Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

   Turkey season...Hunter's absolute favorite time of year! Seriously, the night before season starts, he gets his turkey vest out & puts each turkey hunting gadget in a specific pocket. He's really like a kid on Christmas Eve...so excited, he barely sleeps. His vest is about 15 years old, weighs as much as a small human & has 12 pockets. In those pockets, you can find slate calls, mouth calls, owl calls, crow calls, trumpet yelping calls, a thermocell, binoculars, camo face mask, camo gloves, limb shears, a range finder & shotgun shells, just to name a few things. How he finds everything in there, I'll never know. Season starts on March 15th every year, no matter what day of the week it falls on, and goes out April 30th. So, for the sake of this blog, we'll break it down by weeks. This is how our season played out...

Week 1

   Season came in on a Friday this year. As usual, Hunter took off of work that day. I had to work opening weekend. Hunter went to Range, AL to hunt with Chris at weekend. No luck.

Week 2

  

   On Tuesday, March 19, we got to hunt at my Uncle Clem's house. Daddy has always said it's like a zoo out there...buuuuuuut we yelped & yelped & never heard a gobble. On the way back to the truck, we saw 2 huge gobblers in their back yard. I guess we could have shot them but that would have taken away the thrill of the hunt. No luck that day with the turkeys but in other news, we went to Birmingham that afternoon & I got a new car!!!

   On Thursday of that week, Hunter went hunting with Brian Espy (our fellow Boykin parent) off of Woodley Road. He got his first gobbler of the season. It had 1 inch spurs & a 9 1/8 in beard. Madeline was his side kick!

Week 3

   On Sunday, March 24, Hunter got his 2nd gobbler. I was in Maplesville that weekend for Jessica White Smith's baby shower (welcome to the world, Maci Ann!!!!!!). It had 1 5/16 inch & 1 3/8 in spurs & a 10 3/4 inch beard. A rather nice one!

  

Week 4

  On Sunday, April 6th, Hunter got his last gobbler of the season (probably because the rest of the season was devoted to calling up a turkey for me!). It had 1 1/8 & 1 1/16 inch spurs & a 10 inch beard.

Week 5

   No luck this week :(

Week 6

   Daddy came to Montgomery to stay with us on Friday, the 19th, & we hunted all weekend with no luck!! On Sunday, Hunter came down with the stomach virus. Boo. Although we didn't kill a turkey, there was  no where that I would have rather been than with the 2 men that I love the most!

Week 7

   No luck :(

Week 8

   On Tuesday, April 30th, we gave it one last shot. Season ends on the 31st & I couldn't stand the thought of not killing a turkey all year. It was pouring rain, I was a nervous wreck because I'm scared of snakes & I was sleepy! Hunter spotted a gobbler strutting on the other side of the power line. So there we go, running through the woods like little indians with our guns across our backs (I know indians didn't have guns but you get the point). The whole time I was loudly whispering to Hunter to watch for snakes because I have yet to purchase snake proof boots & the whole time he was giving me the "stank eye" & motioning for me to hush. We got to where he was & Hunter spent at least 20 minutes trying to help me spot the dang thing. I can't hear already & apparently my vision is going, too! I finally found him & since Hunter left his calls in his vest, he had to call with just his mouth. The turkey gobbled & I shot. Rather than doing a celebration dance, I said, "OUCH! MY LIP!"...3 1/2 shells in a 12 gauge shotgun seem to kick quite a bit! I'm still sitting on the ground, soaking wet, with a swollen lip, while Hunter runs out to get my turkey. It ended up having 1 1/16 in spurs & a 10 3/4 inch beard.

   Although we didn't get to hunt together much, we had a good season!!! As much as I hate waking up early, there is no bigger rush than a turkey gobbling, drumming & spitting just a few feet away from you. While I love deer hunting, being able to call the tukey to you & kind of play hide & seek is far more entertaining!

   Tom Kelly's 'Tenth Legion' is Hunter's current read....check it out!



"I do not hunt turkeys because I want to, I hunt them because I have to. I would, really, rather not. I am helpless in the grip of my compulsion." -Tom Kelly

Saige Goes to Nationals!

