Our Weekend

Had a nice weekend. James and Hannah did not have school on Friday so I got to spend some extra time with them. :) The weather was beautiful and we spent a lot of time outside playing in the leaves, woods and the kids rode their go karts! Friday night we stayed home and watched a movie with the kids. Saturday Kyle had to work and we were pretty lazy in the morning, just hanging out in our pj's. Made some yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Finally watched the Hannah Montana Movie and was pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed the movie and would recommend that you watch it. I took some pics of the kids playing in our big leaf pile and I got a couple good ones that I think will work good for our Christmas card this year.








Sunday was opening day for firearms for deer here in Michigan. Kyle and I got up at 5 am and headed to the woods. Was a beautiful day out and I enjoyed being in my tree stand even though I did not get a deer today. I will be heading back out tomorrow. Kyle did not get one either. We still have a lot of standing corn around where we hunt and I think the deer like to hide in it! :) It is now 10pm and everyone is sleeping (Kyle is snoring on the couch!). I am heading to bed in a few. I am exhausted, apparently sitting for 7 hours in a tree stand makes you tired! lol Actually I think it is the getting up at 5am that makes me tired. I am not much of a morning person!

What I have discovered hunting!

This is a self portrait of me in my tree stand with my phone! lol, you get bored some days. :)

Okay, I know I talk about hunting a lot but I really do enjoy deer hunting and if your a woman you probably don't get it! lol :) But hunting is really not just about shooting an animal. There is so much more to it, so much to learn about Gods Creatures and to learn about yourself (think overcoming fears). Here is what I have discovered out in the woods this fall while bow hunting.

Leaves make more noise falling to the ground than a deer does walking thru the woods! Crazy but true! Deer are very quiet when the walk thru the woods. They just appear sometimes. It startles you when they do!

Squirrels are very feisty creatures and are very entertaining to watch when you are sitting in your tree stand. I had one climbing up my tree a couple weeks ago and about half way up I was moving around trying to scare it and it just sat there and chattered at me. He was not happy I was in his way.

Turkeys really do fly! I never ever believed that Turkeys flew until I was hunting and saw one run and fly into the top of a tree! They roost in the tops of trees in the evening to keep away from predators. It is pretty entertaining to watch.

When you hear a noise and it sounds like the sky is falling it is just those crazy flying turkeys getting into the tree! It is loud, leaves are flying and they appear very uncoordinated.

Birds will land in your tree and sometimes almost hit you in the head while flying around. I am still waiting for one to land on my head! :)

Sitting in your tree stand while it is windy out can be a little scary! lol I was so glad that my hubby let me know that my tree might move a little if it is windy. The first time this happened to me I freaked a little. It is a really weird feeling having the tree moving one direction while your sitting in a ladder stand hooked to the tree. It does not really bother me now, but like I said if I had not known about this I probably would have gotten down that night and missed seeing that doe I shot on the 2nd day of bow season this year! :)

Now not many of you probably know this but I am scared of the dark! lol I really am and I am not ashamed to admit it. I always have been and probably always will be. Anyways, hunting normally involves going into the woods in the dark or coming out at dusk! This spooks me out so much. Once I am in my tree stand I am fine if it is dark but I guess I don't really like the unknown. I know that nothing is going to get me and I do have a weapon but I hate, hate, hate being startled by deer, raccoons, squirrels, etc. in the dark! So I am really working on overcoming this fear and I am doing better with coming out of the woods by myself in the dark. Still need my hubby to walk me to my stand in the morning! Gotta love a hubby who will get up and go with his wife even if he is not hunting. He is the best! I pray about it daily. :) Now I am for sure not going to disclose where I hunt at for fear that one of you might try to sneak in and jump out at me in the dark! lol

