truck. Once at the butcher he weighed the meat- 60lbs. Now she's asking every day when her deer will be done!

Pheonix Turns 10!

Since she was 6 shes been begging us to let her hunt. In BC though the legal age to hunt is 10. So every spring and every fall, out we would go hunting and Pheonix begging us the entire time to let her hunt. So obviously she was on the countdown until she turned 10, which was the beginning of May 2018. In December we allowed her to do her hunter education course, but the paperwork could not be sent until it was closer to her birthday. She passed her hunters education and we sent her papers in a week before her birthday. The day after her birthday, she received her hunter number and congratulations from the BCWF- she was now allowed to hunt and it was spring bear season! To say she was excited is an understatement.

The first day she could hunt, we took her out. Easton decided to stay with Oma and Papa decided to hop in the jeep with us. We came to a road that Kyle and I had seen a blonde black bear and he dropped Pheonix and I off to walk it. He stayed parked and watched us in the binos. Pheonix and I didn't get very far down the road before I told her to stop, there on the side of the road about 150 yards ahead of us was a bear. He seen us and was sitting on his backend eating grass. He wasn't worried. I told her to stay put and I walked out so I could get a better look at him. I put my binos up and was watching him, she made her way over to me quietly and sat down. Unbeknownst to me, Kyle had seen me react to the bear and knew I had my sights on one and was making his way to us. He came up beside us and got really excited, which got Pheonix excited. He was getting her to get her rifle ready on the shooting sticks....I told him No, its not the right bear. He kind of brushed me off and said its a huge bear, it has no hump I already looked. So more sternly I said to him No Kyle! Look at its face...look at its head...its a Grizzly! He rolled his eyes, and looked through his rifle scope for a better look (has a higher power than our binoculars), after a minute or so he told Pheonix to put her rifle down. Mom was right. It was a massive grizzly bear. We sat and watched him for a few minutes as the great brute got off his butt and waddled up the road and off into the bush. He was so fat he had no hump!
When we got back to the jeep Kyle apologized for not listening to me, he was just overexcited with the idea Pheonix might have got a monster black bear for her first big game animal.

Our next outing we found a beautiful black bear really early in the evening. Kyle and Pheonix jumped out and pulled a stalk on it. They got within range and Pheonix got set up, after a minute the bear spooked off and they came back to the jeep. I asked what happened and Pheonix quietly said she left her clip in the jeep. She was upset, but she learned a lesson! We seen 3 more bears after that (all cinnamons) but they didn't stick around for her.


We ended up getting a bunch of rain for a week straight, so on the first break we got we headed out. We went back into our favourite bear area, the same area she forgot her clip, and things seemed pretty quiet. We decided to go down a road we don't normally travel, but we had seen 3 cinnamon bears in that area before so figured we would give it a shot. We slowly drove down keeping a close eye out. Suddenly, Kyle stops the jeep and is staring at a pile of rocks. I asked what he was staring at and he said there's a bear behind it, sure enough all we seen was a black ear moving behind the pile and he threw the jeep in reverse. He parked us a ways back down the road and he and Pheonix jumped out and went back down towards the bear. I stayed with Easton at the jeep. Everything was saturated and mosquitoes filled the air. As we sat in the jeep they swarmed around, trying to find a way in. I felt bad for Kyle and Pheonix, they had to have been getting eaten alive. I watched Kyle and Pheonix disappear out of view and I got out of the jeep to listen. It took a while before the gun shot. Apparently they set up 9 - 10 times before taking the shot. The bear had a sow with him and they moved around a lot, so they had to constantly move to stay in range. Kyle would help her adjust her shooting sticks to where she needed them, I guess she was quite bossy about what she wanted haha! Eventually a gun shot rung out into the evening air. I slowly started to walk down the road a bit and seen Kyle, he motioned for me to bring the jeep down.

