Get Ready! Archery Saskatchewan Black Bear in May

We are very excited to say that come the middle of May we will be venturing out of BC for a hunt for our first time! And to hunt my favourite animal...Black bear in Saskatchewan! Going for the monsters! I will be testing out some new products and gear while there: BUCKED scent eliminator, my new SOS Gear bow sling and my new Cabelas pants and jacket. So be sure to keep a watch on the Ladies in Camo page and website for product reviews. If I have phone service or internet while I am there ill be updating through out the week on facebook and twitter. And be prepared for a story from us when we get home.

First 3D Archery Shoot of the Year

April 5 & 6

Our first local competition was this weekend! The kids and I ventured out Saturday morning to start our weekend. Three rounds of 15 targets each on the Saturday and 2 rounds of 15 targets each on Sunday. Unfortunately Kyle ended up having to work and missed out.

Saturday:
It was a warm day with intermittent clouds in the sky. We arrived out at the range at 11:00, a little later then I was hoping but we still had plenty of time to get our rounds done. We did a couple practice rounds at the bags before heading off on our rounds. We started with C loop because it tends to be a little easier walking and I figured it would get the kids warmed up for the other two loops. They both did good and had fun. The weather was a little bi-polar, it was nice and sunny then we got rained on, then it hailed, then back to rain, then sun and it just kept doing that on and off the whole day. I scored a 110/150 and Pheonix scored a 41/150. After we were done C loop we stopped to have some lunch then we made our way to A loop.

Eating lunch- Easton was apparently a pirate
 

mommies 10x

It was a little better, we both scored better even though having to climb a few more hills and is a slightly more demanding hike for them then C. I scored a 125/150 and Pheonix got 46/150. We made our way to B loop as soon as we were done A. This loop has always been notorious for being difficult. It is a more demanding hike and usually the shots are much harder. I found that the shots were not as difficult for me as they were in previous years but course was more difficult to walk for the kids than in previous years. One area in particular had me grinding my teeth and swearing under my breath. They had a stone sheep set up on the side of a steep hill that had a pond at the bottom. For me it was nothing, but for the kids, dangerous. Easton froze up and I had to carry him across the hill then have him sit down so I could help Pheonix get across to her peg. After, I just had them sit while i crossed over to get our arrows then had to help one at a time get to the top of the hill. After that Easton was done, he was scared of any hill we came to and was tired; and this was only #4 on the course. It wasn't a fun loop this last one so I decided that this was the loop we would cut out even though it was our best scoring loop, 126/150 for me and 48/150 for Pheonix.

Sunday:
We got out at 9:30 and was walking our first loop by 10 so we made it out in decent time. They shut down the courses at 2:30 on the last day. The weather was much nicer! Sunshine and blue skies but windy. We started with A loop. The kids were not as well behaved as yesterday but they did alright on this loop. It went quick and I scored 126/150 and Pheonix scored 51/150. We stopped and had lunch after that loop and Pheonix wanted to try out her new release we had bought her. Currently she shoots her bow bare with fingers. We had some time so I said OK and we went over to the bags so she could practice. It took her a little bit to get the hang of it but she after a few shoots she did. She was just a little out of control with it so I told her she wasn't going to use it on the course  because she needed more practice and we were needing to get going on our last round. She pouted but listened. We made our way to C loop and apparently so was everyone else. The loop took us twice as long as it did yesterday and both kids were starting to get tired and whiny. By the end of C loop my nerves were frazzled haha. But I did score a 131/150 and Pheonix scored 48/150 so Sunday was our best shooting days even though we were all tired. I was able to hand in our score cards at 2:00. I ended up placing 2nd in the Women's Bowhunter Release class and Pheonix placed 4th in the Mini Cubs (8 yrs and under).

It was a successful weekend and our next shoot is April 19 & 20. But we will only be going to that one if Kyle has it off because it is a 2.5 hr drive!

