Dawn's First Doe!

Pictured above is Dawn Ziegler with her very first doe with a rifle.  She was using OakSturdy's vita shot gun rest to make the shot.  My congrats to Dawn on her harvest in our great outdoors!  Way to go!

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Puppy Cakes!

The owner grabbed a camera instead of chasing the puppy away.

 "Until one has loved an animal, 

part of their soul
Remains un-awakened."

Chase Chasing Rabbits

This is Chase with a big ole rabbit he got and looking so proud.  My congrats to Chase chasing rabbits in our great wild outdoors!

An April 2013 Granddaughter!

My youngest daughter, Marian Suzanne (Suzi) will be giving me my 6th granddaughter next April.  She had a sonogram this morning to find out the sex of her baby and it's a girl!  Granddaughter, Emma, wore her BIG SISTER t-shirt to school after she got the news that she was going to have a baby sister. My congrats to my daughter and her hubby, Dennis, and hope and pray that she will be Blessed with a fine and healthy baby girl!  

Wild Hog & Buck Ride

Pictured above is our hunting friends, Trent and Rex Howell, on the edge of the MS Delta at their famous Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club, Thanksgiving weekend. 

Rex is showing off his very nice Rochester Redback hog and his brother, Trent, with his very nice buck!  Go over to Rex's blog, Deer Camp Blog, to read this hilarious story of how they both hunted together at the lake and then try to get all this meat back to the camp by taking a Mississippi Boat Ride!  My congrats to both on their wild/ride harvest in our great outdoors!  Way to go guys!

An 81 Year Old Lady Hunter!

Ms. Wilva Marshal, 81 years old of Black River Falls, WI, took down this big boy this past Tuesday afternoon.  My congrats to her and hope I'm hunting at 81 just like she is!  Way to go Wilva!

Daughter and I Went Hunting In Claiborne County

A shadow of me in a one-man stand.

At least I saw three nice does out of this one-man stand. They came in to the upper right hand corner in a clearing and knew I was in trouble when I saw the second one stomp and another doe was coming up behind it. The first one was closest to  me but they all knew something was up by then. I had the closest one in my sites and only had the back half of it's body...so of course was not a good shot and was hoping it would move out away from the tree but one of them blew and they all took off! That was at around 8:45 this morning. It was so nice to at least see a deer and be in our great wild outdoors! My daughter had no luck at all...but next time hopefully we will both get one!

Afternoon hunt and nothing came out!

Patiently waiting on a deer!

Woods were beautiful!

...so was the moon.  Deer will eat good tonight with low in the 20's!

Charli's First Deer

Vicksburg resident Charli Van Norman, 6, shot her first deer November 6 while hunting with her father, John Van Norman, on family land in Warren County.  The 8-point buck weighed 175 pounds and had a 15-inch inside spread.  My congrats to Charli (and so young) on her first deer in our great wild outdoors!  Way to go!

Family Is My Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for all my four beautiful daughters.  Left to right is Theresa (Teri), 49, Kathleen (Kathy), 46, Debra, 43 and Suzi, 40, who will have another baby next April.   I also have a step-son, Greg and step-daughter, Karen (not shown).

My daughter Kathy took this picture of Suzi and I.  Suzi, Emma and Dennis will be heading back to Virginia tomorrow after spending a week with family and having Thanksgiving.  They plan to return in a couple of years.

My granddaughter, Sonya, 28, Emma, 5, Victoria, 22, Stephen, 23, Lucy, 15 and my great grandson, Ina, 5 years old.  My granddaughter, Candice could not make it and had to work.  Ethan is in the Air Force and stationed at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX.  Carl was not feeling well when this picture was taken.  My great grandson Tidus lives in Montana and was not able to attend our Thanksgiving celebration.  I also have 6 step-grandchildren, 4 great step-grandchildren and one great great niece.  A lot to be thankful for!

