2016 Hunting Seasons

2016 Antelope Season

Stephen took home the bigger one.

#youngerbrotherbraggingrights

2016 Deer Season

 Darren had a couple of cute tag-alongs one Sunday afternoon.

They told me that they didn't shoot any reindeer.  Good deal, ladies.  

I'm happy to say we haven't ruined Christmas.

Blase's buck.

He still has a youth tag to fill.

 Darren and his brother, Brad, with their bucks.

 Brad and Stephen's coyote

  Stephen's buck

It was bigger than Blase's...

#youngerbrotherbraggingrights - again

 Brad was Stephen's sidekick for the hunt.

(Or was it the other way around?)

The bucks, including Darren's other brother's buck, all hanging up.

There is also Stephen's youth tag doe and two coyotes.

Darren shot one of the coyotes.

Blase's - normal 4x4, Stephen's - most points 4x6, Darren's - widest rack 4x4 25" inside, 28" outside

 My deer's bigger than your deer!

Excuse me boys, make room for this buck.

Stephen Makes Good On a Deal

Darren had some friends from Wisconsin come spend a few days hunting pheasants a couple of weeks ago.  John made us the most amazing pancakes - his somewhat secret recipe.  Stephen was sure he needed that recipe so a deal was made.  In exchange for the recipe Stephen would clean the birds they shot that day.  Stephen was hesitant to fulfill his end of the bargain, but in the end he was a trooper and a man of his word.

 See the white paper up on the rack by the window?

That's the recipe.  Ha ha

 The smell was disgusting at best.  In the name of a good blog post I suffered through.  A good reminder why I do not hunt - I don't like to clean the kill.

 Cormac, Brech, and Gianna had swept the shop and left piles earlier that day.

Brigid and Kiara undid all their work.

They had fun though.  That's all that matters.  Right??

 Way to go, Stephen.

 Congratulations on a job well done!  The recipe is yours and yours only.

 John and Deb brought their daughter along.  She and Gianna were good friends almost immediately.

Such great memories to start off our adventure in the area.

The BIG 4-0

Yesterday was Darren's 40th birthday.  He spent some of the day hunting with Blase and Stephen.  What a great memory for his 40th birthday!

Stephen and Blase with their does.

I'm sure hunting with the boys in South Dakota is a much better way to spend the BIG 4-0 than being home with your wife waiting to see what she has planned.  I think part of his plan to get the boys licenses this year was so he wouldn't have to risk me throwing him a black themed birthday party.  As it was he only received a few phone calls about the pigeons (we keep pigeons now, FYI), the phone line that was repaired (I will be able to hear you now if you call), and one phone call from the twinnies to say happy birthday and one call to say good night.  I guess I'll have to do something for his 50th birthday.  I've got ten years to plan it.....hummmm, this should be epic.

Like Father, Like Son

Thanks Courtney for taking pictures and sending them our way.

We are eating well this winter!!

Successful Hunt

Darren and Blase had a very successful Saturday.

 Darren's was a 4x5, 450 yd shot, 32" outside.  

I kinda went, "Ok."  Trust me - I was told - that was pretty darn good.

Blase's buck was a 5x5, one shot, first deer ever.  

He's thrilled as you can see.  Darren said he gutted it himself (the main reason I don't hunt).

Blase also has a doe tag that I'm sure they will get with no trouble.  I'm excited for the meat.  Our freezer was getting low on sausage and jerky.  We are kind of hoarding what little we have left.

Weekend Hunting

 My puppy took Darren and Blase hunting this weekend.  Wasn't that nice of him??

 They are having a great time, but I hear the walking is catching up with them.  I heard Blase was pretty stiff this morning.  We are all out of shape in this household.

They shot some doves and grouse.

Oh did you see Blase's new glasses.  He looks even more like his dad now.

