A Thankful Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

Next to Halloween, this is probably my favorite holiday. Both have small expectations with great fun and rewards, these are my simple joys. We are going to our friends house in town for some home cooked food, drinks and hot tubbing. After MAJOR family Fletcher consternation, we decided that an 8 hour drive to Hettinger, ND in -20 to -40 degree temps on ice, for a pheasant hunt, would not be the wisest decision. Albeit, a tough decision, we had just driven this same stretch last weekend on ice, not fun!

The following pictures document our deer hunt last weekend near Ekalaka, MT. Let me say ahead of time that I did a fair amount of talking with God, given the cold weather and that I harvested a deer. This is never easy for me and takes a ton of mental preparation. Which is to say, that if I had a good shot, one that I was comfortable with, I would have to take it. This is my 5th year of deer hunting and I have only got one deer 4 years ago. So while this was a success for me, I owe it all to my husband whom is my #1 GUIDE and who ensures that all my equipment will provide for a successful hunt. This was a thrill to him too!

Game face,

with camo makeup.

And I got glasses to help me see

far.

My #1 GUIDE

Our buddy Don came along

for the first time.

A nice 4x4 Whitetail buck,

still in velvet.

After a bit of research,

we call this deer a stag.

It ended quick, one shot and

done.

I am grateful.

Home Sweet Home

Brother in Law, Steven,

cooking crab and brie stuffed salmon.

We always eat amazingly!

Da Boyz,

Steven, Don and Scott

Waiting in anticipation for the sun to rise.

Battle Butte (L) and Lone Woman Butte (R)

There was no shortage of whiskey drinking :)

A Fletcher Family Tradition,

the butt warmer.

Do it when no one is looking or do it when all your friends

can do it at once.

That way, no one sees.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Sam always brings Jagermeister,

for us deer hunters.

Tent camping

Fancy Cocktail

made by hubby.

Yummy lasagne and salad.

The pooper.

Brenda, my very fun

mother-in-law.

Wishing you the best of Thanksgivings.

Cheers,

Krissy Pants

Halloween Recap

It is true, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays,

next to Thanksgiving.

This year, the coworkers from the

real job dressed up and we had a sporgasbord lunch

while we giggled over costumes.

Kate and I rocked some sort of '80s get-up

so we could be thematic.

As you can see from the pics below, I had

way too much fun with my makeup.

Jill as Tim

Steve as Little Red Riding Hood

Disco Pete next to Obama

Kate and I

(Joe did the photo shoot)

On Saturday, we donned another get-up

and ventured out to the Filling Station to see

Cure for the Common, after having

jello shots, apps and other goodies at Jess' house.

Dia de los Muertos,

Me llamo Muerta,

as Flo so named me.

La Muerta and Flo

aka big time trouble

Would you look at those lashes?

Dancing Tacos and a Witch

with her bum hanging out.

Flo can balance wine bottles on her head.

Disco Ryno

Flo, Madonna and Sha

At the Filler,

Cure for the Common

Garret, below

And the cutest skeleton Max

Lowry ever,

I love this little guy.

Hasta Luego,

La Muerta

The Annual North Dakota Wild Chicken Hunt

Happy Weekend,
I hope yours is as peachy as can be.

A bit belated, but well worth the posting, here are some pictures and details of our annual hunting trip to North Dakota. Every year for opening day of Pheasant, we pack up and head east to meet up with our Colorado friends at the Stein's place north of Dickinson for bird hunting. I am the only lady invited, probably for good reason. Clearly, it is man bonding time including shooting, cocktailing and hunting, but the kicker is that we jammed 6 people and 8 dogs in a single wide trailer for four days of festivites, and really no privacy. But I love it, and the boys keep inviting me back, as the only lady with first right of refusal. I would be silly and stupid to give up my spot! Really all the boys, after they limit early, strategize and help me to bag a bird or two. This experience provides for belly laughs, multiple dog howl offs, plenty of Bloody Marys and whiskey. Oh goody, our annual red neck hunt, and it was such a blast.

Bella, our Brittany, is on injury reserve. She tore her shoulder muscle hunting and probably powered through it. She showed no signs of being lame or whimpering until we were in the truck and headed home. Bella cried and wined from the Steins to Glendive, MT....well I may have cried that long too. It was torture. Currently, she is on the mend after pain killers, anti-inflammatories, and muscle relaxers. We start physical therapy next week and she is getting better, slowly. So as quickly as our bird hunting season began, it quickly quieted to a whisper until we get our star pointer back to racing form.

With great elation, I did limit one day on Pheasant and also shot a Hun that same day. 4 birds is the most I have bagged ever in a day with a total of 9 birds on our hunt. Thank goodness all the training, skeet shooting, and Fletcher hunting strategy has come to fruition. In past years I have nearly chewed through my plastic whistle in annoyance and angst, but not this year. My bird hunting zen has finally found a home, and with the help of Bella, all the Fletchers are having way more fun hunting. Shooting better doesn't hurt either. We ended up bring home two dozen Pheasants, 4 Sharptailed Grouse and a few Huns, a nice mixed bag of wild chicken.

Disclaimer: It may be quite possible that some of you as readers will find the below photos of our birds to be offensive or gross. But I would rather have it this way. We harvest birds that we have worked hard to find and hunt, it is just not that easy, for me at least. There is something very serious and wholesome in taking a critter's life to sustain yours. The Flethchers have seemingly built a lifestyle around this philosophy and take great pride in personally harvesting our meat, knowing where it came from, taking the time to process and freeze our game, to picking out the ideal recipe to compliment the game's wild and yummy flavor.

Thanks for reading and thinking a bit :)

Another good reason for fingerless gloves,

you can still shoot your gun.

The Steins' Place,

along the Knife River,

our hunting grounds.

Framed Crested Wheatgrass,

I think it looks like a fish skeleton,

an easy identification.

Home Sweet Home

Gary took these awesome sunset pics.

A Day's Harvest:

Eric w/ Hank and Sammy

Scott

Bella and I

Puddin

and Gary...

Porter is in camo up front.

Hard workers:

Porter the GSP

with the Brittanies...

Remy, Cooper, Bella,

and Hank.

I love feathers, the colors,

and the patterns of Pheasants.

Sharptailed Grouse

More Pheasant Feathers

How you move a picnic table in

No Dak, eh?

L'nette Stein and Eric

Bella and I

(Gary took this)

I love this old house,

built of mud, straw and brick.

Asshole to belly button,

in the trailer.

Gary, Zach, Eric, Scooter,

and Andy

Bella and Porter

Puddin and Cooper

Zen-Huntress

Bisquit of the Corn

Ciao,
Shooter