This morning was a first. I had the privilege of spending the morning in a deer stand with my daughter. It was her first trip with me.
We didn’t see a thing but spent a the morning together in the woods.
Family. That’s what it’s all about.
The first road trip of the season and I must say when we do it, we don’t half ass it. A 14 hour overnight drive from Mississippi and we are finally in Missouri.
I’m here for my first ever Missouri white tail hunt with a group of 7 of my friends. To say that I’m excited would be a MAJOR understatement. There are actually three of us who’ve never hunted this beautiful country. It’s going to be epic.
Troy Popielarz with Cripl Creek Monster Racks will be our intrepid guide for this journey. Y’all may want to say a prayer for him.
Bow season opens tomorrow morning. Five years ago, October 1 would have been any other day for me. My how things change.
I still consider myself a new hunter. I can look back and see how far I’ve come but I realize how far I have to go before I will see myself as a seasoned hunter. I still get confused, I still get scared in the dark. I still feel lost occasionally listening to other hunters conversations.
Today, I’ll gather up my equipment, pack my backpack, lay out my camo, set my boots by the door. Tomorrow I’ll sit in the stillness and let the world disappear. Tomorrow I’ll join the circle of hunters who sit with me in spirit. Tomorrow, I will wait with weapon in hand. Tomorrow, I hunt.
They say the waiting is the hardest part. I’m inclined to agree. I was the kid who took a razor blade and deftly sliced the tape on my Christmas presents one year. I re-taped them and noone was the wiser. Patience has never been one of my virtues.
Our bow season begins October 1. That seems forever away. I’ve scouted and have some new spots chosen. I’m very optimistic that this year I will FINALLY get a Louisiana deer.
Louisiana- sportsman’s paradise…
We spent the day, mid-morning until a bit after lunch crabbing. A bounty from the gulf was the result.
We’re on a family vacaKotion in Grand Isle, Louisiana. We needed supper. A string, some turkey necks and some weights and a few hours later we had well over one hundred blue crabs.
I love my state.
In four days we will be headed to Grand Isle, Louisiana for a family vacation. Four days of nothing but family, good food, cold drinks and lots of laughter.
We will arrive Thursday evening. Mike & Jim have plans to go bowfishing Friday with some friends-I’m so jealous I may be permanently green. The entire family will crab Saturday.
I may be in a food coma by Sunday.
I can’t wait.
I recently blogged about taking Claire to the range on National Take Your Daughters to the Range Day over at louisiana.huntography.com
You can read about it HERE!
Mike will be heading to Marsh Masters in a few weeks for a little bow fishing. I had the pleasure of bow-fishing with them last year on an all ladies trip. It was an amazing trip, one I desperately want to repeat. So, to say that I’m a little jealous that Mike is getting to go is an understatement. The only thing saving him from an icy home-life is that he will hopefully replenish our supply of redfish, which I am COMPLETELY out of. It’s a sad, sad state of affairs here at the Ganey household. In the mean time, I am just going to dream about grilled redfish seasoned with Camp Dog Seasoning.
I discovered Camp Dog Seasoning a few years ago after Mike brought some home from work, someone had given it to him as a gift. It sat in the cabinet for a bit until one day I ran out of our regular seasoning blend. Being the lazy homemaker that I am, I didn’t want to make a trip to the store for one item so I decided to try it. Sweet cayenne pepper was it good! I used the entire can in the next few weeks and was devastated when I couldn’t find it at our local grocers. About a year ago I was perusing the twitterverse and discovered @Cajun_Seasoning. I followed the link to the company’s website and immediately placed an order.
I was thrilled to find that the seasoning was a wonderful as I’d remembered. The original seasoning has a slightly sweeter flavor that other Cajun seasonings I’ve tried, but this balances out the warmth of the seasonings well. I’ve used it on chicken, fish, venison, beef, french fries and in Bloody Marys. I’ve yet to find something that it didn’t taste wonderful on or in, well except maybe ice cream or oatmeal. I’ve since tried their fish fry, their hushpuppy mix and their mild seasoning (called “non-typical” in what I assume is a nod to whitetail hunters) and like all the products.
