Camo time

Many of you are probably not familiar with hunting season so I'll take this opportunity to inform you about it. This is the time they lovingly refer to as the "widow/widower" season. Two weekends ago was the opening of bow hunting season and I, like many other spouses, spent the weekend alone while my warrior husband was out sleeping and hiking in the rain and cold. Justin has become passionate about bow hunting and all of the nuances that come with hunting with a bow versus a rifle. As a matter of fact, whenever Justin now hunts with a rifle we call it "meat hunting" versus "sport hunting" simply because it's usually a lot easier to shoot something with a rifle than a bow (with an arrow you can shoot up to maybe 60 yards if you're really good but with a rifle it can easily be over 100 yards away). We were so blessed last year by the cow (female elk) Justin got during rifle season. A single elk can provide enough meat to last our family a whole year! I'm trying to cook up the rest of the meat now so we'll have enough room to store whatever Justin gets this season.

Because we are getting so close to the due date, we're more hesitant about Justin going out of cell phone range so he drives a few miles to a nearby mountain, hops on his mountain bike, and bikes pulling all of his gear behind him in a Burley. It's a pretty neat setup and he stays within cell phone range the whole time :) Tonight he ventured out after dinner and came home with a grouse. While his goal is to get an elk, he was hoping to fill a need to "get" something so this is what he got.

I've been willing to help butcher elk and deer but I'm leaving the bird all up to him (that's what he's doing in the backyard right now). I've come a long way from my suburban VA days, that's for sure!