Getting Fit for Hunting

by Karen Butler

Getting Fit for Hunting #4– Equipment!

This series of articles are to keep you up to date on my journey to become physically fit for the Elk hunt Todd and I have planned with our friends Donna and Jake McDonald at Upper Canyon Outfitters in Alder, Montana! 

There are several new pieces of equipment that I am becoming familiar with..I can’t really say that is a good thing, because they all put some extra umph in the workout!  I sit here today, with my arms hurting so bad (but good) from assisted pull up machine, and my quads ache from the BOSU® Ball.  Let me think of all the equipment we have used so far…the Bosu®, the big round exercise ball, weights, weight balls, dumbbells, bands,  the floor, the wall, the abductor, the assisted pull up, and a host of contraptions that I can’t remember what they are called…and it would be inappropriate language to tell you my own little pet names for them, but of all of them  let’s just say, Natalie has found a way to use anything as a piece of equipment to get your workout in!  I’ll tell you about a few of them.

Let’s start with the BOSU® Ball – this isn’t really a ball…it is a half ball.

 

BOSU stands for Both Sides Up or Both Sides Utilized.  According to their website, www.bosu.com, “BOSU® Training is about expanding movement capabilities, reshaping bodies and strengthening minds.It’s about inserting thought into movement.  It’s about asking our clients, fitness students and athletes to be physically involved, but to also be present and fully engaged in the training process.” Sounds good on paper, but the real deal is that this half ball, that is yet another thing that looks easier than done, adds an element of balance to your exercises that more

directly engages your core, and put an extra wallop in your exercise…as Natalie was so eager to show me, as we did squats off on it.She had me stand to one side of the BOSU®, then put one leg up on it and so a squat, then stand on it….do a squat, then step off, put the other leg up on it, and yes…you guessed it another squat.  Incredibly difficult, to balance, bend, breath all at the same time!  Natalie loves the BOSU® and I recommend you try it out!

She also gives me weights to carry, hold over my head, or use as an exercise.  When I first started this journey, I went to the sporting goods store and bought myself some weights…thinking I was doing something good for my home workouts.  So, when Natalie first handed me my weights, I though piece of cake…however, I bought 1 and 2 pound weights; she handed me ten pound weights….I think this goes to the importance of a personal trainer, they know what you are capable of before you do sometimes. 

I hope your workout is going well for you.  I know that I have found that I am getting stronger, and I know if I keep this up, I will be ready to hunt this fall! 

Getting Fit for Hunting #3 – First Real Workout!

This series of articles are to keep you up to date on my journey to become physically fit for the wonderful Elk hunt Todd and I have planned with our friends Donna and Jake McDonald at Upper Canyon Outfitters in Alder, Montana! 

Well, I have completed the first two real workouts with my trainer, Natalie.  I am so lucky to have found her, as she is an exceptional motivator, and really gave me a great first workout.  I felt so empowered to be taking my fitness into my own control.  There are so many things in life that we can’t control, that we worry about needlessly; and then there are also things that we can control, that we worry about, but do nothing to effect change so we won’t worry.  So, I’m going to take my health and my fitness into my own control!

Natalie Westbrook, Trainer

So, I need to properly introduce you to my trainer, Natalie Westbrook.  She is an ACE, certified trainer and she is an athlete.  I would describe her personality is enthusiastic, fun, and sassy; but tempered with a touch of brutality gracefully hidden amidst a cute attitude and served with a smile!   So far, her favorite words are, “and Eventually”  …and “one more set”…and “And Then”….as she describes that this early part of feeling completely weak, will pass soon.  What is really great though is that she knows the exercises I need to do to reach my goals, and every time she talks to me, she refocuses me to the goal of being able to hunt at altitude in Montana.  It is amazing how much I wanted her praise and approval; here she is nearly half my age, and I desperately wanted her to tell me I was doing good.  It is also amazing, that I really want to tell her “seriously, you want me to do ….what…”.  I guess my nonverbal cues aren’t transparent because she’ll says, “you can do it”; more of her favorite words! 

So the brutality began…oh, wait, I mean the workout began on Monday.  Natalie really listened to my fitness needs, and we are committed to me being able to hike through the mountains of Montana with a full pack and my bow!  So the exercises were tough.  I was surprised that we worked several muscle groups, but on day one, it was mostly my quads and a little arms and back, and all the time core.

I’m totally excited, because I know that as I strengthen my core, my score should go up at shoots, as my shot should get better!  Since this is the year that I took back my time to shoot.  It is a plague that many of

my fellow archery business owners have…they open an archery business and no longer have time to shoot…it happened to me, but this year, I decided that I am not happy when I’m not shooting, and as much as I love to get more women involved, I need to take my own advice and shoot!

 Also what was exciting was that a lot of the practices we use in archery are used in weight training.  For example, did you know when you do triceps dips, when you are up your arms should have a slight bend in them…same as your bow arm should have the natural bend at your elbow...This exercise was my favorite, because I felt like I was a big time gymmie; on this machine.  

So, after the first day of working out, the next day…I woke up thinking…”Eventually”  I will be so sore….but amazingly, I wasn’t that sore, but then I moved…I suddenly realized that everything hurt, even my ankles…what did I do to my ankles?  Luckily, as I moved around, and took Tylenol, the pain went away, and I was fine.  The next day, woke up with pretty bad back pain, but that too went away once I moved around a bit. 

