South Carolina Videos

South Carolina Part 2

I pulled up my 243 and Josh and I shifted positions in the tree stand. The ditch stand is definitely the smallest (most narrow), and therefor we have to do some maneuvering to get a shot. Josh slid into my seat and I propped myself on his lap while I leaned across the stand. It took us a minute or so for me to get into a position that was comfortable.

"Wait a minute and I'll get my video camera."
"Absolutely not. If this pig walks away because we were waiting on you I will be devastated. Forget the camera."

I know Josh loves to get as many hunts on video as possible, but there was no way that I was going to let this opportunity pass me by. I had waited for way too long.

"Wait till he turns broadside."
"Shh. I know."
"Just place your cross hairs behind his ear."
"Josh seriously, stop talking."

 I can't even tell you what else he tried to whisper to me before I let a few choice words fly that finally quieted him. I need total quiet in order for me to concentrate on what I am doing. This would not be the best time to give advice. He promptly put his fingers in his ears and waited for me to fire. It was as if the hands of time slowed down. The pig kept turning from left broadside to right broadside giving me perfect shot after perfect shot. The problem with having exactly what you want right in front of you, is that it causes you to panic that you are going to miss.

Enough. It was go time. I took a deep breath, lined up my cross hairs, and squeezed on the exhale. The pig promptly dropped to the ground. I practically threw my gun at Josh. (This is common practice for me after having to shoot a prior pig four times before it stopped moving I am a little skittish.) I prefer to have Josh ready to take the second shot if needed, plus I hate watching until it stops moving.

"Just wait fifteen minutes and we can go get it." (Totally not normal practice for us. He normally makes me wait until we are finished hunting at either noon or dark.)
"I'm okay, I can wait." (I am literally dancing around in the tree stand and smiling so hard that my face might crack open.)
"No, we'll go in a few minutes."

We climbed out of the stand and drove the ranger down the road to where my pig was located. Josh checked to make sure we were safe, and then lifted it's leg.

"What does that mean?" (Relax, I know the difference between boys and girls but I was stunned that this was actually happening.)
"It's a boar, not a sow!"
"OH.MY.GOSH."

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I never thought I would be so happy to hear the words, "it's a boy" in my entire life. I was/still am in total shock that I have finally harvested, not just a boar (which we are mounting!), but an oreo colored boar at that. The exact animal I have coveted since I began hunting. Jarrid aptly named him a "boareo," and it stuck. I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to harvest the one animal on my list since day one. This is such an awesome feeling! I hope this post does this story justice, but in case it didn't, I'll post some videos I took immediately after this happened.

Pictures from SC

Tim and Kyle with their piggly-wigglys

The view from the pine cone stand

Josh and his doe

Did I harvest a hog.....?

Three pigs and three years

Josh and I just returned from an AMAZING weekend in South Carolina. We headed down on Friday with two of our friends, Tim and Kyle, and met Adam there that night. Deer season is open down there, and unlike PA you can use a rifle or a bow to harvest a deer. As usual, my main goal was to see some of my stinky friends....and this trip was no exception. But I am getting ahead of myself, so I will start from the beginning. We headed out early Saturday morning, dropping the boys off at various stands around the property. Josh and I headed to the other side of the road to sit in the graveyard stand. We sat all morning and saw a few deer, but not the deer (or hogs) we were looking for. Tim and Kyle both harvested hogs-and to say I was jealous would be an understatement. Don't get me wrong, I was excited for them, but Kyle had harvested an oreo sow and that color is at the top of my list. We got cleaned up from our morning hunt and then introduced Tim to the greatest bar-b-que in the south....Lester's! Delicious as usual, I was put into a pork coma and took a glorious nap until it was time to head out for our evening hunt.

I decided that I wanted to sit solo in the ditch stand because I have had amazing luck with piggly wigglys in that stand. I packed my backpack with my most important hunting accessories: Blackberry, snacks, snake defense-The Judge, Kodak cam, and of course my 243 (or 234, but that is another story). Josh drove me over in the ranger and I climbed up and took a look around so I could mark my range. Unfortunately, I all could see were branches. The trees around the stand had grown over the past few months, and I did not have a clear shot from any angle. Time for a quick change of plans. Josh put me in the pine cone stand on the other side of the road since I was still interested in sitting solo. Low chance of seeing hogs, but better chance of getting a deer. I got myself situated and within five minutes realized I was bored. The stand Josh was sitting was no farther than around the corner, but I knew that if I even stepped around that corner to sit with him, and spooked a deer for him I'd be in big trouble. So I sat tight and tried to make shapes from the clouds. About thirty minutes later I saw my first animal...a fox! First one I have ever seen and my fancy new binoculars allowed me to enjoy him in all his furry glory. Then, I noticed a rustling down one of the lanes. Way too small to be a deer....not fat enough to be a hog...yep...an armadillo! I know they drive hunters crazy because they are so noisy for being so small, but I think they are hysterical to watch. He was burrowing under the cut grass and then flinging it into the air as he moved along. That little guy entertained me for a good hour.