 I parked the jeep down where they were standing on the road and jumped out. Pheonix was vibrating and telling me all about it. Kyle said the bear dropped just at the treeline (they were in a clear cut that I couldn't see before) and that she had made an excellent shot, but when he ran Kyle was worried it would make it to far and darkness was coming. So when it had stopped to look back at them, Kyle let off a shot too. The bear only ran 5 feet and he dropped. So off we went to find her bear. I was really wishing for a pair of rain pants or gaiters! There we found him at the edge of the treeline, I looked at the bear and I looked at Kyle- it was a big bear. He had a big noggin on him and was 6 feet. Much bigger bear than we were expecting for her first bear! We got some photos of Pheonix with him and we got to work quartering and skinning him. I checked the skin and noticed it only had one entry and exit. I looked at Kyle and asked him again, Pheonix for sure hit him? He said yes no doubt about it, she hit him good. I laughed and told him he missed then! He said no way and looked at the skin. Sure enough...only the 2 holes. He covered it up with saying he shot at it free hand lol!

It was a great spring for all of us! Although Kyle and I didn't get our bears at home, we both got our bears in Saskatchewan which was a first for me...third times the charm apparently! But we all got big impressive bears and our freezer was loaded with pepperoni and cheese smokies!

Saskatchewan Bear Hunt 2018

It has been 3 years since we were last in Saskatchewan chasing the giants of the woods. Well this year we made it back to hunt again with Warren and Kerwin in north-central Saskatchewan. The last 2 years just didn't work out with Kyles schedule for Rescue Competition season. This year it did, so we took advantage. We planned to be there on the 20th of May and stay for 7 days. Kyle had to be back to work the 28th for rescue training. So we packed up the kids and dropped the dogs off with his mom and dad and we were off. We made it to Kerwin's late on the 19th and stayed the night, unfortunately he wouldn't be able to come hunt with us until later in the week. We all had a good sleep and left in the afternoon. It was another 2 hours before we would get to Warrens family ranch.

When we arrived we noticed they were having a big family gathering, Warrens sister and husband were there with their 2 boys as well as an aunt. The kids were excited they had someone to play with. It was so nice seeing Warrens parents again, they really make you feel like you're at home on the ranch. After we visited for a few hours, Warren asked if we wanted to sit for the evening because if we did we needed to get a move on. We only had about 4 hours until dark! Warrens mom offered to watch Easton, he could play with Warrens nephews and Pheonix decided she wanted to sit with me in the tree. So we got our gear on and set off to what Warren calls the "pasture", from there we quaded in to our stands and went our separate ways.

Kyle was sitting alone and Pheonix and I were cuddled up on a double ladder stand. I helped her get in to the stand and made sure she was tied in good, this was only her second time sitting in a tree- the first time was 3 years ago with Kyle. She was nervous- the wind was blowing pretty good and it was moving our tree around- so I couldn't blame her. Now if you have ever met Pheonix, you know she has no off switch...like at all. She talked non-stop the whole night, with multiple reminders to keep her voice down from me. It was nearing 8pm now and the wind started to die off, and get really quiet. There weren't even birds chirping, although a squirrel had me all excited and scaring Pheonix for a while. Now when I'm in a treestand I don't stop searching and listening the entire time im in the stand. I heard the slight snap of a twig off to my left and it had me swinging my head over and full attention scanning the bush. It took a few minutes until my eyes locked on black through the trees, But the bush was thick so I couldn't be sure. I sat staring, straining my eyes to catch some type of movement from the black. Pheonix knew I could see something and went very still, and repeatedly asked me if it was a bear. I wasn't sure so I just told her I didn't know. Finally movement, after what felt like forever, I was able to catch part of his face pass through and opening while he was smelling the air. I quietly told Pheonix it was a bear and she finally went quiet haha! I had my rifle between my legs so it was easy to get it up into position. I waited to see what we he was moving before shouldering my gun. He was coming straight in, but very slowly. So I shouldered my rifle and watched him come in through the scope. From past experiences, I knew that if the bear was a boar he would be very wary of coming into the bait and might not give me lots of time to get a shot, or he would skirt the outside of the area- never coming into sight. I held my rifle up in my shoulder waiting...and waiting...he would take a couple steps, stop and smell, and look around before coming a few more steps. He repeated this the whole way into view. Just when he got into my view he stopped and stood up on his back legs- he was looking into the bait without having to come in. Checking for sows. After about a 30 second sniff check on his back legs he dropped down again and changed his course of direction. Instead of coming into the bait he was going to skirt around it- he wasn't interested in food, just ladies. So I followed him with my scope until I had a good broadside shot. He wasn't walking fast, but he wasn't stopping either- so once I had an opening I took it. Pheonix had her ears plugged from the moment I put up my rifle. I took my shot and it was perfect. He ran about 10 feet and piled up- unfortunately he did quite the death moan, my first bear to do one and Pheonixs first time ever hearing it. It scared her and I had to reassure her he was dead and that some bears do it when they die.

