It was along a high mountain pass virtually in the middle of nowhere that I found my family in grave danger… Captivated by the breath taking view, we pulled off the side of the road to take a moment just to enjoy the beauty before us… As we exited the safety of our vehicle to walk to the edge of the overlook, the thought that we could be placing our family in harms way, never crossed our mind. It was a stunning, beautiful warm day and the cool mountain air felt good after being confined inside of the truck for the past few hours.

As any family who travels with small children does, we had a small stash or treats for the trip… potato chips… carrot sticks… and licorice. Our youngest child held in his had a few sticks of red licorice as we walked slowly down the path, discussing the beautiful view before us…

Half way down the path, I began to get the strange feeling that we were being watched… Growing up in the mountains, I know that this feeling is something that should be listened too, and began to slowly scan the surrounding hillsides… fully expecting to make eye contact with a deer, or spot a hawk high in the top of a tree watching us. It only took a second for that feeling of being watched to change to a chill on the back of your neck, and I knew that somewhere close by was danger… I looked towards my husband and saw that he had already sensed the danger as well and with hand on his knife was scanning the brush along the trail… I quickly gathered up our children and turned to hurry them back to the car… that is when I saw that our path was blocked… My heart fell as I realized that we were very much out numbered and alone with our tormentors here on this remote mountain side… I pulled my children close to me, and as I locked eyes with the hairy beasts, I tried not to focus on the razor sharp teeth and claws, and to find a way past these dangerous creatures.

From behind me, I heard the knife being pulled from the sheath at Hawk\’s side and I turned my head to find that he was watching another member of this pack that now had us surrounded…

To my horror when I turned back around our youngest child, in his innocence had stepped forward towards these bloodthirsty creatures… before I could respond, he knelt down and extended a piece of his licorice… The world around us seemed to explode as the beasts broke from every bush and rock…

I took this opportunity to spring into action… Hawk reached out, grabbed the remaining licorice from our son\’s hand, and tossed it toward the creatures that were advancing from behind us… I grabbed our children and made a mad dash toward the car… I had them inside with the doors locked and the engine running… I shoved open the passenger door as Hawk slowly backed toward us, never taking his eyes from these terrible creatures. As he climbed inside and quickly slammed the door… the beasts seemed to disappear into thin air… the cool mountain breeze once again began to stir, and the world filled with bird song.…

As we sat there letting our heart rates return to normal and trying to make sense of what had just happened.. A car came over the rise and pulled up to park next to us…. I rolled down my window to warn the woman inside the approaching vehicle. That is when I spotted the PETA sticker in the back window…

I turned and looked at my husband; he just grinned at me, and nodded to the woman as she stepped from her car. She took one look at our truck, and rolled her eyes… I just smiled and waved as we slowly pulled away…

The last thing I saw in my rear view mirror was a slight rustling in the bushes along the trail… as the woman hurried on down the trail alone and unarmed… I noticed that she was wearing sandals and had painted her toe nails bright red..

Stacey Huston – A collection of Stacey\’s photography

See the original article at TheHuntersWife.net

Tags: along-the-trail, beauty, deer hunting, the hunters wife, trip, truck, woman

See the original article at TheHuntersWife.net

Tags: banks, children, columbia, deer hunting, evening, general outdoors, humor, limit, river, television, trip

Cruise control on…turbo diesel whistling…thoughts of the trip echoing in my mind, yeah there\’s room for a good echo in there.

Location: Highway 81, Virginia.

Destination: The “Real” world, as it\’s sometimes called.

My little one was just 12 days old when we had left home. We covered 4,500 miles with three young children, one fresh from God\’s design mold. We had wanted to get another brief taste of full-time RVing…”Mission Accomplished”…and I day dreamt of one day spending months at a time on the road.

Then it happened…

My vision of bliss was suddenly burst like an over-filled dime store balloon. I snapped to reality as the operator of the Peterbuilt next to us gripped and ripped the pull cord of his air horn…not letting go for what seemed like minutes rather than seconds. My eyes widened, ears twinged, and knuckles whitened as he yanked the “let er rip” cord a few more times.

“What the *#%@ is his problem?!!”…I focused on the lines of the road…quickly making sure I was not crowding him.