Eventually it began to get darker, and a few deer came into the field. There is a heavy trail to the right of my stand that opened up to the field in front of me. Josh assured me that I could shoot anywhere in that field. I then realized that I had no clue what I was doing. Hunting hogs by myself is one thing, but deer is another. I am just beginning to learn how to age deer, so when the first doe stepped out I got a little nervous. I thought that she was a good sized doe, but I really have no idea. (For you non-hunters. You want to shoot older deer, not babies. The bigger the deer the older it is. I know to use clues like if their belly dips down to help age them, but deer in SC are smaller in general than PA deer so it gets a little trickier.) So I used my reasoning skills from college and waiting until another deer came out so that I could compare. An adorable cow spiked buck came out next and then another doe. I could tell that the first doe was bigger, so I took aim. Deep breath in...deep breath out. I fired. I missed. Unfortunately I didn't realize I missed until Josh and I spent thirty minutes in the dark with flashlights looking for signs of a hit. I was bummed, but that is the way hunting goes. I learned a valuable lesson that I am NOT ready to deer hunt solo.

The next morning Josh let me pick my location...clearly I chose the ditch (he had headed out on the tractor super late the night before to clear shooting lanes for me-BEST FIANCE EVER). I was thrilled that he was choosing to sit with me. The ditch is a great hog stand...good for deer too, but not his favorite. We had trail cam pictures that showed hogs in that area around 7AM. (I'll post some of those trail cam pictures later because we got some really neat pictures of hogs, coyotes, racoons and armadillos). He was selflessly giving up his deer hunt that morning to get me a pig (if that isn't true love I don't know what is).

For those of you who do not know, I love pigs. More than deer, more than turkeys, more than any other animal that is legal to hunt. I could hunt pigs day and night. I think they are not only hysterical to watch, but tasty to eat. I get excited when I see them on trial cam pictures and when I hear that they have been in the area. To get specific, an oreo colored boar is my life goal. Time and time again, the boareo (oreo boar-thanks Jarrid) has eluded me. Josh and I were chatting and as I glanced to my right, I noticed a black spot in the road. That was not a deer. Binoculars confirmed my first thoughts. It was an oreo colored hog (at this point we didn't know if it was a boar or a sow).  My entire hunting career flashed before my eyes. THIS was what I had been wanting for the past three years. Missing this hog would be devastating. I slowly pulled up my 243 and took aim...


...to be continued.  Sorry :o)

South Carolina: Snake Charmer

Josh and I had the opportunity to make a weekend trip to SC, and of course we jumped on it. Josh drove down Thursday evening after work, and I jumped on an evening flight to meet him on Friday. I am not complaining about the heat, but it was HOT. For all you hunters, you know that this means the animals were not moving. SC does not allow you to hunt hens (female turkeys) at all, so that allows for each male turkey to have quite a few girlfriends. This makes it nearly impossible to call one in. That is exactly what we experienced on Saturday morning. Josh and I headed out with Perry, who used to be a hunting guide for outfitters in SC and is a family friend, and while we heard one or two gobblers-we didn’t see any. Perry headed home, and Josh and I got changed and started moving some tree stands around. A timber company had come in and cut down the trees on a few spots on the property, so this meant there were a couple of tree stands left on lone trees in the middle of a giant field. Not exactly camouflaged. Josh got the tractor out of the barn and off we went. Josh taught me how to drive the tractor. Moving the bucket around is super fun!

After lunch at Lester’s, Josh headed back into the woods with Perry to try and chase down some turkeys, while I took a quick nap before hog hunting. When Josh and Perry weren’t back by 6:00PM, I loaded up the ranger and headed out. Foreshadowing is an amazing literary technique; I just wish I could recognize it when it happens in real life.  I was about to walk out the door, when my gaze came across the Tuarus Judge (handgun). This thing had been attached to my hip all afternoon, in case any snakes or angry pigs decided to attack, but I decided that having my .308 was enough protection. Let’s just say I should have listened to my gut.

