If you’ve been following this site for a good stretch, you know by now we do an inordinate amount of shed (antler) hunting here on this South Dakota farmland.
And since the words “I do” left our lips, Country Man gained a new apprentice in his prairie and rolling hills adventures.
Me.
For better or worse, I wearily say yes to another evening of looking for dropped horns or those left by coyotes when I could easily find comfort on the sofa seat.
Here is one such account, and it begins like any other excursion:
Lured by the promise of competition, I set foot in grand country, commencing the hunt.
Ten minutes in, I detour onto the wrong path, ground that has already been combed.
See him? I was a bit detoured.
Making my way back, we begin again and soon enter a streak of trees. My mood is not dependent on finding anything, which is a good indication that I will.
Through tracking bedding patterns, this winter’s movement, and evidence of the toiletry department kind, we know our chances are optimal in this area.
And soon enough, I stumble upon bones.
Using my remarkable detective skills, I deduce something died here in this spot, leaving room for potential in finding a full rack.
Bingo.
And the competitor in me squeals.
I say nothing, but in my head think I have won this round. Of course, it’s not about winning or losing. Ahem…
As we start toward the pickup, he decides to take one last meander through the side hill.
I wait at the top and old tired dog keeps me company.
After a good, long while, a blue shirt emerges forward, my eyes soon seeing the points over this man’s shoulders.
Dang it! He done beat me again.
Good thing we’ve got tonight… and tomorrow night… and Sunday afternoon.
a fine day of shed hunting
I’d love to know… what’s an activity that you and your loved one enjoy doing together? Does is make for some friendlyish competition?
Golf…
Thank you so much for reading! I know a few people who have hit the courses already.
Wow! Those look huge!
Basketball (he beats me every single time). Waterjogging at the pool (I beat him, every single time).
We used to play backgammon after Sunday dinner – loser had to do all the clean up. I got pretty good at beating him at that.
I’m definitely competitive, too – even though I don’t like to admit it! When my hub started his blog, he was Freshly Pressed right away and I was annoyed! LOL And when we walk the dog, he can go uphill faster than me without trying, grrrr…
my husband got a kick out of your comment. apparently he thinks I’d be annoyed at the same FP thing? nahhh.
Beachcombing or trails – looking for cool pieces of wood and stuff.
we enjoy doing that as well, for old fishing lures and things. it’s good exercise, too! thank you so much for stopping in!
I love your space!
We use to compete at biking. He would win. Now I would. We use to spar! For TKD, he ALWAYS won, which got me mad. Running, he would win hands down, but he always stays with me.
now those are some competitive activities! wow. my husband would definitely win when it comes to running.
thank you so much for reading!
You’re welcome!
what an amazing game, who would have thought!! c
the things you make for entertainment in the country, lol!
Me and my man will have to start doing something more interesting than playing tennis… I can never EVER win at that!! Sweet post from a sweet couple of SD artists!!
i played tennis in high school! oh i miss that – so much fun.
thank you for reading!
That last picture is awesome. Ethan and I do many things together, but we love to run together. And on a really good day, I can still beat him!
All I can think of when I look at your pictures is, “Wow–there must be a LOT of headless deer running around in that part of the US! (Kind of like ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ horseman but this time it’s headless deer!)
Great post…and I’m sure that one day soon you will win the hunt for the best (if not the largest) rack!
haha, now that would spook a few hunters sitting in their tree stand in the early fall morning!
I’d call that a tie
Everything in our family is a competition!
J
I love all the big open spaces I see in your photos. I feel like I’m looking through the latest issue of National Geographic magazine. Thanks!
Thank you, Monica! I grow to appreciate this area more and more.
Wonderful hunt for the remains and surely a motivating competition. win-win situation in either case
We play basketball and recently it’s been bowling. I am getting pretty good at not getting gutter balls so he’d better watch out.
FD and I have competitive mushroom hunting each spring. Morel mushrooms are just about to spring forth, and I have mesh bags ready. We checked out a favorite spot yesterday but it’s not quite time. Expected rains will have them popping out of the ground by next week. The Poke plant is just appearing out of the ground, and the redbud trees are in bloom… perfect conditions at the perfect time! I have never won the mushroom hunting competition, but by gosh I’m going to one of these springs!!
Sounds fun! May 2012 be your year
Geez. Yours really did seem impressive before he brought his up the hill.
Steph and I enjoy traveling and, while doing so, allowing ourselves to become distracted from our course by any little thing that may seem interesting.
On our way to visit family, we may stop and climb a scenic tower if it looks interesting enough. While driving to Florida, we may cut away from our course to go check out a swamp.
You know, things like that and such.
Uh, going to the Dollar Store?
We like to go garage-saling. It’s not about any competition, just being together and doing something we both enjoy.
my husband and i like to shoot. we often go to our local fish and game club to shoot targets. he is a much better shot than i so it is not a competition. it is more of a learning experience for me cause every time we go he teaches me something new and i get better and better. my next goal is to learn to shoot trap. everytime i visit your blog, i come away with such a serene feeling. thanx for the nice outlook…!
I would love to go looking for racks in that lovely country. That seems like such fun. My husband and I like museums. I know, not too exciting and not outdoors, but we can and do spend hours in a museum. One of my favorites is the Museum of Natural History in NYC. We also like art museums, especially the MFA in Boston and the Philadelphia Art Museum. Being outdoors and exploring is also a favorite pastime of ours, but we don’t have the rugged country like you do. Loved this post.
Wow. Impressive! Not so much shed as…dead! ha.
good point! i never thought of that.
You have such beautiful land to walk on! My husband and I really enjoy hiking, although we don’t get to go often (living in a prairie city as we do). When we were just married, we climbed a mountain together (a small easy one), and I kept up with him! I was quite proud of my couch-potato body! Although most likely he was just taking it easy for me.
This is amazing, and a great way to find some excellent antlers! My partner and I are in Australia, and we sometimes have photo competitions, or “which of our pets loves us more compeitions” which is basically yelling louder than the other to get the dog/kangaroo/lamb/cows attention. haha, friendly competition is fun though!! I am new to your blog so I’ll keep reading on!
Pingback: The Story of Us: The Short Version | The Simple Life of a Country Man's Wife
Pingback: Lazy dogs and necklace giveaway | The Simple Life of a Country Man's Wife
Pingback: hunting for horns | The Simple Life of a Country Man's Wife