Looks Like a Hunter Lives Here

 pink camo - check

camo boots - check

ready to go with dad - check

going outside with dad - nope

broken heart - check, check

 Darren picked up his pheasant and grouse (shot in Michigan) from the taxidermy.

 I like the action pose, though I had hoped it would turn out better.

Another reminder of our Michigan days.

Hunting, Birthday, Thanksgiving

We spent 10 days in South Dakota around Thanksgiving. I prefer not to post where we aren't (home) when we aren't there. So, this is a "back post" of sorts.

A few people were commenting about how nice it was for us to make it home for Thanksgiving. The honest truth of the matter - we were home for Darren to hunt. The truth hurts. Sorry guys - you are important to us, but it takes 3 tags to make the trip worth it. (Just kidding, of course we came home to see family!!!)

Darren's hunting was a big reason we did pick Thanksgiving as our "vacation" home. He was getting three deer one way or another, even if they were just fawns. He went hunting with Roy, a friend of his family's, one day and came home with a Whitetail doe. The next hunting trips were with his brother, Brad. He shot one Muley buck, then turned and shot a Muley doe. THREE TAGS - FILLED! The buck was his biggest yet. He is having it mounted. I think we shall consider that his birthday gift from me. Don't you agree?? We spent his 35th birthday evening cleaning deer. It was the first time I had ever helped anyone clean a deer. I was afraid the smell would get to me, but I did just fine. I think I am a bit more thorough than Darren is though. Thanksgiving morning we cleaned up the last deer, with Roy's help. Thanksgiving was also our 10th anniversary. Darren gave me 4 bags of Dove Chocolate and 2 rolls of Mentos. Couldn't have gotten a better gift. The boys watched the parade in the morning, we ate a HUGE lunch with Darren's family (minus his sister Sally and niece Emma), then vegged the rest of the afternoon.Friday morning we drove up to my parents' house for a late Thanksgiving get together. Everyone in my family was present with good spirits. It was a great day. We ate and played games and teased each other. Wonderful memories!! We also had the "Second Annual Bestgen Family Dart Tournament". We drew numbers and paired up for some GREAT games. There are some serious dart throwers in our family! I was teamed with Andrew. We named our team "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb". For those of you who are curious - I was Dumb. Dirk had to sub for me on one of the games, so we included him on our medals.
For both tournaments I have made medals for everyone who played. This year we had 7 teams. We came up with cute names for the different places. First place - braggin' rights, second place - So close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, etc.. I liked 4th place which was "Stuck in the middle with you." Obviously from the picture, Andrew and I took 5th place. Not last, but not in the upper teams. Last year I was partners with Darren and we took 1st, undefeated. This year Darren was paired up with Paul. They took 1st, undefeated. Needless to say - Darren is the sought after teammate for next time!

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Saturday we played more darts, just for fun, and ate leftovers. We emptied the totes full of gifts we brought and filled back up with gifts from others. Then we ate leftovers. Darren did a bit of shopping for Christmas with Brech. Did I mention we ate leftovers? Then we played more darts. Most of the family headed to a wedding reception for a good friend of the family. We babysat Sarah and Rebecca, played darts and ate more leftovers.

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Sunday we went to church and headed back to Darren's parents' house. We loaded up the trailer and got on the road. Darren was determined to beat the freezing rain that was headed toward Minnesota. We drove from Mike and Linda's all the way to Albert Lea, MN that night. Of course it took us until Midnight. We missed the freezing rain and made decent time. We were home before dark on Monday and had time to unload, put away and organize most of the things out of the totes and coolers.

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The vacation was fill of fun, stress, food and family. I am actually glad we aren't going to South Dakota for Christmas. I'm ready to stay home with my own family, our own issues and not so much food! :)

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Happy LATE, late Thanksgiving!!!

Tis the Season...

Its that time of the year again, trail camera time.

Here's what Mom likes to see:

Here's what Dad likes to see:

And finally...what the boys like to see:

That's one momma bear plus two babies. They enjoy Darren's corn pile often. Fun...