The truck right in front of him played the same tune as we passed. I said to my wife, “We must have a tire going down.” I checked the side view mirrors for possible debris from a down trailer tire, and another truck driver tested the limits of his pull cord.

That\’s when I saw him:

He was waving out the window in a crazy, limp wristed fashion…hands flopping loosely at the end of his arms. His tongue was out, on his head was a recently used up cracker box…and he was making madman-like faces at the truckers as we passed.

I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. We all laughed like crazy. My wife also reminded us that he was indeed my son.

What at my first thought seemed like an act of “Road Rage” was in fact comic relief…a reaction to my four-year-old son, and his punch drunk imagination. A young boy\’s imagination fueled even further by many hours on the road.

My son\’s “Road Relief” campaign continued for many more miles that afternoon…inducing smiles, laughter, and musical horns as we made our way home.

I hope his photo makes you smile, maybe even laugh as well.

And yes…we at the “Fishing With Dad” house…we are all a bit crazy

Dennis – Fishing With Dad

See the original article at TheHuntersWife.net

Tags: deer hunting, general outdoors, mind, operator, peterbuilt, photo, played-the-same, pull, ripped-the-pull, road, trip

I stepped out the front door of the cabin and was blasted in the face by a gust of arctic wind.  It has been an early spring in the southern reaches of the state where I make my home but here in the mountains it evidently still gets cold.  I almost wanted take my cup of black, put hair on your chest, coffee back through the front door, dump it in the sink, and crawl back into the bed I knew would still be warm.  My eyes burned from lack of sleep and the cold air, but my brain or my legs, I haven\’t figured out which one to blame, urged me on to the warming car.  I was groggy to say the least and when the temperature reading on the dash board said it was 12 degrees it almost didn\’t register.  I am starting to think my brain had little to do with the fact I was going through with this crazy plan hatched up when an innocent comment was made by my buddy Jeff while planning a little get away for our families a week ago.  We wanted to get one last trip to the wintery mountains where the kids could get some last minute sledding in and he asked if I thought it would be worth taking our fishing rods and sneaking away in the morning for a couple hours.

At first I balked, knowing the only fishing this time of year up in that area was going to be for steelhead, and based on my previous experience with those finny creatures, I had serious doubts that they even existed.  I once spent three days in a steady drizzle casting flies into crystal clear pools with Mr. Base Camp Legend himself, Tom, videotaping my every move.  Only one thing could have been more miserable than standing in water that was a couple degrees away from becoming a solid, for three days, while rain drops nearing the point where they become white and fluffy, pelted down on your back.  And that was standing on the rock behind me with a video camera glued to your face, just waiting for something to happen, all while the same cold liquid pounded down on you.  What did Tom and I receive for our suffering?  Nothing.  Not even a nibble.  Well, I did catch a 15 inch cutthroat trout but that is not exactly a just reward for spending three days dodging hypothermia.  As bad as steelhead fishing may sound I did actually enjoy the trip and promised that I would someday catch one.  I actually made another attempt later that same month but came up empty again while fishing with both of my brothers on a different river.  While it wasn\’t raining on that day I do remember having to thaw the guides on my fly rod after nearly every cast as they iced up solid.  After four days of Steelhead fishing and I had nothing to show for it.

That was over two years ago and I hadn\’t even tried to catch a steelhead since.  Now here I was ready to tackle the task again.  The frigid air on this morning was just a little reminder of what I had missed out on these last two years.

The conversation in the car  as we made our way down the canyon on this morning was surprisingly optimistic.  Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or the fact that Jeff had yet to spend any time chasing Steelhead with a fly rod, that led to our positive attitudes.  Jeff still had that fresh optimism that quickly erodes when you send a few days casting mindlessly into a river hoping a wayward fish would grab the tuft of feathers swinging at the end of your leader and his attitude was starting to rub off on me.  As we pulled off the road along the surging river, I realized I was catching it again, Steelhead fever.

