Bow Hunt 2008

Ah, the great outdoors! This years bow hunt was an absolute blast! I was so excited to go because we had a whole week off to go! We weren't too sure how the kids would do, so we were prepared to cut the trip short. The kids were great! Kami was an absolute angel the whole time. Chance did great too! The only problem was that he loved it too much sometimes! He would wake me up in the middle of the night and say "Daddy. Outside. ride four wheeler." And I would say "It's dark outside buddy. We have to wait till it's light enough to see." I opened the curtains to show him that it was dark, but the full moon light up that 2 am sky like it was mid-day! He said "Trees. Trailer. Daddy, outside!" He was ready to go! Other than him being a full-of-it toddler, he was great! It is such a neat experience to see the ones you love enjoying something that you love so much.

I was really impressed with Kami. She did so good! I think she actually did better up there than she did at home! I'm so grateful for Nat doing so much to take care of them while I went out looking for deer. Thank you honey!! My favorite times were when Nat and Chance were able to come with me! That was a lot of fun!!

I even found a new partner for playing pinochle! We had a lot of fun playing games with everybody. Mom and dad went down, and so did Dennis and his whole family. Sky and Brett came down for most of the week too. It was a great camping trip!
Chance had a blast in the dirt! He even found this little stick to play with! No matter how many baths this kid had, he still looked like an orphan! He made his daddy proud! Way to play in the dirt little buddy!!

Chance even learned how to drive the car. It made it a lot easier to look for deer if I had him drive. Thanks buddy!
We had a great time riding the four wheelers. Chance would follow everybody around and see who he could get to take him on a ride. He usually found somebody to take him! We all had fun going on rides.
Chance Loves his cousins Hunter and Hailey! I think he spent more time with their family than with us! Probably because Dennis, who Chance refers to as 'Dense', would give him an endless supply of otter pops!
Chance also had fun with his cousin Skyler. Talk about a guy that has grown up! He used to be the little kid that tagged along, now he's the guy that I look to for advice while hunting! Thanks for being such a part of our family buddy!
The hunt ended in smiles for everybody! Even the deer! You can probably tell that I didn't get one since I haven' mentioned it or put a picture up. I did have some opportunities though! No one to blame but me! I missed a couple of smaller bucks, but I missed a beauty! He was 60 yards broadside through some quakies. I had a good shot and let my arrow fly.. It was slow motion. I saw my arrow flying right for it's target and I knew I had my buck of a life time. He was probably 24 inches wide or more, and just as high. As the arrow got close, it skimmed the side of a tree and it flipped the arrow sideways. It flew at the deer with the broadhead up, and the fletchings down. It gave the deer a little slap on the butt, and he ran off into the trees. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions... I was SO angry when it happened! Then about a half hour later the fact that I had missed out on such a rare opportunity hit me. I seriously got nauseous. I thought I was going to throw up. Then that passed and a while later I felt like I could cry. I still see that buck when I close my eyes and live with all of the "what if's". Hopefully someday all the pieces will come together and I will have an opportunity like that again.

    Even though I didn't connect with a deer, I still had a blast! I love my family and to be with them in such a beautiful place is just icing on the cake.. Here's looking to next year!!