Pregnant and Hunting

Only in the South would a woman go traipsing around in the woods for four hours with a shotgun at 21 weeks pregnant. From November to February each year, quail hunting is a normal weekend activity in my household. It has been for years. I used to go with my dad and my brother, now I go with my husband. And one day, our baby girl will go hunting with us too...even though my mom will probably have a fit about it every single time, just like she did when I went.

Hunting is a deeply emotional and relaxing experience for me. I am most at peace when I am out there. Some people find their sense of calm and comfort in activities like yoga, I find mine in being out in the woods, especially while hunting. I wish I could do a better job at putting this feeling into words, but I can't. If you are a hunter, you know exactly what I am talking about. Otherwise, you could never even begin to understand. I have always been a huge fan of Ernest Hemingway's writing, which typically confuses people because he was such a sexist writer and most women can't stand him. I love all of his writing, but especially his works about hunting and the outdoors. He captures in words exactly how feel when I am out there. I experience hunting exactly the way Hemingway describes it and I get so much more out of it than just a sport. My dad passed a lot of knowledge and appreciation of God's creations down to me during our times out in the field together. I want to make sure to pass that part of him on to my daughter one day too.

Baby girl on her very first quail hunt!

Jared and I went hunting on Sunday with Josh and Heather. Jared and Josh go hunting together all the time, but this was Heather's very first quail hunt!

Hunting while pregnant was an interesting experience. I made sure to be extra careful where I was stepping the entire time we were out there because I didn't want to trip and fall. Shooting the gun was the part that was most different now that I am pregnant. I have a specific way that I usually stand while I am shooting, but I had to change it up a little bit because I have to balance differently while pregnant. My first few shots were way off in accuracy because my center of gravity and posture is so different now. Once I figured out the best way for me to stand and balance with the belly, I was back on track.

I want my daughter to grow up to be very comfortable with animals and the outdoors. I want her appreciate God's creatures and understand why we hunt them and eat them. Not something your average mom is concerned with teaching her daughter, huh?

In addition to my awkward pregnancy balance, this hunt was different for me because I'm not used to shooting with another left handed person at the same time. My dad was the only other left handed person I've ever hunted with. I typically shoot on the left side because that's where I'm most comfortable, and he could shoot from anywhere so he always let me have the left side. I let Heather have the left side that day because it was her first time and I wanted her to shoot from where ever she felt most comfortable. Once I got my stance adjusted for the belly, adapting to the right side was fairly easy too.

Heather's first quail! I made her hold it and let me take a picture. I told her that if you are going to shoot the bird, you have to be willing to touch it once it's dead. Heather and I only shot for a little while and then we let the boys take over and do the majority of the hunting. I didn't want to overdo it while pregnant. Although I do enjoy the actual shooting aspect of the hunt, I love just being out there in the peace and quiet watching Sadie find the birds and admiring all of God's beautiful creations.

Jared finally got a new truck! Remember, his old one was stolen out of the parking lot at his work at the beginning of this month. We picked up the new truck on Saturday evening, so it's very first excursion was out to the field for a hunt. As it should be :)

South America Hunt {Uruguay}

Jared and Chris' trip to South America continued with dove and perdiz hunting in Uruguay. Read about the first half of their trip through Argentina here - South America Hunt {Argentina}. They made the drive across the river into Uruguay in the afternoon and headed to their lodge in Ninette.

My brother has been known to take a pretty cool picture :)

Even though it was late in the afternoon, they couldn't give up the opportunity for a quick hunt of course.

The field where they went to hunt perdiz

Perdiz hunting is a lot like quail hunting here in the US, so you use a dog to point and retrieve the bird for you. They took out this French Brittany, named Rumba, on their hunt.

The owner of the lodge, Hector, came out in the field with them for the hunt in order to lead Rumba since she was trained with Spanish commands. 

The kill from one of their many perdiz hunts

The view from the back porch of the lodge in Ninette...complete with infinity pool. 

Inside the lodge in Ninette...pretty fancy for a hunting lodge, huh? 

The guys spent a few afternoons fishing in the river behind the lodge

Time for some sunset dove hunting

There are so many birds flying over at one time that they look like stars in the sky...or something out of a Hitchcock movie. 

