"My Crazy Kids"

Give Thanks By Allan Olson Its official – for my hunting crew the 2014 deer season is over – and it’s the one for the record books, not in terms of harvest but in terms of overall success. This year was the very likely the first year we had five deer hanging in the garage at my parents, with only five shots fired. This included one shot each by two first year hunters. Without them and their doe tags, we would’ve only had three deer hanging. The weekend for me was spent at my parents hunting. Unfortunately, the deer tally remained the same as it had for a week. I could’ve upped the number by one late Friday night, but it would’ve resulted in a trip to the body shop – whew.  I hunted all day Saturday and left for home early Sunday afternoon. After three weekends of hunting, I was done. The weekend was a little lonely without my hunting partner, Nikolai, that I’ve had the last two weeks. It was really quiet without him, but I’m afraid that with the amount of time ...

It's All Coming Back To Me..... It’s been a long time (22 years) since I was first allowed to go on the search for the mighty whitetail – to join the rest of the hunters, hear the same stories when I wasn’t too busy playing with cousins, and to go sit in the stand and freeze my hands. Last year, my niece joined the hunting party for the first time, becoming the first of her generation to go hunting and to break the gender barrier – we welcomed her and were disappointed at the close of the season when she didn’t even get to fire a round at a white tail. This year, Nikolai and his 12-year-old cousin, Trevor, joined us at the hunting camp. Sadly, Saren decided not to. The boys were eager to prove their hunting skills and ready to go hunting. Nikolai became the first hunter of his generation to harvest a deer the very first day of his very first season. Dad, of course, was very proud. So as I said, it’s all coming back to me – my first year of hunting. I was out with my dad, and...

A Hunting Season to Remember By Allan Olson The orange clad army headed into the woods this past weekend in search of the mighty white tail to attempt to fill the freezer with some tasty venison and I was no exception to this party. I too was clad in orange and out on the mighty hunt. Every year there are new stories to tell, old ones to bring up and memories made, some deer seasons for me, after over 20 years of hunting have faded into the background, one year blurring with another, not remembering which year I shot what deer or if I shot a deer. Of course there are a few years  stand out more than others and some are just a blur altogether. However, I find it hard to believe that anything will top this year’s remarkable deer season. This year, I had the honor of bringing Nikolai with me. Not just to sit in the stand, but to actually hunt, he was going to have the ability of harvesting a deer also. Recently he completed his gun safety certification and he wa...

Birthday Party Fun By Allan Olson Our family’s last birthday party of the year was held on Sunday afternoon – this one for Alivia – our soon-to-be seven-year-old. I think as parents, we have come to realize how fast time really does fly by. It doesn’t seem possible that my youngest child will be seven in just a week’s time. In preparation for the big event we were cleaning the house Friday evening – and Saturday – and Sunday, as well – just so we could have kids over to mess it all up again. Go figure. I was really hoping that I would be able to sleep in on Sunday, with the extra of hour sleep thanks to the changing of the clocks, but that was just a dream. I was already awake at 5 a.m., then again for good at 7 a.m. While that would technically be two hours of additional sleep from my normal routine, it would’ve been nice to make it until 9 a.m. This year, my wife came up with the idea of doing something different. Since we don’t go out trick or treating Frid...