From here the story gets short.  It only took three casts for adrenaline to do what three cups of coffee couldn\’t on this morning.  As my flies drifted past a boulder about midstream my indicator slowly dipped below the surface.  I was sure I had snagged on the rock and I brought up my rod tip to free the drift.  What I felt was not a rock but a powerful surge and a big head shaking wildly in the current.  Even being the calm, even keeled guy that I am, I couldn\’t contain the excited yell that came from my unsuspecting mouth.  Jeff heard the commotion and quickly joined the party, helping me land my first Steelhead.  By a quarter till eight I was standing on the bank while Jeff snapped some pictures of my catch.  The hatchery buck taped out at 27 inches.  To have been able to land it on a fly rod, on a fly I had tied, made it only that much sweeter.  In fact the only drama in this fight, besides the excitement of actually tying into one of these ocean run beasts, came when I beached the fish and it came unhooked at my feet.  I quickly corralled it with my hands and just assumed that the fly had finally pulled free of its mouth.  Only after things had calmed down and I was ready to go back to fishing did I discover that the hook had actually snapped in two.  I will have to find some stronger hooks for tying flies meant for my future pursuits of the fish with a metal head.

It turns out that Steelhead fishing is everything it is cracked up to be after all.  Now all I can think about is when I might get a chance to get out there on the river again.  They warned me at the fly shop when I bought my first steelhead rod that someday this would happen.

This article by: BaseCampLegends.com

Tags: fish, guides, morning, mountains, party, river, rock, trip

Every year Safari Club International contributes to dozens of conservation and hunter advocacy projects around the world through the success of the hunters\’ auctions held each year during the annual SCI Convention. It is the world\’s largest hunting auctions and one of the finest examples of the hunting and outdoor industry contributing to the future of their sport. All the proceeds from the auctions provide a major source of funding to conserve wildlife resources and habitat and protect the freedom to hunt.

Each year Convention exhibitors, donors, advertisers, and SCI corporate sponsors donate an incredible array of outstanding auction items. This year hundreds of items – ranging from dream hunts to fine artwork and jewelry to clothing and gear – valued at over $2 million are up for bidding at the SCI Annual Convention in Reno, Nevada, on January 20-23, 2010.

The auctions occur both day and night and they have something to offer any hunter and any budget. Leading the list of auction items for 2010 is a premier safari package offered by Rungwa Game Safaris. This package celebrates John Rigby & Company\’s 275th anniversary and includes two new custom rifles, a 21-day Tanzania safari for lion, leopard, sable and roan. The winning bidder then moves to the Selous Game Reserve for elephant and buffalo. Award-winning hunting personality, author, and DVD producer Marc Watts of Sable Trail Productions will be on hand to film the safari. Estimated value of his package is $400,000.

There are also some great fishing trips on this year\’s list of auction items. An 8-day trout and salmon fishing trip for two anglers in the Chilean Patagonia has been donated by Nomads of the Seas. Luxury accommodations are provided aboard the Atmosphere, one of the Nomads\’ fleet that comes with a crew of thirty-two and serves as a mother ship for a Bell Ranger 407 helicopter, six Rogue jet boats, a Zodiac Hurricane 920 RIB, and more than fifty strategically located McKenzie drift-boats. This trip is valued at $35,700.

The SCI auctions always feature a variety of original artwork and jewelry and the 2010 Convention continues the tradition. Artwork includes original oil paintings and bronzed sculptures from notable outdoor artists and galleries. One of the premier items of jewelry has been donated by Winston\’s Estate Jewelry. It is a lady\’s 14 karat, yellow gold Madeira citrine quartz and diamond enhancer/pendant valued at more than $27,000.

The live and a silent auctions include a variety of more affordable items such as taxidermy gift certificates, guns, ammunition, optics and clothing with values as low as $30. No matter what a hunter\’s budget or needs, there are some great values and bargains to be found at the 2010 Convention. All the proceeds from the auctions provide a major source of funding to conserve wildlife resources and habitat and protect the freedom to hunt.

For a complete listing and description of the auction items up for bid at the 2010 Convention, visit www.showsci.com. For anyone wanting to attend the Convention, complete information is also available at the SCI website, where you can find a complete of exhibitors, seminars and schedule of events.

SCI-First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI\’s approximately 190 Chapters represent all 50 of the United States as well as 18 other countries. SCI\’s proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit the home page www.safariclub.org or call (520) 620-1220 for more information.

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See the original article at OutdoorMediaResources.com

Tags: countries, facebook, gift, hunting, linkedin, news, package, press release, ranger, sci, trip