During these hunts, they shoot so many rounds so quickly that they have to wear gloves because the gun gets too hot to hold. Sometimes they just have the bird boy hold two guns and rotate them. That way, he can be loading one gun while they are shooting the other one and then trade.

On this particular hunt, they shot about 200 doves in one hour. I know, insane. Now, you know why people fly all the way to South America for these hunts.

The guys had a great time on their trip and I'm sure it won't be too long before they return again. I'm so glad that my brother and my husband have developed an actual friendship beyond just being in-laws. It's so awesome that they have a close enough relationship to be willing to travel to a foreign country for 9 days together, not many in-laws can do that. Hunting was always something that my brother and my husband shared with my dad and it's such a blessing for me that even though my dad is gone, Chris and Jared can still share that special bond of hunting buddies.   

South America Hunt {Argentina}

Today's blog post has absolutely nothing to do with me (for once). Don't worry, I didn't secretly go on vacation to South America without telling y'all. This post is all about my brother and my husband. I'm writing about it because I like the pictures and I just happen to think that this was a really cool experience worth sharing.

Warning: Many, many animals were harmed in the making of this blog post. Therefore, if you have a strong emotional or moral dilemma with the killing of animals then you should probably go ahead and click your way on out of here. It's just birds though. No puppies or kittens or anything on the endangered species list. However, the birds are not wasted and actually benefit the local community, I promise.

My brother, Chris, has probably the coolest man job ever. He takes people on international hunting and fishing trips. See, I told you it was cool. On a daily basis, he mostly organizes and sends people on the trips his company offers, but a few times throughout the year he does actually get to travel on some of the trips. His company sends people on trips all over the world, but my brother specializes in the South America trips. Even though you are going out to the middle of nowhere in South America to hunt or fish, the lodging and the experience is 1st class. So if you have a special sportsman in your life who you are in need of a gift idea for, my brother and his company, Trek International Safaris, can get you set up. My brother also does a lot of photography for the company, so you should go to their website and check out his pictures.

Ever since my brother started working for Trek, my husband has been dying to go on one of their trips. Earlier this year, Jared approached me with the idea. I figured that he might as well go now before we start a family and get bogged down with all that life stuff. So last month, Jared left me for 9 days and embarked on this South American adventure with my brother as his guide. If you know my brother well, you know that this was a rather terrifying pill for me to swallow. My parting words with the boys before they left for the airport, "Please don't get thrown into jail. I really don't want to have to wire money to the government in Argentina or Uruguay to get you back." Luckily, they made it back safely with plenty of stories to share.

My husband wrote down what they did each day of their trip (good to know I'm finally rubbing off on him after being together for 7 years), which makes writing this blog post a lot easier, but I will spare you from all the story-telling so we're not here forever. I am splitting this trip into two posts as well, one for each country they traveled to. Starting here with Argentina...

Chris and Jared took an overnight flight to Buenos Aires and didn't waste any time when they landed in Argentina. They drove straight to the first lodge in Monte Laguna for an afternoon duck hunt immediately after stepping off the plane.

This hour and twenty minute hunt resulted in 32 ducks with a mixture of speckled teal and white checked pintails. Not your average duck hunt back here in the states.

In Argentina, they do not use dogs to retrieve their ducks like we do here in the states. They walk around and pick them up themselves or they use the "bird boys". The bird boys are local young guys who work with you on your hunt. They are essentially like a golf caddy, but for hunting. They carry your shotgun shells and retrieve your birds for you. They do get paid for their work, but they also get paid in birds. Everything that is killed on these hunts is donated to the bird boys to take home to their families to either eat or sell in the market.

Jared in one of the hunting lodges in Argentina

The kill from one of their morning hunts...another 32 ducks in only 45 minutes. In case you weren't already aware of this fun fact, the seasons in the Southern hemisphere are backwards from what they are here in America. So even though the guys went on this trip in June, it was actually winter in Argentina. 

My brother managed to kill these two ducks with one shot. When the ducks fly over the ponds in Argentina, they are in such a dense abundance that it is very common to kill a vast number in a short amount of time. It's not a matter of how many ducks are available to shoot, its a matter of how fast you can reload your gun.