Let’s talk about the hushpuppy mix. All hushpuppies are good. Fried balls of delicous cornmeal? What’s not to like? But the Camp Dog hushpuppies trancend all other mixes and as much as I HATE to admit it, are better than my homemade ones. They are the perfect mix of crunch outside with a soft, light, buttery middle. A hint- follow the directions and let the batter “rest” after mixing. The one time I didn’t do this, they were not quite as light and fluffy. They were still amazing, but the angels only sang one song as opposed to the two or three they usually do when I eat a Camp Dog hushpuppy.
My favorite thing to eat Camp Dog on is fish. It seems to cut the fishiness without overpowering the fish flavor in a way that other seasonings I’ve tried don’t. My recipe for Fish a lá Camp Dog is simple and delicous…if Mike brings home an ice chest full of red fish all will be forgiven.
Fish a lá Camp Dog:
You will need: 1 stick of butter, fish of your choice (I used catfish in this instance), a lime or lemon.
Coat fish generously with Camp Dog seasoning. 
Melt stick of butter on medium to low heat, when butter is melted add fish and brown flipping fish after 4-6 minutes. 
Fish is done when it flakes with a fork. Plate fish and squeeze lime or lemon over it.
That’s it! Add your favorite side dishes and enjoy!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m hungry now! I think I’ll go pout about missing bow fishing and try to find something to eat…perhaps a scrambled egg since we are fishless (with Camp Dog OF COURSE!)
Thanks to Mike for all the pics! And since I do love him, I GUESS I’ll forgive him for leaving me behind!
A bit of backstory: A year ago I discovered, via twitter, a guy who films, produces and sells hunting documentaries. Huntography he calls it. Rudy(that’s his name) films regular folks hunting. Just everyday ordinary people hunting.
It’s hard to explain the full impact the first DVD had on me. I was midway through my third hunting season. I was having moments where I was questioning whether I belonged in the woods. It felt like EVERYTHING I was doing just wasn’t working. It was bad. My friends and my family were all very encouraging, trying to convince me that everyone has dry spells. Their words fell on deaf ears. I felt defeated.
I’d become twitter friends with Rudy & thought I’d support a fellow hunter so I bought the DVD. I’d never bought a hunting DVD so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew he proclaimed it was “ordinary” people, but I doubted it. I was wrong. Watching that first season of the Deer Tour opened my eyes. The entire hunting community wasn’t bagging giant monster bucks. There were people out there who spent an entire season and didn’t get a single shot off. It gave me hope. It made me quit questioning my abilities as a hunter and brought my focus back to where it should be- on the experience. It made me realize that my friends and family weren’t just being polite- they were right.
I had watched the shows available and while I enjoyed them and usually learned something from some of them I just didn’t see myself reflected on the tv screen. Huntography changed that. So I’m a little partial to the Huntography family & have drank the kool-aid. I believe in what Rudy is doing. So much so, that I agreed to become a field editor for his Louisiana blog. If, as a result of Huntography one person is encouraged to keep their butt in a stand then I count that a grand victory.
When I questioned a fellow tweeter’s dismissal of Rudy’s work as meaningless, I inadvertently stirred a hornets nest on twitter the other night. What could have become a dialogue about ethics, a dialogue about antler restrictions, a dialogue about the different reasons we all hunt or even a dialogue about handling other hunters we see committing unethical hunts instead turned into attempt to bully me, complete with name calling.
When we, as hunters, tear down and belittle the ways others choose to hunt we destroy our community from within. When we choose to degrade and dismiss another’s reasons for hunting we diminish our entire community. It has to stop. From the seasoned trophy hunter to the new kid thinking of buying this first piece of camo, there is room for all. We must embrace one another if we are to succeed.
The hunting community is as diverse and colorful as any patchwork quilt. We should honor that. We should cherish that. I, for one, am determined that I will not be an agent of destruction. I will mend frayed edges where I can. I’ll add to our quilted community wherever/whenever I can by encouraging other hunters (new & old). We should wrap ourselves in the warmth of community just as we would a treasured quilt instead of doggedly fighting the cold alone.
