Because it’s been a while since my last post, I want to start this one off by thanking those of you who faithfully read my blog, for checking in on me to make sure all was well. I really appreciate your support.
To say I’ve been busy is really an understatement. I won’t bore you with the details of the craziness of my life over these past few weeks, but I will say this, next year I am vowing to get better with my consistency, balancing my responsibilities, delegating more and managing my time better.
Okay so now it’s time to pick up the pieces and move on. Allow me to share the story of my recent adventure. This past weekend I set out on my first deer hunt. In a previous post I shared my squirrel hunting experience and the changes it took me through. Well let me tell you, nothing could prepare me for what I experienced this weekend.
Sunday afternoon my sweetie and I set out for our four mile trek over the snow covered hills and through the snow covered woods to set up my tent. This is where I hung out until we made our catch. Believe it or not I’m in there.
Upon arriving at his favorite tree, we discovered his tree stand, which we left out there a few months prior, was missing. Not good. After pitching my tent, we made our way back over the hills and through the woods to the car. In case you’re not counting, that’s a total of eight miles…Day One!
I am an asthmatic, so of course I carry my inhaler with me at all times. Well somewhere along the way back to the car it fell out of my pocket and was gone never to be seen again. Not good. Once I realized it missing, I had two options. I was too tired to backtrack and it was starting to get dark. I could either panic my way into an attack or keep calm and breathe easy…I chose the latter and I was fine the entire weekend. I honestly think the fresh air and the exercise helped my lungs to stay clear.
From there we headed to Dicks to purchase a new tree stand and ladder, which we carried back into the woods the next morning. After a long eventful day that was full of obstacles, detours and challenges, our next days adventures began at 3:30 in the morning. Not good. With only 3 hours of sleep we headed out into the cold to discover it was snowing. Not good. Fortunately it didn’t last long.
Do you know how dark it is in the woods at 4:30 in the morning? Well let me assure you…it’s VERY dark! Thank goodness for the snow covered path, which served as some form of light. We had our head lamps too, but outside of the area right in front of us, it was DARK! Now right about here in the story, I should have turned around and left, but of course I pressed my way through. Oh I almost forgot to mention, I was carrying a 20 lb. back pack AND the tree stand, which was another 15 lbs. My sweetie had his own back pack, which was much heavier and the 25 lb. ladder. Not good.
As I walked in the dark up the snow covered stony hill, panting with each breath, trying not to panic because I didn’t have my inhaler, wanting to give up, a thought occurred to me. Stacey, you want to run a marathon. That’s 26.2 miles. This is only 8 (4 miles up and 4 miles back). You need to suck it up, focus on what needs to be done and stop trippin. So that’s what I did. I sucked it up, and did what I had to do to reach our destination. The whole time leading up to this point, I had been stressing about having to walk through the woods in the dark. Can I just tell you that the darkness was the least of my issues once we were out there?
Upon reaching our tree, my sweetie set up his tree stand in the dark. I’m still in awe. Once it was secure, he climbed up (16 feet) and hoisted up his back pack and shot gun. I hankered down in my tent and the wait began. I don’t know what was worse, the hike through the woods or the wait to spot something. It seemed like we were out there forever. I was starting to get cold, not so much because of the temperature (it was in the 40’s), but because I was damp from our hike and now I was sitting still and my skin was both wet and now cold. Not good. I began to feel better after putting on the extra clothes I brought with me.
I sat in my tent as still as I could. I prayed and I drifted off to sleep. What else could I do? Every now and again I heard some rustling in the snow and then I drifted off again. I felt like we were in the “Hunger Games”, because every so often I heard a shot go off in the distance. I thought to myself, there goes another deer. At 8:45 another shot went off. This one was closer and louder and shook me to the core. I knew it was my sweetie. After a few minutes he told me to come out of the tent. He caught one. I have never been so happy. Although it wasn’t over yet, the wait was over and now we could start the next process which took another five hours and forty-five minutes to complete.
My sweetie out did himself by spotting and shooting his target 125 yards away. The next leg of our journey involved hiking down the hill to find the deer. After it was hit it managed to run another hundred yards or so until it crashed in a brush. We found her and proceeded to drag her back UP the hill to our starting position. I’ll spear you the gory details of the gutting process. Three hours and fifteen minutes later we began our trek out of the woods, stopping and starting, catching our breath, talking to other hunters, one of whom had just shot a bear…that’s right you heard me, a bear. LOL…my eyes got as big as golf balls when he said bear. It took us two and a half hours to reach the car, but once we were there we were two happy campers, or should I say hunters.
At this point I need to pat myself on the back. The physical and mental endurance it took to do what I did this weekend is unfathomable to me. I have come to realize I am much stronger than I give myself credit for. I realize I can do ANYTHING I put my mind to. I realize I can take a licking and keep on ticking. I endured some intense pain and discomfort while out there. My cycle paid a visit, which caused my hips to lock up and my back was killing me. A blister formed on my left foot and of course I didn’t have my inhaler. I had to take it slow and with every step I was in pain, but I did it. I hadn’t had anything to eat, because I didn’t want to have to go to the bathroom. The good news is that I never felt week. I think the adrenaline kept me going. At times I pretended I was on The Amazing Race or Survivor just so I could survive my adventure.
My sister asked me if I would do it again. My answer was “no time soon, but I think once a year I’d give it a try”. As physically challenging as it was, it was my mental capacity that brought me through. Outside of a few surprises, my sweetie did a really good job in preparing me for each leg of my adventure. He told me what to expect and he was pretty much on point.
Cloe (that’s what I named our deer) is at the butchers now. We will be having her for dinner this weekend. Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought I’d ever be doing something like this and enjoying it. The feeling I have about it is similar to what I experience every time I’m in a race. The whole time I’m running I’m thinking why am I doing this, and I’ll never do it again. But the minute it’s over, I’m thinking I can’t wait to do it again. That’s how I feel about my hunting experience. As physically and mentally taxing as it was, I’m pretty sure I’ll be right back out there with my sweetie next year. He’s going out again next week to do it all again….not me! Once a year is all I can endure.
So what’s next for us? So glad you asked. Hiking the Appalachian Trail is one of his goals. Guess whose gonna be right by his side!
Anita Levesque says
I use to hunt but never did shoot anything. My husband has shot one before. I don’t know if I would do what you guys did to get one. It is a lot of work and for you to do this is awesome. Thanks for sharing your story. Anita
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Keisha Broomes says
I am so totally jealous that you are able to get out and have these great experiences! I feel trapped in the land of the curvy-mom-who-occasionally-gets-out-to-work blues. Much like the squirrel adventure – I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU DID THIS!!
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Kirsten says
You are one bad mayma jamma! You got a great workout doing all that. Looking forward to your next adventure!
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Deborah Canty says
You go girl. I am so proud of you. You are an inspiration.