We stayed in the stand for a few minutes to make sure he wasn't going anywhere. I messaged Kyle Bear down and he was floored. He asked me how big of a bear was it and I told him it was a decent bear but nothing like "double chin" (a giant of a bear that Warren has been hunting for for a long time). After talking to Kyle I told Pheonix to stay in the tree while I climbed down to check him. I clambered down the ladder, shaking uncontrollably, and walked over to my bear. He had a skinny back end, but once I got closer to him his back just kept going, then I got to his shoulders and head- I had underestimated this bear! His head was so big I couldn't lift it and he had massive muscular shoulders. I texted Kyle saying I was wrong and he was BIG, I wouldn't be able to load him onto the quad...at all. So Kyle said stay there I'm on my way. He had called Warren and told him and he left his house and was on his way in too. I helped Pheonix come down just before Kyle showed up. He was speechless when he seen my bear. Even him and I wouldn't be able to load the bear and there was no possible way he would fit on a quad. We got some pictures and then Kyle had to go meet Warren with the Quad and pick up the quad trailer too. It was starting to get dark now and I felt uneasy being on the ground next to the bait- hidden in the brush. Pheonix was freaking out too. So we hopped on our quad and headed out of the trees out into one of the big open fields to wait for Kyle and Warren. I left the quad running so we had some light but she was still crying and scared-I gave her my phone to play a game and that helped calm her-kept her mind busy. We probably waited out there for a good 30 minutes before they showed up, we followed them back into the bait to load the bear. It took Kyle, Warren, Nat and I to load it into the trailer that was laying on its side. We took it back to Warrens house and skinned it out there. Warren was starting to wonder if it WAS double chin, for the next 2 weeks the guys poured over every photo of big bears that they got to figure out if it was. Kyle is positive it isn't him.

And just like that, my week of hunting was over! Kyle continued to hunt, sometimes solo and sometimes with Pheonix but it had slowed down and there were just little ones coming in. I hung out with Easton and sometimes both kids- took them to the lake for some swimming. Kerwin eventually showed up, he got his bear the same night I got mine where he lives, so the night he came in he went and sat the stand with Kyle. Sure enough a big lanky bear came in, Kyle passed him up twice that sit before he decided he was going to take him right before dark. They came in with the bear loaded in the trailer like mine and pulled into the carport- holy hell did that thing stink! He was definitely a big bear, younger than mine and full of scars. His hair was really thin too. He was obviously a scrapper. As we were skinning him the smell turned to a rank smell- rotten almost, and it was all we could do to finish the job.

Warren was hunting the whole week as well. The mornings we spent helping him with checking his beaver traps, which the kids found fascinating! Our last day there, Kerwin had headed home and warren suggested we all go fish for some walleye and pike. It was slow but it was the perfect night to be on the water. The kids each caught a pike and that was it lol. And they got to see a beaver up close- one came off the bank by the boat and went swimming across the lake.

I love going to Saskatchewan to hunt. Not because of the chance to kill a monster bear (ok maybe a tiny bit lol) but because I have so much fun watching them around the bait. How they interact with each other, their personalities, and the cute little cubs. I was hoping to spend more time in the stand- mainly in hopes of being able to get some decent photos of the furry critters....but alas....maybe next time!

First Archery Shoot for 2017

Our first archery shoot of the year was on April 22-23. Unfortunately Kyle had to work and missed most of it, but he came out and did 1 round. Saturday we did a round with friends then I ran Kyle back to town so he could get ready for work and went back with the kids to keep shooting. Unfortunately I didnt realize that they had changed the required number of rounds you had to do. It used to be 5 rounds over the 2 days, now it is 3 rounds over the 2 days. So the kids and I did 3 rounds the first day and 2 rounds the second day. The first day we shot pretty decent, with the exception of the last round- that was a nightmare and it didnt help we were both tired. Pheonix and I were shooting for scores. The last course we did was labeled A course and it was tough. The shots were shots you would never take while hunting, they were all very far distances for the kids with tricky shots for them as well. By the end of A loop, Pheonix was in tears and beaten down. She had no confidence left and I kept telling her to keep her chin up and try not to worry about it. It was a relief when we were done and able to head home. We were all exhausted mentally and physically. But tomorrow was a new day and we would be refreshed and ready to go.