I parked the ranger about 300 yards away from the stand I would be sitting in, sprayed myself down with anti-scent spray, and headed out to my stand. Literally the second I sat down I realized that I had left the Kodak Cam on the back of the ranger. I hoped Josh would see it when he came out to meet me in the stand and grab it. The temperature at this point in the day was a steamy ninety degrees; there was no way that I was walking all the way back to the ranger for it. I settled myself into my stand, which meant taking off a few layers due to the extreme heat, unpacking my hog calls, getting the Blackberry out (remember Josh wasn’t with me yet), and loading my .308. Finally I was settled and ready to try out these calls. I knew that it was way too early for the hogs to make their entrance, it was still way too hot, but I figured I would give the calls a try anyway. Both calls were Primos brand, a squealer and a grunt, and I decided to give the grunt call a try. I had been practicing with both at home, and felt much more confident with my grunting ability than my squealing ability. I took a few deep breaths, and made some short breaths into the call. The result, in my opinion, sounded exactly like a hog. The rustling in the leaves at my feet had my blood pumping! I had actually called something in! Holy cow, this was exciting! All of my other experience calling animals had never gone well. Finally, something I was good at! I reached for my .308 and scanned the ground in front of my stand.

OH MY GOD. That is not a pig. That is a snake. A very menacing, slithering, looking for a camouflaged snack sitting in a tree stand, snake.

Panic. That is the only word to accurately describe how I felt in that exact minute. Panic because I left the Judge on the table. Panic because Josh was not here to rescue me. Panic because I didn’t know what type of snake it was (not that it really makes a difference in how I would have handled the situation). Panic because I don’t know if snakes can climb tress (think The Jungle Book, when that black snake is wrapped around the branches of the tree-HELLO I AM SITTING IN FRONT OF A GIANT TREE!). Panic because I do not know what to do.

Option 1: Do nothing. Hopefully my slithery enemy will pass quietly by and leave me alone.

Option 2: Shoot it. The problem with this is two-fold. If I shoot and hit it, will it explode up at me? Dear God that is terrifying. If I shoot and miss it, will I scare it into jumping up into the tree I am sitting in front of? Equally as terrifying.

Option 3: Retreat back to the ranger and leave. Though this means I must walk past the snake to escape. That is not going to happen.

Option 4: Call Jarrid. Not quite sure what I expected him to do from PA, but hopefully he would have some wonderful nugget of advice that would tell me how to repel a snake from my location without actually doing anything. Some type of mind hypnosis would be perfect.

My exchange with Jarrid went exactly like this:

Me: What do rattle snakes look like????

Jarrid: Do you see a snake??? (Oh no, I was just curious-YES I SEE A SNAKE)

Me: Yes!!!! Can they climb trees???

Jarrid: Is it on the road? (Why isn’t he answering any of my questions??)

Me: Under my stand. CAN THEY CLIMB TREES?

Jarrid: They shouldn’t climb up…but make sure Josh knows you seen one under the stand before he comes to you. Try shooting it if you want. What color is it and how long and is it fat or skinny?

Me: Skinny with a design

Jarrid: Diamond dark designs??

Me: Yes (now I am even more panicked because he must know what it is and it must be something incredibly scary because he won’t tell me)

Jarrid: Just keep your eye on it you’re fine. If you feel safer just have Josh back the ranger right to the stand so you can step from the ladder to the bed of the ranger.

Me: Good idea.

The exchanged continued for a few more minutes as I explained how the useless hog grunt call must have been mis-packaged as a snake-charming device. Needless to say that thing is going into the trash the second I get home. It also goes without saying that I will never go out without the Judge again.

The slithery monster made its way into the bushes behind me, and there were no sightings of him or his friends for the rest of the night. Josh finally made his way to me and the rest of our evening was pretty uneventful. No hogs, no deer, no turkeys. Snakes must have scared them away.

Side Note: Once I got to work on Monday I immediately "googled" the snake that I saw. It was a Copperhead. Yep, extremely poisonous snake willing to kill you and eat you at a moments notice. Awesome.

Pictures from the weekend!

Here are some pictures from our weekend trip down south!

You would never guess we are master hunters!

Show me the pigs!

Pig down!