  

   The 2013 Boykin Spaniel Society Spring Nationals were April 4th-6th (Thursday-Sunday) in Clinton, South Carolina. We weren't able to go because Hunter had a state conference in Orange Beach, AL &  I had to work. We decided to let Brian, Kristy, Madeline & John Espy take her since they were already taking their boykin, Charlie. Madeline & John are absolutely precious & are two of the most well mannered kids that I have ever been around. Madeline promised me that she would be Saige's 'mama' while they were gone & take super dooper good care of her. We took Saige to Brian & Kristy's Tuesday night. If you're reading this, I'm sure you already know how much we love Saige & how she pretty much consumes our lives, so being without her from Tuesday until Sunday was pretty much torture & yes, I cried once or twice. Anyways, Hunter has been working on retrieving ducks & birds with Saige since she was a puppy. She actually retrieved her first bird when she was 3 months old! Brian had worked with Saige a couple times before, but on the Tuesday before we took her to the Espy's, we met Brian, Madeline & Charlie to practice!

   While Saige did good on Tuesday afternoon with Hunter & Brian, Wednesday morning & Wednesday after noon, she absolutely WOULD NOT pick up a duck for Brian!!!! I'm sure it's our fault because she wasn't use to being with Brian without Hunter around. She heeled by Brian like she was supposed to, didn't move when the gun went off & didn't run until Brian commanded her to. She took off running hard when Brian said her name, got to the duck, smelled it, left it lying there & ran back to Brian!!!! I don't know if it was because she's not use to him or if she just missed us or what. Thursday morning before they left for Clinton, South Carolina, Brian put Hunter on speaker phone & Hunter told Saige to go get the duck (in this silly little voice that he always talks to her in) & she got the duck & brought it back!!!!!!!!! That broke Hunter's heart because he knew that she had it in her but she missed him, so he considered leaving his conference at 5:00 Thursday night & drive to SC but wouldn't get there until 2:00 Friday morning. I got a call at work & our unit clerk said, "Tara, your husband is on the phone'...I panicked because he has NEVER called me at work!  He called to see if I thought we should let Saige go on to SC or keep her home since she wasn't retrieving like she should be. He decided against driving up there, we decided to let her go on & we just prayed! Thursday night, Kristy called me & put me on speaker phone & I tried to get Saige to go get the duck, but Kristy said she just licked the phone & wouldn't get the duck. Hunter told them they they're going to HAVE TO baby her!!! This was a big deal because Brian is really strict on Charlie & we treat Saige like a human being, so it's totally opposite! Sooooooo, Kristy sent me a picture of Brian, their kids & Saige all piled up in the bed before they went to sleep on Thursday night! It was precious! Saige was in the 'novice' class & Charlie was in the 'intermediate' class. Saige had 85 dogs in her class & Charlie had 36 in his. Hunter texted me at 1:00 on Friday afternoon & said Kristy texted & said Saige was almost up...

  
   I said a prayer in the Old Navy dressing room. Kristy called at 1:35 while I was driving down the interstate & said, "SHE BROUGHT THE DUCK BACK THREE TIMES!!!!!!!"...I started BAWLING!!!!! I was so proud of her!!!!! I wish I could upload the video on here, Kristy's commentary is so funny! Saige had 3 runs that day...2 on land & 1 in water. Kristy said the only thing she could see that wasn't perfect was that Saige dropped the duck at Brian's feet once, instead of holding it until he reached down & to her to drop it in his hand. When they finished, the judge told Brian that Saige ought to be in the top of the leader board! After her run that day, they made the first cut from 85 dogs down to 53 dogs & Saige made the first cut.

 On Saturday she had a really hard run. The duck landed over a dam & into a pond. I don't think she saw where it landed & she didn't retrieve it. She got cut that day but we were still so proud of her doing that well at only 16 months old & her first competition. Charlie, on the other hand, ended up being crowned the Boykin Spaniel Society 2013 National Intermediate Champion! Yay, Charlie!!!

 
   I had to work on the Sunday that they got back from South Carolina but my sweet husband brought Saige to the hospital so I could meet them in the parking lot & see her!! I missed her so much & couldn't wait to get home & snuggle with her!! Next time there is a competition, we WILL be going!

"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face"

-Ben Williams

Let's Play Catch Up...

I am SO behind on my blogging!!! After trying to persuade a friend to start a blog last week, I got the 'blogging fever,' so here I am! Let me catch you up on what has been going on...

Christmas 2012

   Our first married Christmas! We were so busy running the roads... Montgomery, Maplesville, Selma, Gadsden, Troy...we were busy! I worked the Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday before Christmas on Tuesday. I was 'dog tired' by the time I got to Troy after work on Sunday night!