The next day we both shot really well, much better then the day before....but to our dismay the scores didnt count. It was still good practice either way. At the end of the weekend Pheonix and I both placed 2nd in our divisions. Pheonix will only have this year left as a mini cub. Right now she shoots a Diamond Prism with fingers and no sights (we put a sight on it and tried to teach her to use it but shes having some troubles adjusting and just shoots how she always has- by instinct).

Solo Spring Black Bear

Its been a slow spring for us getting out to do some hunting. We had a huge snowfall, followed with endless amounts of rain this spring. I got out a few times to look for antlers with the kids, once by myself for turkey and really that was it. It was May 10 and the weather was finally getting beautiful and I figured it would be the perfect day to go out to look for a bear. I decided to go after I picked the kids up from school instead of trying to squeeze a hunt in before they were out at 3.

I picked them up and we went home to get our stuff together. They complained the whole time because they wanted to go to the park- i told them too bad. I needed to get out after being trapped in the house all winter with a bad back and then with the endless rain. I decided to go out to our favourite spot for bear and check our little honey hole first. A friend I took out last year had missed a tank of a bear in the same spot and I figured it would be a good place to check out first. We got out there by 5:00 pm and started slowly making our way through the bush roads. On one stretch of road we came across a painted turtle, hanging out on the road. So we pulled over and helped him get across to where he was going. Our little honey hole is just a very short, very old bush road that leads to a grown in landing and massive clear cut. I pulled into the mouth of the road and stopped to check the wind, it was blowing right into the clearing. The wind always seems to blow in the wrong direction in this area but the road goes along a little ways before it drops into a dip and turns a corner to the clearing. So i drove in a little farther keeping an eye as far down into the dip that I could see. Eventually I seen a small patch of black, so I stopped and put my binos up to take a look- it was furry. So I put the truck in park and said to the kids that there was a bear in the clearing. Pheonix right away was sitting on her window with her binos looking at the bear, repeating to me, "Mom its a good bear!"

I turned the truck off and told Easton to stay in the truck and be quiet, he was more than happy too. After-all, the little monster refused to wear any other footwear then his flip flops, but I did make him pack his gumboots. I got out of the truck and got my rifle ready and told Pheonix to jump out with me. She has never been on a stalk with me other then for grouse so she was excited. I gave her the camera and showed her how to use it so she could video it all for the show. She was very determined but her footsteps were pretty loud. I kept turning to her to remind her to walk lightly, but i knew it was hard while holding the camera so I didn't worry to much. We slowly crept up the road until we got to where the road dropped, I couldn't see the bear and I was worried he had heard us and took off up the bank into the trees. So I quickened our pace until I caught a glimpse of him around the corner, he had no clue we were there, he was just milling around feeding on green grass. We went to the right side of the road where the bank dropped, I got set up on a root-ball as a rest and I told Pheonix to stay just behind me. I was all set and ready, I watched him through my scope waiting for the perfect shot. He was a good bear, and had a beautiful coat on him. He eventually started to walk back on to the road and stopped to sniff something in the dirt, so I took my shot. It was a perfect shot at less than 100 yards. It went right behind his shoulder and took out the far one. I watched him rear up and spin a few times while I was re-loading my 300 wsm. I watched him take a few steps and I put my rifle up again, but once I had it up he disappeared. So i stood up and turned to look at Pheonix. She was vibrating with excitement, and was the first to say anything. She whispered loudly too me, "Did you see him spin!!!" and she never stopped talking all the way back to the truck. She wanted to go get him right away, but I told her no we should go back to the truck and Easton and give him some time. Little did I realize that she had watched him drop right after he took his 3 big steps. But I still wanted to be sure. So we walked back to the truck and Easton was asking if we got him, he was all excited asking if we could go see him. I decided to drive the truck down to the clearing much to Pheonixs dismay, I made her ride in the truck instead of running down the road like she wanted. As we drove down, I seen a black thing laying only 10 yards from where I shot him. I made the kids stay in the truck while I checked to make sure he was dead and there weren't any other bears hanging out in the clearing. When I gave the Ok, they both jumped out excited to see him. Then the hard worked started...i now had to skin and quarter the beast by myself, and his hide was so nice that I wanted to rug him. I'm not a good skinner...unfortunately lol...but I tried my best to skin him out good and tried to keep it somewhat symmetrical. I was glad to have Pheonix with me, she held a leg here and there for me or pulled on the hide to help me skin it. He was heavy, I can lift 240 pounds off the ground and I had troubles rolling him- I had the kids help me roll him over. After 2.5 hours of skinning and field dressing, I finally had him in the truck and we were headed home. The kids were just buzzing the whole way home, asking if we could go out again the next day for a bear. I just laughed and told them we wouldn't be able too- I needed to deal with this bear and buy my second tag before we could head out again. The next day Pheonix was still pretty pumped and dressed in head to toe camo for school, I took the meat to the butcher and measured the head and hide. My skinning job wasn't as good as I had hoped, so i will probably just have him dry tanned. But he was a 6 foot bear and his head was a green score of 17 1/2".