She was very happy when she
got an 8 and mommy got a 0

Nikita


 

Letter to Anti-Hunters

I am tired of the harassment, abuse, threats and self righteous BS comments. You hate hunters...fine whatever but attacking us does nothing but waste your time and mine, especially since we don't seek you out to attack you and harass you and your family. Threatening us, our families and kids(!!) does nothing but show your crazy- and some of you are parents, aunties and uncles!! I wouldn't want you around my children that's for sure. I had a mother tell me she hopes wolves rip apart my children....YES A MOTHER! And the language you people use is atrocious. But please make note of this, If you hate hunters then you are not a true lover of wildlife and the environment like you claim to be. Hunters have a better understanding of how wildlife work than any animal activist.

Every penny that hunters put towards tags and licenses goes back into helping wildlife and not too mention they help support OUR economy by buying fuel, food, hotels, weapons & ammunition, clothing and so on. Hunters put more money into conservation and the protection of land for animals than any PETA supporter or Animal rights activist. They fight for the animals. They fight for the land so animals can roam free. But hunters "kill poor defenceless animals, that's not loving animals"... no its respecting them and knowing the consequences of what can happen if you "let nature take care of itself" . Nature can't fight the growth of the human population or the expanding concrete jungles, but the money hunters put forth can help sanction land for them to live. With the ever growing cities, wild animals have less space to move around in. You need to help regulate the number of animals within that space or else it becomes overpopulated - disease sets in, the land becomes overfed off of- now you get starvation and then the two results in death. With predators you have all this but they wipe out all their prey before starvation sets in, and once they get hungry they will turn to the next available resource- livestock, pets and people before they start to die off. Regulated hunting helps prevent this, and whether or not you agree- trophy hunters are a part of the solution just like everyday hunters.

Trophy hunters spend a huge amount of money to hunt the animals they do. Many of the animals are management animals that need to be culled to keep the numbers healthy, and some are animals (like lion) that are already chosen to be culled because of age or aggression. An animal past its breeding prime that is aggressive will kill the young and will not let new breeding opportunities for the younger males. This can lead to inbreeding and population decline, so it's better to cull the animal for the health and future of the species and get a good chunk of change from the hunter to help fight poachers and to help with conservation efforts. And much to popular belief, the animal is NOT wasted. The meat goes to the guides and tribes around the area (which helps to stop them from illegally killing animals for food) and the hunter gets to take the cape and head home. I would rather see one animal taken than watch a whole population slowly dwindle away to nothing.

Now, if you are vegan or vegetarian and you think everyone should just not eat meat to save the animals, you are not free of harming wildlife as you think you are- Just because you are not going out and hunting them. If everyone was to go vegan guess what happens to the land? It gets turned into farming they rip up natural habitat for wildlife to make room for your rows upon rows of vegetables and fruits. Then the chemicals used to spray the plants to kill any bugs crawling on the plants aids in pollution as does the extra gas and fumes to either drive/fly/ship these fruits and veggies to your local stores. Then animals will be shot as they come to your crops in search of food because they have none. Whether you want to admit it or not, hunters are not the ones endangering wildlife; it's a lack of space and natural habitat, and YOU are part of that problem especially if you live in a largely expanding city. There is no one out there that loves and will protect wildlife and the land more than hunters, and the facts and statistics show that. So next time you want to fight with someone about animal rights maybe you should spend your energy into saving their habitat, fighting poachers or help save the overpopulation of domestic animals.

Links Supporting that Hunting Is Conservation:
Hunting is Conservation RMEF: http://www.rmef.org/Conservation/HuntingIsConservation.aspx
25 Reasons Why Hunting is Conservation: http://www.rmef.org/Conservation/HuntingIsConservation/25ReasonsWhyHuntingIsConservation.aspx
Hunting in America: An Economic Force for Conservation: http://www.nssf.org/PDF/research/HuntingInAmerica_EconomicForceForConservation.pdf
Americas Sporting Heritage: Fueling the American Economy: http://www.sportsmenslink.org/uploads/page/Economic_Impact_Report_E-version.pdf
National Geographic: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/11/hunters/poole-text/1

First Outdoor Practice of the year & Catch up

 Yes! Sunshine and warm temperatures finally. Over the last week we have had temperatures above 0 and rain. So now we have no snow, but everything is flooding and muddy. On the bright side, the kids and I were able to go out and do some shooting.  Boy did it feel good. Pheonix was feeling pretty confident today and decided to shoot from where I was standing at the 20 yard target. It was the farthest she has attempted and she did hit the target. She shoots fingers with no kisser, peep or sight. I was very happy for her and she was ecstatic.