This was taken outside of my youngest granddaughter, Emma and my great grandson, Ian.  Both are five years old.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Black Bear Hit By Car

The dead black bear, killed after walking into traffic on U.S 61 South in Warren County just north of the Claiborne County Line.  The Post Gibson Reveille

A black bear tagged and collared this month has died after being struck by a vehicle on U.S. 61 south of town.  

Brad Young, black bear biologist with the MS Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, said the bear was collared November 1, just north of the Big Back River, and died near the same spot a week ago.

"Unfortunately, it walked out into southbound traffic" at about 7:30 p.m. November 14, Young said.  "It looked like it was headed toward the Big Black."

The bear was hit about 4 miles north of the Claiborne County line, at the Big Black River.  Young said the bear, which was about 5 years old, could have lived to be 20 or 25.

"He was about 210 pounds when we caught him two weeks ago," Young said.  "He was healthy."

Terry Miles is a game warden in Claiborne County and was the first on scene.  He said it heavily damaged the car, which was driven by Vivian Rushing, who could not be reached today.

He said the bear was the first hit by a vehicle on U.S. 61 in several years.

"We had one hit about seven or eight years ago, just across the Big Black on the other side in Claiborne County," Miles said.

Young said bear-crossing signs then were placed to alert drivers.  However, because it was dark and between hills, the bear was likely not visible, Miles said.

Young estimated at least a dozen black bears are roaming Warren County and David Island, just northwest of the Claiborne County line.

"Obviously, that area around the river has a lot of habitat," Young said.  "They use those waterways as travel corridors, especially right there where you've got the Mississippi, Big Black and the bayous."

Young cautioned drivers, saying this was the time of year when bears are searching for food before winter.

"They do move around a lot right now," Young said.  "What they're going through right now, they're just eating as much as they can to build up fat reserves for the winter.  They're going to be moving, trying to find those food resources.

Young also said vehicles are the leading cause of unnatural black bear deaths in the state.

"For the most part, traffic is the biggest problem," Young said.  "We have the occasional poaching or accidental killing, but other than that, they don't have any natural predators."

And Now We Shall Do Manly Things: Discovering My Manhood Through The Great (and Not-So-Great) American Hunt by Craig J. Heimbuch  

He had never thought of owning a gun when, in his early thirties, he was given a 12-gauge Winchester over-under shotgun by his father.  He considered himself the black sheep in his Midwestern family and possibly the only male Heimbuch never to have taken an animal.  Now he had a shotgun and figured he might as well try it out, and in doing so, explored the meaning of manhood while getting closer to his hunting-enthusiast dad.

 

His Dad had his own hunting stories and he wanted to live his own stories and tell them.  He also wanted to know what it was like to be out in the woods to carry a gun and listen to the sounds of the woods, to taste what he had hunted.  He thought hunting would make him feel more like a man and his wife was all for it.  Through his experiences he finally realized that he had been a loyal and loving, devoted father all the time.  Sometimes a man has to step away, to step outside his everyday life to understand the blessings he already has and to see himself as the man other people knows him.

In my own experience my Father was not a hunter and when I met my 2^nd husband he taught me all about hunting and has been a very rewarding one since.  After several hunting trips I let him know that I was very interested in learning and felt like I could really do this.  I truly love the outdoors and that made it much easier for me.  It has been 28 years since I harvested my first deer.  It gave me a lot of confidence and I can relate to some of his feelings of being in our great outdoors and listening to the sounds of the woods and just being close to nature is rewarding in itself.  I have now proudly past the sport of hunting to one of my four daughters and three of my grandsons.  It does make you feel so proud that you can go into the woods and bring home food for your family.  When I first started hunting women hunters were few and far between and I had to jump right in with the rest of the guys.  They all made me feel proud when I did harvest a deer and if you were late coming out of the woods everyone would wait for you to be accounted for.  Now I have stories of my own that I can tell and can relate to other men/women hunters.  It has given me a higher level of respect from men being a woman hunter in a so called man's sport.  