I know I can overcome my fear of darkness (well maybe) someday. I was able to get in a tree stand for the first time this year! I always told my husband that I would never hunt out of a tree. I have a serious fear of heights as well. ( I am a wimp) Well since he went and bought me a bow for Christmas he thought I should try to get in a ladder stand since it is better than the ground blind. So this past summer he put up the stand in our yard so I could practice getting in it! It must have been so funny to watch me climb up it the first few times. Scared out of my mind to climb just the 10 feet, I would not let him put the last 5 feet of ladder on it! It got easier every time and eventually I was able to stop holding on to the side rails long enough to actually shoot my bow. Well the first time I got in it in the woods this fall I laughed to myself because the 10 feet did not seem tall enough in the woods. I felt like the deer would walk in and look me in the eyes. So I had Kyle put the last 5 feet of ladder on and have been hunting from 15 feet ever since. Does not even bother me to climb it now! I am so proud of myself. Baby steps Wendy, baby steps! :)

One of the best things I like about hunting (besides actually shooting the deer) is the quiet time I have to myself! 2 to 3 hours of just sitting in your stand in the woods gives you a lot of time to reflect on life and to talk to God! He is an awesome God and I am in awe of everything he has created!

So even if your not a hunter you should all consider spending some time out in the woods! It is a beautiful place, so different from the hustle and bustle of every day life. I keep telling my self to grab my camera because there is so much to photograph. Maybe next time. Thanks for letting me ramble on about my hobby. :)

It's October and that means it is Deer hunting time!

WARNING: This post contains talk and pictures about deer and hunting!! :)

October in Michigan and the McNamara house means deer hunting season! Actually this is the first year I have hunted in October since it is only bow season. Usually I have to wait till November 15th every year when gun season starts. Kyle bought me a bow for Christmas (I know, how romantic! lol I actually was very excited). Well my 2nd night out on October 2nd I shot a huge doe! This is the biggest doe I have ever seen! The picture below is not that great of me and the deer is hanging in our garage so I made it small as to not gross out to many of you. :) I have been out hunting as often as I can looking for that elusive buck that I have yet to shot in the 5 years I have been hunting. I know it will happen and the more time I spend in my tree stand the better my chances. I always joke with Kyle that I don't believe that there really are deer out there with antlers because I don't ever see them when I am hunting. But just the other night I was hunting in a new location and I had a doe and a pretty nice buck walk in but they were both to far away for a good shot. I guess there really are antlered deer out where we hunt! lol My time will come and believe me when it happens you will all know about it because I have MAJOR BUCK FEVER and I will be so excited!





So Kyle had to go and show me up already this year and shoot a 9 point. This is not the biggest buck he has shot but he was pretty happy with it and I am very proud of him.



Emily wanted to be in the picture with Daddy and the deer!

Our hunting weekend

Well opening morning was very cold, rainy and windy. The deer were not moving much and we did not get a deer in the morning hunt. Kyle ended up getting 2 on Saturday afternoon and evening. He got a 6 point and a button buck. He was the only one out of 5 of us hunting on opening day. We got up early again this morning and headed out to my blind. Not to long after daylight 2 does walked in. I was able to shoot one!! She is a nice big doe. My biggest deer yet. I can't even begin to describe the adrenaline rush you get!! It's awesome. I never thought I would like hunting, but decided I would never know unless I tried, so four years ago I went out. Kyle bought me a 20 gauge shotgun for Christmas in 2004. I know how romantic!! He also got me earrings that year, just in case! I did not get anything my first year. My 2nd year hunting I shot a smaller doe. Last year I went out 2 weeks after Emily was born and shot 2 deer within 30 seconds!! So I am still hunting for a buck and hoping this will be the year.

Being outside in the woods this morning was awesome. The snow was falling and the woods was covered in a white blanket. Squirrels and birds were everywhere. It's fun to watch the squirrels running around and gathering corn and acorns for winter. The are very busy and noisy. It's hard not to think about God and how awesome he is and be in awe of everything he created!

So tonight we will be making breakfast sausage, hunters sticks and summer sausage. We will be putting good meat in our freezer that we will eat for the next year.

I will be going out again soon. Gotta get rid of my buck fever!!