We had a great time in Iowa, getting my mom settled in and running some errands for her so she could continue to concentrate on building her strength. Sydney and her little brother were tremendous helpers as well as providing many much-needed laughs. I got a chance to go catch up with long-time friend, Wayne (Bowman) and his family. My big regret there is not getting the time for Sydney and Wayne’s daughter to spend some time together. I told Allison that I can’t think of too many better role models for my daughter. Her unwavering love of God, her family, and hunting is exactly what I want for Sydney. I guess getting those two together is a good reason to head back and hopefully soon. In talking with Wayne, he mentioned a mutual friend that said we could head out and fish his farm pond since he’s known me for a long time. Syd told me she wanted the fishing stuff and pics included in her journal and this is, after all, her journal, so this is a longer update. And she told me last night at bedtime that she wants to log on here and do a journal entry of her own, so stay tuned for that, too!
My wife and I bought our fishing licenses and some worms Friday night, borrowed some rods from a neighbor, and got the kids rounded up Saturday morning. The bluegill were more than eager to bite and Sydney and her little brother were having fun. Syd being Syd saw me trying to catch bass and decided that’s what she was going to do, too. I managed to hook into a big farm pond bass, but it threw the hook 10 feet from the bank. Syd saw the bend in the rod and immediately asked me if she could use the lure I was using (what dad hasn’t been there?). I gladly switched rods with her and stayed with her, offering tips and advice. We worked our way around to the other side of the pond and she was starting to get discouraged. We had to have “the talk” about fishing and remind her that its not always about catching something. Two casts later, I heard a shout and looked over to see her rod completely doubled over! I ran over to her to help where I could and was amazed at the bend in the rod. You could see the struggle in her face and she asked me to help her hold the rod. I told her she was doing great and didn’t need my help, but I reached in and loosened the drag a bit to avoid a broken line. She pulled up on the rod and I looked out to see a HUGE channel cat on her crankbait! Of course, my pliers were on the other side of the pond and my wife was running towards us with the camera. I hate lipping cats like a bass, but it was too big to grab behind the head, so I lipped it up out of the pond. Syd’s eyes were HUGE. We had to run over to the other side of the pond with me holding the cat “noodling style” to get the hook out. It managed to tear one of my fingers up pretty good, but we got a few pics. Having caught my share of cats growing up, I guessed the fish to be 5-6 lbs. It was definitely bigger than the 4-lb cat I caught on a Mepps minnow when I was half her age!
The next day, my cousins drove down from Huxley and we hit a couple of farm ponds they have access to. I managed to catch (and land this time) my first largemouth bass since leaving Iowa. Not long after that, I caught a slab of a crappie. To my surprise, Syd didn’t ask for my lure this time. Instead, she found a yellow plastic work she liked and went after it. In less than 10 minutes, she managed to catch two nice largemouth, a new species for her. She was in fishing heaven! Last summer, she landed a blue fish and a couple of speckled trout in Florida and now this. I don’t think she’ll ever go after stocked trout in lakes down here again. It was tough to get her away from the ponds!