This book is a witty, moving, and insightful story of one man’s quest to free himself from the shackles of his domesticated suburban lifestyle by getting himself involved for one year in the sport of hunting which his family had always cherished.  He learns along the way what putting food on the table entails and what it means to be a man in America.  He also learns that it’s possible to be a committed father, a loving spouse, and a hunter without being mistaken for a gun-toting lunatic.

A book written by Craig J. Heimbuch who is an award-winning journalist and author. He is currently online editorial content strategist for BBDO/Proximity WorldWide, providing strategic direction for editorial content websites around the world.

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Suzi's Baby Shower

My youngest daughter, Marian Suzanne (Suzi), had a baby shower today while visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday.  This was the brain child of her big sister, Kathy. who always looked after Suzi when she was a baby.  It was held at Pecan Ridge Apartment Clubhouse and family and friends attended the event.  She is holding a keepsake baby plate with many signatures of everyone that attended. She received many presents and really had a great time.  This will be grandchild No. 9 for me and the baby is due on April 20, 2013.  They will be headed back to Virginia after Thanksgiving Day.  It's so nice to have all my four daughters together again since everyone lives in different cities except for Kathy, my second daughter who lives here in Vicksburg.

Opening one of her many gifts.

Another nice present for baby!

Granddaughter Emma got a pretty princess crown.

Great Grandson, Ian, opening his happy!

Her Disney cake.

A Diaper Cake!

Hunting & Fishing

Chance Williams bagged his 8-point, 170-pound buck in southern Warren County on November 11 with a Remington 30-06.  The deer had a 16-1/2-inch spread.   Williams is the son of Chad and Wilda Williams of Vicksburg.  My congrats to Chance on harvesting this nice buck in our great wild outdoors.

Vicksburg resident Kearney Waites caught a pair of big bass November 5.  They weighed in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces, and 5 pounds, 8 ounces, and were caught using a top water lure.  Kearney and I worked together for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the same laboratory at Waterways Experiment Station (WES), which is now called, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).  My congrats to Kearney on a very fine catch! 

Lacey's First Deer

Little Lacey is 8 years old and harvested a very nice 8 point buck recently.  I would say that "8" is her lucky number!  You go Lacey!  My congrats to you! 

Tiffany's First Squirrel

7-year-old, Tiffany, got her first squirrel.  It looks like her smile says it all in our great wild outdoors!  Get-r-done!

Adam's Nice Buck!

Adam Hays, III, pictured here with a very impressive buck that he harvested in Illinois recently but resides in Ohio.  I really like the dimensions in this picture! Awesome shot!  My sincere congrats on a very nice buck taken by Adam in our great wild outdoors!

Audrey's First Deer

Above is Audrey Paulson, daughter of Kevin Paulson, Founder and CEO at HuntingLife.com.

This is Audrey's very first deer!  Before Kevin and his family moved to Nebraska, I was fortunate to meet him in Fredericksburg, VA, where they had lived.  At the time I had visited my daughter there and was happy to meet Kevin after knowing him though my blogging and the Outdoor Bloggers Summit.

Kevin announced yesterday that he bought a new freezer with one deer down by his daughter and more to go!  He said we eat well in this family.  My congrats to Audrey on her very first deer and I know her Dad is so very proud of her as well.

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WWII Photos Hidden for 71 years

They did their jobs then...we who have served since then trued to follow in their foot steps and commitment - For the ones at home so this would not happen on our soil again. Most of us would gladly do it again no matter who the Commander-in-Chief is because we do it for God, Country and our People.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PICTURES TAKEN 69 YRS AGO  & LEFT IN A BROWNIE ARE REAL INTERESTING.

====================================================

(December 7, 1941)  

Isn't it amazing how a  film could last so long in a camera without disintegrating?  