Although I go out on my own a lot or with the kids, this was the first time I got an animal on the ground. Kyle was at work in Sparwood which was 3 hours away, Pheonix made sure to text him from my phone to rub it in a little bit. I was pretty proud of myself being able to do everything on my own with 2 kids in tow. It may have taken me a looooong time and I couldn't move the rest of the night because my hips hurt so bad, but I was pretty happy. Not bad for my first trip out for bear and being the first bear of the season! 

Family Ice Fishing

Ever since I could remember, I have LOVED fishing. Growing up we used to have family ice fishing trips all the time in the winter and in the summer months i was casting off shore or sitting in a boat with my dad. My last ice fishing trip when I lived at home was with my Nana and Grandpa and Papa Pico, I was 17. I was up at 4am, wide awake and ready to roll when they picked me up. It was cold..and the bite was slow, but I wouldn't have had it any other way....

Fast forward a few years...

I now get to enjoy the same family tradition with my kids and husband. Both kids love fishing. Easton prefers the summer months to fish in where he gets to cast and reel in, Pheonix loves both kinds of fishing. Whether they are fishing or playing while Kyle and I fish, they still have a lot of fun. Sometimes we get used to just watch the rods and when a fish is on the kids take over. I have found it is a lot more watching them catch the fish then yourself.

Winter doesnt have to be cold, miserable and boring.  Grab some fishing rods, chairs and a wood stove and get out on the ice and have some fun.

Saskatchewan Bear Hunt 2015

Our 2nd annual trip to Saskatchewan to hunt with Kerwin and Warren, this time with the kids. We left at midnight on the 30th of May planning to drive through the night in hopes the kids would sleep the entire way. Easton did...Pheonix not so much. We made it to Edmonton 2 hours  before Cabelas opened, so we went for breakfast and waited. We managed to find a youth harness that fit Pheonix and myself so she could go up in the stand too. She was excited, mom not so much, but I didn't hold her back.

