katniss for a day....

my brother's name is justin...but we call him "juice".

he is just 15 months younger than i...and he is a hunter.
everybody loves juice.

i have always wanted to go hunting with him.... but have heard that he just runs anyone into the ground that hunts with him. being the stay-at-home mom that i am, i have always been apprehensive to go.

after reading "hunger games" this year, i wanted to go more than ever, and knew i would regret it if i didn't give it a try.
i have recommended the "hunger games" series to several people.  of course they always asked me what it's about.
i do my best at explaining the books, but apparently i think the series is about something a little different than everyone else.


 about a month ago my sister-in-law margo called me on the phone.

"hey i read hunger games and loved it!  i just have to tell you, it was nothing like your explanation though!"

"what do you mean?"

"well you said it was all about hunting, gathering, and survival and stuff."

"it is, isn't it?!"

"no, it is not at all!"

we were both really laughing by this point, because we both realized that i like the books for different reasons than most people i guess. 

i love that katniss has a bow and arrow, that she is a hunter, that she spends her time wondering the woods, that she is strong, that she is a survivor, and most of all that she fights for good.

i'll admitt it....i want to be like katniss.

so this year i asked my brother if it was ok that i tag along with him on his bow hunt for elk.

this is me at 4 something in the morning out in the middle of nowhere.

we weren't hiking for even an hour when my husband came up beside me and whispered "are you thinking about you being katniss?"

i had to admit that i had just been thinking about it.

nerdy?  yes. 

do i care? no :o)

here is the photo of our hunting group.

my brother juice, one of his good friends from high school dave, my husband, and i.

i was just there for two days, but i honestly loved every minute. 

i don't have a bow, so i tagged a long with my little video camera. 

 this video is the first day when i heard the elk calling for the first time.  my brother is telling me to get into a position where i could stay for awhile and wouldn't need to move.

this was also right before we came into a huge heard of elk...as we got closer i started to smell something that smelt terrible...later i found out my brother's friend dave had sprayed my back and boots with elk urine.

thanks dave.

after we came into the huge heard of elk, we couldn't get a good shot, so we tried to circle around and cut them off. we just barely missed then by like a minute!

it was very exciting!!!

i told my brother that i am in for next year!

who knows...maybe i have been good enough, santa will bring me my own bow this year :o)

he would have to throw in a good pair of hunting boots as well.

i already asked him for a new bottle of my favorite perfume and a new pair of boots(not hunting boots), so we'll just have to wait and see i guess :o)