Evening Gowns and Camouflage

As my eyes grazed across the collection of bags I was about to throw into that Tahoe, I realized that to the untrained eye I looked like a nut. The collection of clothes and other items in front of me could not be categorized in any other way than chaos. Evening gowns and camouflage-two of my favorite things. The evening gown, nothing more than a brand new dress ready to party in, was for Josh's cousin's wedding in Savannah. The camouflage,  carefully wrapped so that it was impossible for any rogue specks of dirt to get on the dress, was tucked safely beside it. Stilettos and Muck Boots went in next. My Mucks were wrapped in plastic trash bags to preserve the newness of my brand new Simply Vera nude colored platform pumps (heaven!). Don't even get me started on the accessories which were equally as eclectic-diamonds and my new 308. Okay, well the 308 is "technically" Josh's, but I had claimed it for this trip. Either way you slice it, it made no sense. Unless you are Ali or I, and in that case it was a normal trip with the boys. We decided that since we were going to be in Savannah anyway, we might as well make a quick trip to the property in South Carolina to get some much anticipated hog hunting in. I was itching to let that new 308 tear into some pigs.

It had been almost two years since we had been on a trip with Ali and Jarrid, so we were all looking forward to a relaxing and crazy weekend. By the looks of my pack job, we were off to a good start. It was a fairly typical trip down: four different conversations happening at once with everyone talking over each other, Chick-fil-A stop in Maryland, and one bag of licorice for the road (though I made an all time record by not even opening it until 12AM-BUT it only survived for about ten minutes). We arrived in Savannah around 4AM and managed to get a few hours sleep before sight seeing bright and early the next morning. If you have never been to Savannah, you need to go and you must do the trolley tour. After a beautiful wedding, we loaded ourselves back into the car for the quick trip to South Carolina.

South Carolina started off with a trip around the property on the ranger and a lunch stop at Lester's. Heaven! Then we were in the stands for the first hunt of the weekend. Josh and I sat in the Ditch Stand while Jarrid and Ali headed to the Graveyard Stand on the other side of the road. It was a perfect day for hog hunting, 70 degrees and slightly overcast, and I must have jinxed us by saying that so much. Jarrid and Ali saw zero hogs, but they did see fifteen deer. Josh and I saw about ten deer and our hogs came out right at the last light. Two sows and a bunch of piglets popped out to our right. I got my sights on the larger ones and waited to get a shot. Finally one pulled away from the group and I got my shot. Shaking, I handed the gun to Josh and told him to get on it. After my last experience I was a little nervous about possibly having to shoot twice. As I was handing Josh and 308 I looked behind his shoulder and saw another pig wandering through the field behind us. Josh turned to get a shot, but the sneaky pig made it into the woods unscathed. Luckily, I had dropped her with one shot and we didn't have to wait too long before Jarrid and Ali pulled up in the ranger.

We got the hog back to the camper and cleaned up for the gentleman we were giving it to. We have more than enough hog meat and he was in need of some, so it worked out well. All in all it was a successful trip and I can't wait to get back down there for turkey season!

Josh and I with my harvest!

Top 10 Weekend: Hunting Down South

This weekend's Top 10 list encompasses my love for hunting down South.

1. Lester's BBQ. If you ever manage to stumble across this unassuming restaurant, EAT THERE! It is the most delicious food that I have ever eaten in my entire life. Nothing is labeled, but just trust that whatever it is is incredible. Not to mention the fact that you cannot beat a buffet for less than $10. Recommendation: skip the salad and have extra helpings of the sweet potato bread-it is life changing.

2. HOGS! I know they destroy crops and are horribly mean creatures, but they are also super cool looking and delicious. They are my number one favorite animal to hunt. I am hoping to return on my next trip with an Oreo hog (black and white speckled). If you are interested in hog hunting, or just love hunting shows, you MUST check out Hogs Gone Wild on the Discovery Channel. This is one of the craziest shows I have ever seen.

3. Platform stands. I am super psyched about not having to climb twenty feet in the air to sit on a 2x2 seat with only a rope keeping me from falling to my death. No sir, I could lay down and nap (or tap dance) in these stands if I wanted to.

4. No cell phone service for Josh. This is the only time when that stinking Blackberry of his is not going off constantly. I do understand that work is important, but it is nice to sleep through the night without having people yelling through direct connect. Thank you Nextel for having zero towers near the property.

5. Warm weather. It is generally warmer down there than in PA, so I feel like I am headed somewhere tropical when we hunt down there. So go ahead and leave the heavy hunting boots, pants, jackets, and layers of Under Armor at home. If you are sitting in direct sunlight in the afternoon, put a pair of shorts on underneath your pants in case you need to strip down. Just trust me on this one.