   We had Christmas with the Taylors on December 15th. It was our first Christmas without Mamaw. I can't really explain it, but it felt like I was waiting for something all day long...waiting for Mamaw to walk through the kitchen door & say, 'Hey Tara!,' waiting for her to move her chair to the living room to open presents, waiting to hear her tell Shelene she wasn't cooking the food right (always SO funny), or waiting on her to get on to Brett & Bailee for something (she loved them but she ALWAYS stayed on them!). Ms. Bobbie made us a cross for Mamaw & Dadene's grave so we all went to the cemetary & put it on their grave.

 

   On Sunday, December 16th, we went to Gadsden for Christmas with Hunter's Mom's side of the family. Lots of fun & Granny's strawberry cake was so yummy!!! There is never a dull moment with Rexanne's 3 sisters around...they're so funny HILARIOUS!!!

   We had Christmas in Troy on Christmas Eve morning with Hunter's parents & his sister & her little family. His parents got us a nice, big gun safe for Christmas that we so desperately needed...we had guns hidden behind doors, in nightstands, under beds, under mattresses...EVERYWHERE!!! Now that we have a safe, we also have a place for other important things like papers & pictures.

   After Christmas in Troy, we hurried home & packed our bags for Maplesville. On our way, we stopped in Summerfield at Daddy's & had Christmas with them. Daddy gave me his granddaddy's old .22 rifle. It's so neat to have something that is 4 generations old!!!

 

   We had the Mitchell family Christmas in Plantersville at Mitchell & Heather's house this year. In case you didn't know, they are my cousins & they have sextuplets that are almost 2 years old, a 3 year old & they have taken in one of Heather's cousins. It was MUCH easier for all of us to go to their house than for all of them to load up & go else where. Every night after the Mitchell Christmas, I go with Aunt Kim to put an angel on Michelle's grave (Aunt Kim's daughter that got killed when she was 7 years old) & on Mamaw & J-Boy's grave.

   I managed to talk Hunter into us staying in Maplesville on Christmas Eve night. We exchanged gifts earlier in the week since I can't manage to keep a secret. I got him a Gamo air rifle & a few other small things. He got me the LL Bean boots that I've been wanting for years & a Pandora charm bracelet!

We really had a great Christmas!!! We are so blessed with the best family in this world. I am SO close to my family & so glad I got to spend the holidays with them. I absolutely LOVE Hunter's family (I talk to his Mom at least once a day & definitely text her once or more a day!)!!!! We hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours was!!!

Hunting Season 2012

   You didn't really think I'd write a new post without mentioning hunting season, did you? Let me start off by saying that Hunter climbed that dang tree AGAIN...yes, the one that he fell 18 feet out of. He is SO hard headed & I'll never understand it!!!!

Deer Season...

  

   Although I did get my first animal with my bow (I shot a bobcat the morning after we got home from our honeymoon), I didn't get the monster buck that I had hoped for. I shot a doe close to the end of the season.

   Hunter, however, had one of the best seasons of his life! My sweet Uncle Clem let us hunt out at his & Aunt Diane's house a couple of times & we hunted at our hunting land in Troy. None of his deer had huge racks but they all had atypical racks. He'd rather shoot a deer with a funny looking rack that a deer with a normal rack, any day!

Duck Season...

   Saige got to hunt ducks for the first time this year! Britton, one of my best friends (read her blog here), got drawn to hunt at the Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge & Hunter talked her in to taking him as a guest! They had fun!

This is one of my most favorite pictures!!!!!!....



Quail Season...

   Saige got her fair share of quail hunting this year! She got to hunt with her friends Charlie & Rosie (who are now the proud parents to 8 little boykin spaniel pups)! We also hunted in Troy & in Pine Hill. Here are a few pics...

Hog Season...sort of....

   There is no such thing as 'hog season,' because in Alabama, they're everywhere! Just shoot them!!! My brother-in-law & his dad invited us to their camp in Yellow Bluff to hunt. I had planned to deer hunt while they squirrel hunted. First of all, let me say that it was FREEZING. I saw the hog coming & he was limping. I thought...I could shoot him but it wouldn't be much of a challenge since he was limping...or I could let him go but a coyote might get him & he'll suffer. I also thought about Mr. David telling me to shoot a hog if I see one & since he was so nice to let me hunt, I ought to do what he asked. So, I decided to do the hog (and Mr. David) a favor & shoot! As soon as I shot, he flopped around & I had to turn my head before I started crying. I should have shot again but I just couldn't look at it!!! I turned around & saw Hunter, Matthew, Quintin & Mr. David coming down the powerline (good thing they weren't in the woods behind the hog!).

Up next is Saige's National Competition, Turkey Season & Collins turns 1 year old!!! Stay tuned!!!