Fantastic photos taken 69  years ago. Some of you will have to go to a museum  to

see  what a Brownie box camera looked like?

Here is a simple picture  of that Brownie Box camera, we are talking about. ... 

Click here to view

A Girl & A Gun ~ World Premiere

Tonight is the WORD PREMIERE of A Girl and A Gun presenting a feminine perspective on 

an object whose history is deeply bound up with men and masculinity.  Filmed throughout the 

US, this documentary delves into the psyche of the American gun world.  Reaching far 

beyond Hollywood's hypersexualized femmes fatales.  The film candidly explores the modern 

American woman though intimate portraits encompassing issues of protection, power, 

feminism and violence.  A Girl and A Gun is a complex and thoughtful meditation on a 

deadly serious issue.

Yours truly is in the introduction of this documentary as indicated by producer Cathryne Czubek.  I wish I could have been there for the premiere tonight in New York City but hope the very best for Cathryne's new film, A Girl and A Gun!

Cathryne Czubek, Producer

New York, New York

Blaine's First Buck

Here is Blaine with his very first buck taken on November 3, 2012.  My congrats to Blaine for harvesting his first buck in our great outdoors.  Way to go Blaine!

He had been hunting with his Mom, Whitney Tarvin, and she said it was a hunt she will never forget.

Blaine's Dad, Justin Tarvin, who has a Facebook page, Boondock Adventures, is helping to drag their deer back to the truck.  A great day in the woods together for the family!

Dave's Midnight Bucks!

Two of what, Dave Quick, my Facebook friend calls his midnight bucks - almost never show themselves during the daylight!  He also said, the big guy himself...I have three years of photos and videos of him, and I think a few from four years ago...not completely sure though but I have the last three years...not one of him in the daylight!  He's a smart guy!

Deer Caught On The Carpet?

A deer wasn't caught in the headlights....nooooo....it was caught on the carpet!

A Pittsburgh-area carpet store had been cleaning up after the wild animal smashed into the store and ran amok this past Tuesday.

Jill Horvatic, an employee of Stout Carpeting in Castle Shannon, said that she hid while the animal ran around, crashing into displays and damaging other items.

Horvatic said, "I was shaking.  I haven't felt like that ever in my life.  For 20 minutes all I heard was banging and glass shattering.  It was horrifying."

Police were able to get the deer out of the store before anybody got hurt.  

Happy 6th Blogoversary To Me!

Today is my 6th Blogoversary! Hip Hip Hooray!

I want to thank everyone for visiting my site, recommending it to others, tweeting, re-tweeting, liking and making comments.  I have met a lot of good people along the way and hope to be around for another 6 years or more of blogging.

It all started when I found out, talking to my next door neighbor, that she had a blog and started reading hers. So one day I thought it would be cool to have my very own.  Since I enjoy the sport of deer hunting, I decided to use that as my platform to blog about.  Below is my very first post -

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 07, 2006

This is my first time to do this and just feeling my way through it all....my neighbor next door has a blog here and I enjoy reading her stuff....so....I thought I would start me one. I like to deer hunt so I thought I would blog my hunting adventures....

As time would have it...I lost interest after 4 posts.  I was fortunate to have a nice guy to come by my site, by way of a forum, who took the time to sign my guestbook at my former website, A Dixie Lady Deer Hunter, now a blog.  (I always sent a message of thanks to anyone who signed it).  I found out that he was also a Mississippian and later on through his emails/calls he encouraged me to continue to write about my hunting experiences.  After 6 years we are still friends and my mentor.  His name is Rex Howell,  a.k.a., Editor, over at Deer Camp Blog. If it was not for him, I don't think I would be here today celebrating my 6th Blogoversary!  I will be forever grateful for your support and friendship Rex!

Tyler's First Buck!

My congrats to 8-year-old Tyler Parker, from Olive Branch, Mississippi, for harvesting his very first buck this past Saturday!  Way to go Tyler in our great wild outdoors!