Over the winter we did a lot of ice fishing and some predator hunting. We finally got to meet up with some friends from Bonners Ferry, ID and some fishing. It was much colder this winter then last so we only took the kids out after predators a couple times. But we were able to fill some of the freezer with trout! Now that its coming to the end of March we will need to renew our fishing and hunting licenses so we can keep filling it. Rabbit is open until April 30 and Black bear opens April 1st and Turkey April 15!

We were able to attend a couple Outdoor shows this year. We went to Kalispell and Spokane. Kalispell was awesome! They dont have a lot of vendors but what they do have is great. It's very family friendly with lots of activities to do with the kids including an animal show. I got to meet some friends from Twitter and make some new ones as well. Spokane was ok. Its not a very kid friendly show and is mostly outfitters. But we got to see our friends from Horns & Hooks Magazine and do some shopping at Cabelas. I got new pants and jacket that Im really excited to try this year.

 

 

Ladies in Camo

 

I am so excited to say that I am now on Staff with Ladies in Camo!!! They are a great group of women promoting women and kids in the outdoors! I will be contributing product reviews and tips and looking over their social media

You can find them here www.ladiesincamo.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ladiesincamo

Twitter: @ladies_in_camo

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/ladiesincamo

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Kyle Mountain Goat Hunt 2013

Well it's November 23 and Kyle only has until the 30th to get a Goat. So in other words this set of 4 days off is all he has... 4 Days. So he worked his last night Shift and walked in the door at 10:00Am. It was a beautiful day, blue sky and sunshine, Temperature was -10°C. His Limited Entry draw for this goat was in the same MU as mine last year. So he gets home, not having slept, and says lets go and glass for goats. OK. So we get everything we need and pack Some food for The kids, load up the Jeep and head out.

 

We pull up to the first glassing spot and park. Kyle already had his binos up while I was busy with the Kids, right away he sees 2 goats. So I get my binos and start looking. I found the 2 he Seen but he missed one that Was bedded down. I told him there were 3 there while he was Setting up the spotting Scope. While he was identifying the 3 goats I found 2 more in a different area-nanny and Kid. We sat and Watched them for a little bit- it was a Billy with 2 nannies, they Weren't rutting yet but the Billy was trying. Kyle was battling internally Whether or not he wanted to try for this Billy. After about an hour of observing them, Kyle decided he was going to give it a go.

Nikita
We had a couple handheld radios from his dad so We could talk and I stayed in the jeep with the kids. Well the radios range was only about 300 yards -We discovered the hard way. So Kyle left the jeep at 1:10 in the afternoon. The Kids played in the back seat and had a movie playing and I watched the goats with my binos. After about an hour and a half, while I was giving my neck a break, we heard a gunshot. Pheonix got excited and asked if it was daddy.  I told her I wasn't sure and listened. Another shot. Then another. I quickly grabbed my binos and while I was getting them up, another Shot. I found a goat but it was one of the nannies and I couldn't find Where the other 2 goats went. And because the radios didn't work very well, I had no idea what Was happening. About an hour and a half after the shots l decided to try the radio. The first couple tries I got nothing back, then finally I got an answer. He was on his way back to us and he had a Billy down. It was about another 3O Mins before he got to the jeep... with an empty pack.