This past weekend, we managed to head up to swap the cards on the trail cams. I was hoping that there weren’t any problems with the 2nd camera after the first fiasco, but my worries became real when we discovered the camera had dead batteries again! Of course, I forgot to grab the extra batteries before we left. I wasn’t happy at all, mainly mad at myself for poor planning and knowing I could have avoided this. We’d had a long weekend already and this didn’t help anything. My wife and kids decided to stay at the truck while I expeditiously hoofed it up to the other camera. On my way up, something caught my attention and I realized there was a herd of elk on the little ridge above me and to my left. They totally busted me, but at least my dogs didn’t notice. I managed to keep them close and occupied enough while the elk busted through. What I thought was a small herd of 10-12 turned into about 30 (+/-) elk. I saw one big spike (still a young bull) and one big bodied bull, but couldn’t see his antlers. After they crossed the trail in front of me, they started vocalizing. I wish Syd was with me to hear that, but I also understood how tired she was. It’s a sound I never get tired of hearing, though! Their smell was strong where they crossed the trail in front of me and I managed to keep the dogs from getting too interested, although they were pretty in tune with the smell. On my hike back, I came across a fresh rub. This could be the earliest I've personally seen bulls starting to shed their velvet, which explains why the spike bull I saw looked like he was hard horned. When I got back to the truck, I told my wife I wanted to head back to town to the closest store and get fresh batteries and head back up to the other camera. I didn’t want to lose 2 more weeks of scouting that particular area. Fortunately, she understood and we were off. Two stores later, I finally found batteries. I convinced Syd to hike back up to the camera with me, but suggested she leave her pack so we could move faster (its only about 1/3-mile up from the road). We got the batteries swapped out and reprogrammed the camera. On our way out, we talked about lessons to be learned from all of this, holding hands a good part of the way. I love that we can talk like that and still hold hands. I love that she understands things the way she does. After talking about lessons learned, she summed it up with the following:
1) Always make sure you have everything you need before going hiking;
2) Always make sure to remind dad to grab extra batteries;
3) Always start off with brand new batteries in your trail camera to avoid
this in the first place.
We also talked about how being tired comes into play in hunting and life as well as setting goals and sticking with a commitment. We discussed the fact that not every hunt will end on the first morning of the first day and if you want to fill a tag bad enough, you have to work for it, even if it means hiking to the next ridge over when you’re tired. We talked about pushing yourself even when its the last few minutes of the soccer game and you’re wiped out. I told her how proud of her I was for showing me her commitment to her hunt by hiking up with me even though she was tired. She told me she’ll do what she has to in order to fill her elk tag. Of course, I know her limits as well and won’t push her too hard! A stop at Baskin Robbins on the way home didn’t hurt anything either!
The first camera had lots of cow elk, a few deer, including what looks like a very pregnant doe (not uncommon out here), a buck that might get my attention if he grows a little more in the next month, and a decent (not a giant) bull walking through at night. The hunt starts two months from this Saturday and she’s getting EXCITED!
Pregnant Doe
Growing Buck
Cow and Calf
Small Bull
Rub Tree
I should also point out that, while we were sitting at the Phoenix airport on our way to Iowa, Sydney got drawn for deer and javelina tags! We don’t know what unit the deer tag is in yet since it was just my credit card that got hit, but I know the javelina tag is in 18B, where I do quite a bit of archery deer and javelina hunting. 18B was her first choice for deer, so that’s what we’re hoping for. I’d really like to have the hunts the same to make it easier, but this is her first year, so we’re all in! She’s excited to have a chance at an elk, a deer, and a javelina this fall! I couldn’t be happier and more proud of her!
I tore my truck apart, thinking it slipped down into a nook somewhere, but still couldn't find the card. I took off to Discount Tire to get my tires rotated and that’s when my day turned completely around. My mom called me to tell me how her appointment with her oncologist back in Iowa went. He told her that, according to the x-rays, there was a bunch of scar tissue, but, overall, her left lung looked really good and she was in remission! YES…REMISSION!!! After 10 long months, a very hard fight, and almost losing her, my mom appears to be cancer free!! Of course, we have to wait for the PET-Scan in 4 weeks to give the final say, but the oncologist was very confident in what he was reading! It didn't really sink in until later when I was sitting at a stop light and I (safely stopped) sent a text to a couple of my close friends who were rocks for me. That’s when I was overcome with emotion and couldn't quit crying. I went to the archery range to shoot my bow to get ready for the upcoming archery deer season (OTC tags) that begins August 22nd. My 50- and 60-yard shooting was pretty good, but it was also time to go get the kids from school. As soon as we were all loaded up in the truck, I got to tell them the news about their grandma. Sydney had tears rolling down her face and a smile from ear to ear. I’ll never forget the time we had to sit down and tell her that grandma was not going to win her fight. To be able to tell her this great news was a glorious day. We all took the time to praise God and thank Him for all that he’s done for our family!