We got to Lloydminster that afternoon and had a chance to relax a bit and get a good nights sleep before heading to Saskatchewan with Kerwin in the morning. We got our tags bought in the morning and were off to Warrens families ranch. Warren wasn't due home until later that evening so we hunted the families property for the evening. Kerwin and I only had one little bear come in, Kyle had 3. He had one little one and a sow with a decent boar. I would have taken him if he came to my stand. Kerwin and my hunt unfortunately was interrupted by a couple wolves. The neighbors had their cattle out in the pasture next to us and you could hear them mooing all evening, but close to dark 2 wolves lit up howling. They were in among the cows, and after there was some silence and then a single cow started calling again-but it sounded in distress. We thought maybe a calve was taken, so that night we told Warrens dad about it and he was pretty worried, he was taking his cattle out there the next day.
The stayed the night at the ranch and the next morning we got everything packed up and ready to head north. It was another couple hour drive to get to where we wanted. Once there we set up camp and got ready to hit the stands. I hunted with Kerwin again and Kyle on his own. Warren wanted to do a fish fry for dinner so he offered to take the kids fishing with him, of course they were ecstatic. Later I received a picture of them and Pheonix had caught her first pike all on her own. They had a lot of fun. Kyle had one bear come in that night and Kerwin and I had 5- including big red. It was a pretty cool night and I had all my layers on minus my thick Oncatherm extreme shirt on, and I was wishing I had it on too. We had little bear after little bear come in. Then we seen this big red colored bear come in hopping on 3 legs, at first we thought he was a sow because you could hear him popping his jaws the whole we in, he stopped just in the trees before one of the black boars put a run on him. Then just before dark he came hobbling back to the bait but really on edge. I was standing ready for him to come in as soon as we heard him popping. I had one really good shot opportunity but I couldn't draw my bow, after sitting 6 hours in the cold and getting stiff- I just couldn't get my bow past the wall. And once he heard me draw, he was gone like a shot. I was really mad. I could not believe I just missed out on that big boar because I couldn't get my bow back.

Next day Kerwin and I hunted the same stand, hoping big red would come back in. He had come back in at 3am that night, but I wasn't very optimistic about him showing up in daylight again. Again we had 5 bears come in. 3 were the same little ones from the other night and 2 new ones. The one new one was a bigger boar, not as big as red but decent. He had a nice head on him and that was about it. He was skin and bones and his hair was patchy and rubbed right off. He came in very cautious and he came straight to the stand to check it. When he walked under me he stopped and looked up, I had a wave of Deja vu hit me, like I had seen him before- those eyes and his face...but I couldn't quite place it. He didn't stay long, he put the run on one of the 3 little ones (a little 3 year old boar with big attitude) then never came back. Just before dark the little boar got spooked and ran to our tree, he huffed and made a ruckus and then we had a big black come in, he was about 4 inches above the barrel and the little boar came right up the tree under our feet. I was watching the little boar and Kerwin trying to shoo it down with his hat. He didn't know who he should take his chances with, us or the bear. When I drew back I couldn't see him in my pins, we had ran out of light. So we waited a minute and he just wandered through. We also had the little boar with attitude watching us from another tree and a sow watching from about 60 yards out. When we started down out of the tree the little boar took off, the sow just stayed put. She was only 10 yards from us sitting at the baits, she did not care we were right there. So we made our way out and sat at the truck. As we came out we noticed a bear standing about 30 yards from the truck making its way to the baits. Kerwin had a trailer on the back which smelled of meat so we went to check if the bear had destroyed anything. Nothing was ruined but he was definitely in the trailer checking everything out, you could smell him like he was standing beside you.

Kyle was hunting with Pheonix, and Easton went fishing with Warren. Kyle had apparently shot a bear. It wasn't the biggest bear but it was a good experience for Pheonix. Apparently she also got to see this years cubs during her sit with daddy, and got a good nap in ha ha. Kyle had to keep her from jumping up and down in the tree every time a bear came in. He shot it well before dark so had retrieved it and loaded it up with Warrens help. When they pulled up about 20 mins after we left the stand we told each other our stories.

The next 3 days were very quiet. We only had 2-3 little ones come in, but we did see some rut action. A real young shaggy boar was charming the 2 sows that were hanging around. We had a chocolate sow come in and try to get our attention in a frisky way. She laid back under our ladder watching us, rubbing a stick on her...same thing Warren and I had last year, except this little sow wanted to share her stick and wanted to come up the tree with it. We watched the boar chase the sows and wrestle with them...but we never had any good bears come back in. During the slow days the ugly boar kept come back to me in my head, the same picture over and over of him looking up at me....and it clicked. I think he was the beautiful black I shot at and missed the year before. It was a different stand this year but same location, and this one didn't have the high arm rests like the year before.  Warren also took a night to go back to his families ranch to hunt, there was a big bear there he was after. He didn't see the big boar that night but he did have quite the entertaining night. He had a cinnamon sow come in with 2 new babies, both cinnamon. They came into the bait and the cubs made a B line straight for Warrens tree. They shot up the tree and momma came to investigate what they were doing. He videoed them coming in and when mom decided to come over, you can hear him say Oh f*** when she makes her way to the tree, ha ha. Lucky she was a laid back sow and she just made a couple grunts and they scooted down and she went back to the bait to eat. As soon as she was eating though, one of the little ones went back up the tree to investigate Warren again. He managed to get almost up on his platform with him. Mom didn't even look at him again. The other little cub went to join his mom for a snack and apparently she pancaked him with her paw...flattened him right to the ground and the little guy just howled. Warren said it was the funniest thing he had ever seen.