6. Green apple licorice. Those that know me, and hunt with me, know that no trip is complete with out a few bags of green apple licorice. South Carolina is no exception. I have been known to go through five bags on a four day hunt.

7. Chick-fil-A on the way. Every trip down South starts with a Chick-fil-A stop in Maryland. Yummmm! I recommend taking an order of their chicken nuggets to go, so that as you get hungry on your drive you have a snack. They are just as delicious cold as they are hot.

8. Waffle House on the way home. I can usually convince Josh to stop at my all time favorite breakfast place on our way home. Especially if it is my turn to drive. Special thank you to the Big Man for giving me a gift certificate at Christmas two years ago. It went to good use!

(If you couldn't tell, I love food)

9. Deer season is open from August through January. Much longer than in PA, and who doesn't love a longer season? My day job allows me to have time off during August, so it is great that I can take advantage of a deer season that opens early.

10. The amazing memories we have made down there. South Carolina was the first hunting trip I ever went on, it was where I harvested my first hog and it was where I shot my first buck. The memories that you make at a place are often times the best part of a trip. On any given day you are not guaranteed that you will even see the animal you are after, let alone be able to harvest it, but you are guaranteed that you will make some amazing memories with the people you love.

This was the first hog from SC!

Old Hog Pictures

Here are some pictures to accompany the hog story. I am very proud of my first hog taken in South Carolina!

Flashback: First South Carolina Hunting Trip

As spring draws near, here is a little flashback story about my first hog hunting trip in South Carolina.

Josh and I had been planning our trip to South Carolina for months. I had a countdown going and would email him almost daily with the amount of days we had left. About two weeks before our hunt we went to Cabela’s to make sure that we had everything that we would need for our trip. For Josh that included things like turkey calls and anti-scent spray; for me it was five bags of green apple licorice.  We were primarily hunting turkey, but there were some hogs that had not left the area yet that I was particularly excited to see. My philosophy was that I can hunt turkeys at home, but this was my only chance to harvest a hog.

I am normally one of those people who five minutes into a car ride I am fast asleep, catching flies, as Josh kindly puts it.  I did not sleep at all during the twelve-hour drive. I was so excited that Josh agreed to play the ABC game with me to keep me quiet. For those of you who don’t know, the ABC game is where you try to find signs that begin with the letters in the alphabet in order. After we finished our game (I won) and we made our way into North Carolina, Josh finally agreed to let me drive for a little bit. We stopped at a rest stop for a quick break, and then I got behind the wheel with strict instructions to get back onto the highway and just go straight. It was about 2AM at this point and I hate driving in the dark, but somehow I managed to pull it off. We pulled into the property at around 3AM and lay down to catch a quick catnap.

Before I knew it we were getting back up and heading out to hunt. Our plan was to hunt turkeys in the morning and hogs at night. The tricky thing about South Carolina was that it would be 40 degrees before the sun comes up and quickly turn to 80 degrees once the sun came out. This lead to lots of layers to start out with and a “quick change” behind a tree once the sun came up. Josh had bought me new snake boots before our trip and I eagerly strapped them on that first morning. The fact that they even have to make a boot specifically to protect you against snakes makes me incredibly nervous, but if they were going to save my life then I was going to wear them. The boots were great, but one tip for people everywhere: DO NOT BREAK IN NEW BOOTS ON A HUNT. Plan ahead, because after about three hours my feet were killing me. I was pretty sure that the boots had severed my foot from my ankle, but I didn’t dare say anything to Josh. I was bound and determined to never be a woman hunter who complains to the man she is with while they are in the woods. I sucked it up and tried to focus on anything else to get my mind of my poor feet. We heard a few turkeys that morning, but nothing that Josh was able to call in. Exhausted, we headed back to the cabin for a nap. (This is my absolute favorite part of any hunting trip…well it is definitely a close second to my licorice).

That night we headed out in search of hogs. Josh told me that we were going to be sitting in stands, but that I would not need my safety harness. I was doubtful and petrified that I was going to fall out of a tree, but I decided to trust him. (If this isn't foreshadowing then I don't know what is). He took me to the stand and I began the slow climb to the top. This stand was different then the stands we had at home. It was a platform stand, which is much roomier and not dependent on a tree to support it.