Coming up next...Part II of their trip takes us over the river and into Uruguay. 

Life Lessons from a Bird Dog

For those of your who are new to the blog and/or my life, allow me to introduce you to my bird dog, Sadie. She is a German Shorthair Pointer (aka: hunting dog) and she is quite the crazy adventurous little nugget. I realize that her adventurous bird dog tendencies are pretty standard since these dogs were bred for hunting in the field, not chillin' in a fenced-in backyard in suburbia. Jared and I got Sadie when we were in college about 6 years ago. Over the years, I have learned a lot from her (considering she can't talk to me) and I must say that she is a pretty wise little creature. Allow me to share some of her wisdom with you.

Here are some lessons that I have learned from Sadie that we can all apply to our everyday lives. Side note: I seriously considered writing this post from Sadie's point of view, but then I decided that would be super weird and probably confusing. Plus, I'm not really sure how to portray Sadie's voice in writing. I'm pretty sure that since she is always hyper and barking, the entire thing would need to be in all caps. So anyways, here are some lessons about life brought to you by my bird dog. Enjoy.

1. Live your life full speed ahead.
Most dogs spend their time outside frolicking leisurely in the yard, not Sadie. She treats our backyard like the track at Daytona International Speedway. I don't think I have ever seen Sadie lay down, or even sit, in our backyard. She is always on a mission, investigating and discovering every corner and crevasse of the yard. So instead of sitting on your butt being lazy, go out there and discover something new, even if it is in your own backyard.

2. Don't be afraid to charge though any obstacle that life throws at you.
When Sadie is out in the field hunting, she comes in contact with a lot of difficult obstacles that separate her from the birds. But no matter what, she always charges directly into the obstacle ready to over take it. So many times we try to go over or around the challenges we face to avoid them, and sometimes we even stop altogether. However, we are more likely to defeat the obstacles we fear if we charge directly at them and force our way through.

3. Protect the people (or things) that you love. 
I feel like Sadie should have her own "Protect this House" UnderArmour commercial. I don't think that anyone and I mean anyone makes it within 10 yards of our house without Sadie knowing about it, and doing something about it. Any time someone comes to our front door, they hear Sadie and take off. She is loud and proud. Whenever I'm home alone, she sticks to me like glue and follows me around. When I'm in the shower, she sits in the doorway of our bathroom and stands guard facing the front door. If someone she is not familiar with is close to me (especially touching me), she freaks out. I guarantee that Sadie would sacrifice herself and put herself in harms way 100% of the time to protect me. How many people are you willing to do that for?

4. Create your own "no fly" zone.
Don't allow bad people, fears or temptations into your safe environment and if they try to make their way in, get rid of them as soon as possible. We refer to my backyard as a "no fly" zone thanks to Sadie. Not a single living creature dares to enter our backyard or even attempts to fly over it. Any animals that have ever come into our backyard while Sadie was outside, never made it back to the other side of that fence. Sadie rules that backyard and does not let any unwanted visitors get past her guard. In life, there are so many unwanted people, fears, negativity or temptations that try to make their way into our lives. But like Sadie, we have to stand guard and not let any of these bad things enter our "no fly" zone.

5. The challenge is what makes life worth living.
You might think that being a dog does not come with its own set of challenges, well being a hunting dog is different. Bird dogs don't just lay around the house doing nothing, they have a craft that they are very serious about. Sadie is passionate about hunting and will do absolutely whatever it takes to to perfect her craft. She endures all types of terrain, weather and injuries without ever giving up on finding, pointing and retrieving those birds. So instead of whining and complaining when things get tough, take on those challenges with that same drive and determination as Sadie does. I'm going to borrow a quote from Tom Hanks for this one..."It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard...is what makes it great!" Thank you A League of Their Own for that little mantra.

6. Nothing in life is more satisfying than companionship. 
At the end of the day, love and companionship are the only things that will get us through this life. Dogs exemplify this greatly. All they want is companionship from their owners. They don't need anything else. No matter how many times I yell at Sadie or want to beat her behind for puking on the carpet, she never holds it against me. I can punish her for doing something bad and 2 minutes later, she still wants to snuggle with me. No one gives unconditional love like dogs do. No matter how many times you let them down, they still love you. Just think about that the next time you are unwilling to forgive someone.