We ended up staying a day later then we had planned, hoping that maybe some thing big would come back through. We woke up Sunday morning and was able to get packed up and leaving by 9:30-10 am. We had to stop at Jeanettes on the other side of Edmonton for a visit...mainly a business one that turned into a socialization...for 8 hours. We were able to meet Todd Brick, one of the hosts for No Limits TV, so it was a nice visit...but made for a real long drive home. We had to stop twice so Kyle could sleep and ended up home at 9:30 am Monday. It was another good year, had its ups and downs, but we had fun and so did the kids. Their last night they did some more fishing with Warren and his girlfriend, Natasha, and they caught 27 pike but kept 7 for dinner. So overall another awesome trip, and we look forward to next year.

*** 2 weeks after we left***
I get a text message from Warren sending me pictures of a massive red bear that showed up at the stand Kyle had shot his bear from, a week after we left. It was Red, and the left foot gave it away. He was still alive and hopefully he makes it to next season.

Nikita

Girls Guns & Rods

I would like to introduce everyone to the new womens outdoor magazine called Girls Guns & Rods, a magazine made for women by women! In this magazine you will find real outdoors women sharing their stories, tips, product reviews and more. Available in print and digital copies, this is a full color magazine.

Although the magazine is new, the Chief Editor Laurie Hauke is not new to the magazine world. She is co-owner of Airboating Magazine, a nationally distributed full-color publication in print and digital. Airboating Magazine started in 2007, and has been the leading magazine promoting and uniting airboat enthusiasts from all over the world.

We want to bring women from all over the world together and give the outdoors woman something for them! And what better way to do it then a magazine dedicated to them.

If you are interested in carrying GGR in your store or placing an AD in future issues please contact me by email nkdalke@hotmail.com

It's all about the kids! ~ Hunting 2014

It's All About the KIDS!

This past season was a lot more work but also a lot more rewarding- even though I only harvested a doe. I think through out the entire hunting season I got out twice without the kids, where it was just Kyle and I. I had a couple hunts where Kyle took the kids and dropped me off to hike and hunt as well. One of those hunts I was looking for a bull elk and Kyle took the kids in the jeep, he ended up shooting a very nice black bear. After he shot it, it took off up the tree it was standing beside and when he died he fell out. The kids were so excited when they came to pick me up that that was all they wanted to do for the rest of season was bear hunt.

I think the most rewarding part of the season for me was seeing how much more involved the kids were. Pheonix really started to pick up on things like the wind and why we sat where we did and where we wanted the animals to come out. She also got to try her hand at cleaning a grouse, although she wasn't strong enough- she tried! I had given her my Binos since I received new ones from the contest so she would help glass. Most of the season was spent split up- I had one kid and Kyle had the other- and sitting and waiting. They both did amazing and enjoyed themselves. We also brought coloring and cars to help keep the boredom at bay. We had lots of action almost every hunt that made them more and more eager to go out the next time- anything from black bear and grizzly, to moose and being surrounded by screaming elk, they got to experience it all.

Easton was getting into things more as well. He was enjoying the hiking more then past years and helping look for sign and animals. I took him out multiple times, just him and I, while Pheonix was in school. He did really well spot and stalk. The one day we seen  9 deer and a coyote. He tries hard to be quiet and sticks close to me, he was even getting into learning about the tracks, rubs and poop. A huge jump from previous years where he had no interest at all until an animal was on the ground.

I was one proud momma reflecting back on the past season and seeing the change in both kids. How much more their knowledge grew and how much more comfortable they were in the bush (Pheonix has always been very comfortable in the bush but it took Easton a few years). I'm excited to see what this new year and seasons bring and how much they flourish as little outdoors people.