As we were getting dressed and gathering our things, I was dreading putting my snake boots back on. The battle wounds I had gotten that morning were still raw and I couldn’t bear the thought of putting them back on. Josh must have sensed my reluctance and asked me what was wrong. Through tear-filled eyes, I told him how badly my feet hurt. He said it was fine and told me to put on my Ariats. They were well worn in and easily my favorite pair of boots. Do you think I brought them with me to South Carolina? Nope, all I had were a pair of pink plaid Muck boots that his dad had gotten me for Christmas that year. Yep, pink plaid. Bless Josh’s heart, he let me wear them explaining that with the netting around the base of the stand nothing would be able to see my feet.

Anyway, we got settled in the stand, and I loaded my gun. Josh showed me the different points where the hogs might come from. We were sitting in front of a large field. There were woods behind us and to our left and right. There were small patches of trees with two small lanes in front of us. Josh said that the hogs would probably come from the woods to the left of us. Now it was time to sit and wait. I had heard stories from his dad and stepmother about seeing up to thirty hogs in one night, and I was hoping that I would see just as many. One of the things that I love about hunting is having uninterrupted time with Josh.  We spent the next couple of hours enjoying the nature around us. We were talking about life, friends, and family when suddenly a small little body emerged from the woods to my left.

HOGS! Millions and millions of hogs!!!!!! (ok well maybe only 20)

They poured out of the woods like ants out of an anthill. Piglets, boars, and sows all clumped together and munching on their dinner. Trembling with excitement and nerves, I slowly pulled my gun up and rested it on the bar in front of me. I was relying on Josh to help me choose which one to shoot. As he would describe one for me I tried to get my sights on them. It was very difficult because they kept moving all over the place and continuously stepping in front of one another.  (Side note: the piglets are adorable and I wanted to take one home. Josh refused.) Finally a large black sow emerged from the group. I lined up my crosshairs right behind her ear and steadied my hand to shoot. All the while Josh is sitting next to me videotaping the hogs and whispering things like:

“That one! Wait! Now, she stepped out! Take the shot! Shoot! Shoot!Whenever you’re ready! She’s clear! When that one steps out from the group take it!”

I tried to block him out, but it is a little difficult when he is literally in my ear, whispering this. The sow stepped forward, and with Josh whispering loudly in my ear, I pulled the trigger. BOOM! I quickly kicked the shell out of the chamber and loaded another bullet. Josh had warned me that hogs were tough and if the first shot doesn’t take them down you may need to shoot again. Josh had just shot a monster hog (over 300 pounds) on an earlier trip and it had needed another, and another, and yet another shot.  I was also fearful of it running into the thicket, which would make it nearly impossible to track. As I lined up my scope for the second shot, I realized that my hog was on the ground! OH MY GOD I GOT MY FIRST HOG!

I was ecstatic!  Josh turned the camera on me so that I could talk about the shot. I don’t remember what I said, but I know that the excitement was written all over my face. If it was possible, I believe I was more excited about getting my hog then my first deer. I have such a passion for hog hunting, not to mention how tasty they are!

As the sun started to set, Josh went loaded up his things to go and grab the ranger so that we could take my hog back to camp. He placed his foot on the steps of the stand and as he was throwing his bag over his shoulder, he lost his balance and fell out of the stand. The whole thing happened in slow motion and I was paralyzed holding two rifles to do anything to help him. In that split second I realized that if anything happened to him I had no clue what to do. We were twelve hours away from home and family, I had not idea where I even was in the state of South Carolina, I had no clue where I was on the property to give anyone directions on where to find us, I couldn’t remember where we parked the ranger, there was no way I could drag him or lift him into it to get help, cell phones do not work out here and it is getting dark. We would die out here in this field. I may be slightly melodramatic, but it was a frightening though to realize that I had absolutely no idea where I was.

There was silence.

I stared at Josh on the ground and waited for him to move, which thank God he did. To this day he claims that he “jumped” out of the stand, but I was there and there was no jumping happening.

We got the ranger, loaded my hog onto it, and went to take some pictures. She was a pretty good meat hog, weighing around 150 pounds. I would like to say that I helped him skin her out and get the meat, but really I watched and handed him things when needed. I was standing by my agreement that I needed a full year of hunting before I would be able to help skin anything. 

That night as we were getting into bed, I noticed that I was itchy. Not just bug bite itchy, really really itchy. Not on my leg, or arm, or back, on my bottom. I begged Josh to check and he confirmed my fear: poison ivy all over my upper thigh and bottom. It itched so badly that I barely slept that night. I tried not to scratch it, I really did, but have you ever had poison ivy? It is impossible to leave it alone. It also didn’t help that it was in a completely inappropriate place to be scratching. Very ladylike.