 

Kyle
I decided to go up a different way then we did last year for Niki's goat. The goats lm going after are about another 200 yards higher then Niki's was. So I went up the rocks towards a rock chute that would let me get up on the top of the ridge. While Climbing up the chute I found some big cougar tracks that was following the same path that I was taking. The tracks were big enough that they reminded me of my big toms tracks. Once I got up to the top where I could just Walk the ridge, the cats tracks just went up and over, it opened up like a walking path. I Stopped to look for the goats and it took me a minute to realize that they were Closer then I had thought. Only about 150 yards from me. So I pulled my pack off, got Set up and waited. I could see the one nanny but the Billy Was behind a ledge that rose up and hid him from View. I didn't have to wait long, he came over to the nanny to push her around again, And When She showed no interest he went up on a small ledge above her. I took my first shot and I hit the rock beside him, second shot hit the same Spot. So it wasn't me, that means the rifle got knocked out. I compensated for the gun on the 3rd shot but too much, I hit him in the hind end. I quickly reloaded and hit where I wanted, dropping him. I managed to Climb down to him and found he Was much bigger then I had thought. While I was Skinning him out his body shifted on the snow and I lost my grip on him. He slid down and over the Cliff onto the ledge below. I was quickly losing daylight so I made the decision to come back tomorrow.
 

Nikita
When Kyle got back to the jeep he explained everything to me and I was soon on the phone with my mom to see if she would watch the Kids so I Could go up with him.

 

The next morning we got ready and took the kids to my moms. I Was looking forward to a good hike. We found a place to park and got geared up. It was a beautiful day, blue sky and sunshine. We decided to head up the side we went up when I was hunting my goat. Apparently his goat slid down to the ledge above where mine died.  I decided I would Stay down lower because Kyle had the plan that if it was in a bad spot he would push it over the edge and I could recover it. So I found a nice ledge to sit on and enjoyed the warm sun.

 

Kyle
I got up to my goat after a very nerve wracking Climb-lm glad Niki was ok with Staying back because she would not have been able to get up here. I was even questioning my sanity. But I made it. I managed to get the head and hide off and in my pack, and started working on the meat, got it all loaded into my pack then turned around to head out and decided to go against one of my most important rules-go back the way you came. What made me change my mind...The suicide climb getting up to where I am now. As I was making my way back to Niki, I came face to face with a big boar grizzly. He was making his way over to the goat kill on the trail I was using to get out. The wind was blowing the wrong direction so he couldn't smell me coming and I startled him. I reached behind me quickly for the defender and yelled at him. He stood his ground, huffed at me and popped his jaw in warning.  I let 2 shots go into the tree beside him and that scared him, he took off up and over the top of the Mountain. I took off as fast as I could down to Niki who had no clue what had been just above her. 

Nikita

While I was waiting for Kyle on my warm sunny ledge, I was keeping an eye out for any bears below me that may come up for the goat. When I was waiting I noticed some weird things happening on the ledge just above me. I had a bunch of snow kicked down on top of me and some rocks come down beside me, I thought it might have been just the sun thawing the ice. I heard a couple shots ring out above me, I started to worry. A little while later I heard Kyle yelling for me. He was yelling for me to start heading down, so I did. He caught up to me half way down the rock slide and filled me in on his encounter.  

Kyles P&Y billy from 2012 Vs. His 2013 B&C

We got off the mountain as quick as we could and got to the jeep. We decided it wasn't worth taking pictures with a grizzly sharing the mountain with us so when we got to the jeep we went somewhere else so Kyle could get some pictures and took a real good look at his Billy. After we were done with pictures we started to head out to go pick up the kids, but we had to stop to get pictures of the huge mule deer buck that was chasing does. He was easily the biggest buck we both have ever seen.

Our year in review for 2013

Another year has come and gone, and it was another great year. We spent most of it outdoors either hunting, hiking or fishing with the kids. Pheonix learned how to cast on her own and caught her first fish all on her own and Easton learned how to reel. Pheonix got to compete with Kyle and I at the local archery shoots and she won an online archery league during the spring.  I got on Prostaff with an amazing company, Hips Archery Targets and was introduced to freelance writing where a wonderful ladies company picked me up to do some articles for them, Loba Outdoors. Ive met lots of great people in the Outdoors community with the help of Facebook and Twitter. And of course I am still with the amazing Huntress Wear company, but with a promotion to Prostaff Manager! I was also able to partner up with a friend/photographer (KJubinville Photography) and do some portrait shots. We had success with fishing, rabbit hunting, grouse hunting and with the regular season. Kyle even had success during the predator season. The kids were with us for almost every hunt, and they were with us for every kill except Kyles coyote and for the retrieval of his mountain goat. Kyles new adventure into the sheep hunting world was an eye opener and had its trying times for him. My heart broke for him when he came home 3 days early from his solo backpack trip into the backcountry and he informed me of the people that broke the law by driving up a road closure to where the sheep are, after he hiked the 8.5km straight up. You live and learn. Easton got to shoot a bow a couple times, although we think he is going to be left handed and they both got a chance to shoot the .22. Pheonix more so and she loves it. And once she was used to the iron sights she was nailing pop cans at 25 yards.