7. Don't do drugs. (This one is really a joke...but seriously)
One time Sadie ate a mushroom from the backyard when we were in college. She started acting crazy and getting really sick. We had to take her to the emergency vet. She obviously survived, but was a little out of whack for a while afterwards. Moral of the story...don't eat shrooms. Drugs are bad for you, kids. Consider this your public service announcement for the week.

Those are just a few valuable life lessons we can learn from old, wise Sadie. Bet you never knew you could learn so much from a hunting dog, did you?

In closing, here is a picture of me with Sadie when she was a puppy...because everyone likes to look at pictures of cute puppies. Oh goodie, and it's a blonde hair Jacki flashback too.

Hunt 'Em Up

When the temperature drops in Jacksonville, the Berettas come out. And our German Shorthair Pointer, Sadie, knows that when she sees the Beretta, it's game time. There is nothing she loves to do more than hunt. The moment we open the kennel doors at SSJ Farm, she is ready to hunt 'em up.

My husband and my brother take the dogs and their friends hunting regularly throughout the season, but it's always a treat when the wives get to come along. Last week, my sister-in-law, Melissa, and I joined the boys for an afternoon hunt and I got to try out my new camera in the field.

Jared and I with our girl, Sadie

My brother with his girls, June and Bailey

Jared and my brother's neighbor, Ryan

Sadie on point

My Beretta advertisement...I'm sure Jared just loves when I take photos of him unknowingly

My brother, Chris, with all the girls

As soon as the dogs hear the gun fire, they are off to find and retrieve the dead bird

I love my little hunting diva :)

A Religious Experience

Here in the South, we do everything with a little extra flair. Many of our deep-seated traditions are more of a religious experience than merely an activity. Take college football for instance...if you have ever been to a night time rivalry game in the stadium of a major Southern university, then you know exactly what I am talking about. We take these things seriously...about as seriously as we take church and you know us Southerners and our church :)

Hunting is another one of those religious experiences of the South. I'm sure that some people (the Yankees that is) think that is appalling to allow a child to shoot a gun. However, that is just part of growing up in the South. From a very young age, we all learn how to fish, hunt, understand football, and pray to God that we can be successful in all these things. I feel like this partly comes from our ancestors who had to rely on hunting and harvesting to survive. To this day, we still pray for a good hunt, a good fishing trip or for our team to win the game.

There is just something about being out in the woods hunting with the bird dogs that feels so peaceful. I can't even begin to explain it. I love being out in nature, so far away from the real world, where there is nothing else to think about or do but simply be in that moment appreciating the things that surround you.

I like taking pictures of my hubby while he hunts. He hates it, but too bad.

This past weekend, we had out first quail hunt of the season. I was very excited about this hunt, but a little nervous because I did not know how I was going to react to hunting this time. This was the first time I had been hunting since my dad passed away in July. I knew this would be tough because hunting was something that my dad taught me how to do and something that we loved to do together. I was also a little apprehensive about this hunt due to the circumstances in which my dad passed. This would be the first time I held a gun in my hand since his suicide and I didn't know how I was going to react to that at first.

I was pleasantly surprised that I did not get emotional, and nothing about hunting made me feel uncomfortable. I have been exposed to and respecting guns since I was a little kid, and hunting is just part of my life. Nothing will ever change that. If nothing else, hunting is even more special to me now because it feels like I am honoring my dad's memory when I am out there. He is out there in the woods with me every time,  whether I can see him or not.

We had a great hunt that day and I am thankful that I get to spend these special moments with my husband, my brother and my sister-in-law. I am especially thankful that even after all these years, my brother and I can still enjoy doing the things that we learned from our dad together.

At the end of our hunt, the owner of the preserve asked if she could take a group photo of us with our dogs to put on their website. So we posed, took our picture and went home. Later that day, she sent me the picture. My first reaction to seeing the picture was, "why did I leave that awkward space between Melissa and I? I should have moved over and stood next to her". I wasn't even thinking about where I was standing while we were taking the picture. That night, I looked at the picture again and realized why I subconsciously left that empty space in the middle of our picture. I left a spot for my dad.