 

 

We are so thankful too everyone that has supported us over the year and the friendships we have made.

 

Nikita & Kyle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to back bucks

Dec 1& 2

First day of bow Season! So happy that the rifles are away until predators and that most people are out of the bush. We decided to go out for an afternoon  /evening hunt with the kids. The bush was alive with deer, we seen over 30, but we also didn't realize that the weather was taking a turn that night. 

While we were driving out we noticed a doe bedded down only 15 yards off the bush road. So We stopped and backed up to get a better Look at her. As we were backing Up She got up, and when we stopped she ran...taking her boyfriend (that we hadn't seen) with her. And he was big! Kyle tried following them but The snow Was horrible for stalking. Frozen, thin lcy snow. So we continued On. We found lots of does and fawns through out the day and even some spike and 2 point bucks. We came upon a doe that had no concerns or worries About us, I hummed and hawed whether I wanted to shoot another doe. Finally I decided. I Walked back to where She was and ranged her at 20 yards, pulled back and let my arrow fly. Missed. She had taken one step side ways and my arrow just missed her, scared her though. She jumped straight up in the air and walked off. I went down and found my arrow, not a spec of blood. I Walked back up to the jeep and we Continued On to where we had plans on going. We got to the clearings and parked. We sat and glassed for a little while. We soon found a group of about 5 or more does And fawns. The clearing has a lot of high brush and clusters of Christmas trees so we thought we Would walk down the road thru the clearing. We made it almost to the end of the Clearing when I seen movement out of the Corner of my eye, A buck. He was on the trail of a hot doe and didn't take notice to us. When l finally got Kyles attention he had moved into a patch of Christmas trees. I motioned to Kyle where he Was heading.  He tried as quietly as he could to get ahead of the buck. The buck beat him out of the trees and stopped at 60 yards, he now noticed he wasn't alone. Kyle pulled back and let an arrow fly. I heard the smack and he was down within 30 yards. Kyle was ecstatic.  It was his biggest buck with a bow. I ran back to get the jeep and brought it down, then helped him drag the deer over. 

The next morning Pheonix had school, so we decided to go out after we dropped her off. Well, we woke up to a blizzard. We drove all the bush roads trying to find some sign of life in the woods. Nothing. I was getting pretty frustrated and even more so after receiving 2 phone calls(one from city bylaw) that our one dog was barking non stop. So i was annoyed, frustrated and feeling defeated for the day. As we were heading out to go home, we turned down one of the side roads off the bush road just as a detour. Off in the distance Kyle sees a buck. The only living thing we had seen all day, and it was a buck. He was heading away from us so I jumped out and tried to cut him off. He was heading towards another spur road so I headed down that, thankfully the snow was soft and deep from the snow storm,  cushioning my footsteps.  I managed to catch up to him just after he crossed the spur and he stopped broadside 45 yards from me. I quickly pulled back and let my arrow go. I hit him perfect height but he took a small step forward so my arrow hit him a little further back then I wanted. I followed him a little bit and seen he was bleeding so I backed off and went to the jeep. It was getting close to having to pick up Pheonix do we decided to let him have a couple hours to die. Kyle took me home so I could get Easton some lunch and pick up Pheonix and he headed out to find my deer. It didn't take him long to find him, but he did go quite a distance.  He was a tough one. By the time I got back to the house with the kids he was on his way home with him. We loaded the kids up and went out so we could get pictures and clean him out. I was pretty happy, my day definitely turned around.  He is my first archery buck and my biggest overall.