Tonight’s workout was a bit more muscle intensive if you ask me…I’m slightly worried to even go to sleep tonight, because I’m pretty sure the soreness is going to set in during the night.  I will write more about tonight’s workout, and let you know  how I  recover soon…especially since tomorrow I haul our trailer to Metropolis, Illinois for the Archery Shooters Association’s Mathews Pro Am! 
Getting Fit for Hunting #2 – It is ZUMBA time!
These series of articles are to keep you up to date on my journey to become physically fit for the wonderful Elk hunt Todd and I have planned with our friends Donna and Jake McDonald at Upper Canyon Outfitters in Alder, Montana! I just have to say ZUMBA is a great workout, even for a very uncoordinated person. I arrived to class, and found myself surrounded by women of many different ages and states of physical fitness. There was a young girl about 10 in there, and a grandmother, who I estimated to be in her mid to late 60s. So, now the pressure was on for me, to not fall out, and be totally pathetic in that group setting. I guess I should tell you what ZUMBA is, it is a dance type workout that literally feels like I’m 21 and out clubbing. The music is loud and the girls are having a blast, shaken our things! There are exercised incorporated into it, like squats….I thought my thighs were going to burn off my body, they hurt so bad. For those of you who know how much of a klutz I am, you will appreciate that many many times, I went left when the instructor clearly said turn right! So, the challenge for this week is to go to a ZUMBA class and try it!

Getting Fit for Hunting #1 – The WHY.
We have been so fortunate to be invited to go hunting with our friends Donna and Jake McDonald at Upper Canyon Outfitters in Alder, Montana! I have my bow, my hunting clothes from Haley Vines Outdoor Collection and Prois, all my gear, but there is one thing missing….I am in terrible shape to hunt in the Montana Mountains. So, even though the hunt is months away, today I started my fitness program. I encourage and challenge all the ladies out there to join me on this journey to become physically fit to handle the roughest terrain and bring home our dinner.
This hunt will be with my husband, Todd who is definitely fit to take this trip….and sure I could get him to carry all my stuff, and do the heavy lifting, but that is not what is right. In respect for the experience and the animal, I should be able to do hunt without help. Of course, I suppose I have a fall back plan, but that wouldn’t be fun. I am lucky that I, like many of you who will read this, have such a supportive husband that thinks it is awesome that I share the passion for hunting that he does, and that I’m willing to do the pre-work to have the total experience.
So, the journey began last weekend, and it was a simple start. I went to our local YMCA and joined. The process was amazingly simple and the tour of the facilities had me feeling like I was in a fancy neighborhood, because this facility is state of the art. I signed up for a personal trainer, and today was my first meeting with her.
This morning I woke up with an excitement that I was taking my health and my fitness into my own hands, and it felt good!I met Natalie this evening. Ok, can I just say…I may be slightly jealous of my trainer because she is cute as a button, and looks like a finely conditioned athlete. She was encouraging and kind, and asked tons of questions, but mostly she exuded confidence that she could make a plan that would meet my fitness goals.

The goals are two-fold for me. First, I want to tone up and get back to my pre-2004 figure; secondly I want to have enough cardio and physical fitness to hike up and down the mountains till I catch up with an elk.

Today’s visit was more of an assessment of where I am at….in slang…”it ain’t good.” It is kind of embarrassing. I’ve been thin all my life, and people assume that means I’m fit…far from it apparently…Hopefully, you all won’t mind if I don’t share measurements…well maybe I will after I improve them…but wow…really….I think her tape measure was off by at least 5 inches all the way around…those numbers were so high, maybe they were centimeters instead of inches?

To start, I had to walk on a treadmill for several minutes….I had never been on a treadmill before, and when there was a loud bang behind me and I turned to look, I almost wiped out..I don’t think anyone saw.but can you imagine, it was walking…Todd would say, “Yeah, expected!” He knows I’m not the most coordinated person in the world. I had to take my pulse several times, and found out I’m in better cardio shape than I thought I was! Yeah! Lesson of the day, put the treadmill on at least a 1 incline to prepare for real hiking…who knew, oh wait, Natalie did! Then to pushups..well, I guess being married to a Marine doesn’t enable you to do pushups by osmosis, because I could only do 10…probably because I couldn’t “nancy” out and do girl pushups….I should have…then sit-ups, I did a pathetic 25 pushups…really, that was it I thought. Then she wanted me to do a plank. I was not familiar with the term Plank, so she showed me, basically you put your weight on your forearms, and get in a pushup position, with your back and butt (I’ll use friendly terms) flat, and hold for as long as you can…when she showed me, I thought, this is a piece of cake, I will do better than any previous client, cake walk…I assumed the position, and let me tell you…it was HARD….my arms were shaking, my back felt like it had 500lbs on it, and I could only hold for a whopping 45 seconds…seriously, I need help. Good thing I’ve found Natalie and am on the journey to fitness. Join me; together we can all get healthier and fit!


by Karen Butler

Sportsmanship

Greetings! I had the pleasure of competing in the Archery Shooters’ Association’s (ASA) Limbsaver Pro/Am 3D Archery Tournament this weekend with four other women who were great to shoot with! It is always so nice when you are with other women who not only want to shoot their best, but display exceptional sportsmanship. Webster’s defines sportsmanship as the conduct (as fairness, respect for one’s opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport1. The ladies I shot with today, both in my group and around my group were excellent representatives of what a good sportswoman should be. Archery is an interesting sport, you compete against everyone, but really your real competition is yourself. This is a hard concept for many of us to understand, but honestly and ultimately, the archers themselves are in control of their shot process and where their arrow ends up on the target. Some people are better than others, but all of us are capable of achieving the same success if we allow ourselves too. I realized, quite quickly, that even though I am a good shot, without consistent practice I am not as good as I could be. So, I plan to add practice to my schedule…. somehow….so that I might achieve my best.
I was fortunate that the ladies I shot with all recognized the individual nature of this sport, and what was created was a group of ladies that wanted to see each person achieve their best! In a group like that, you just can’t lose….even if you don’t end up in the winner’s circle. The ladies I shot with today were awesome! Paula Mann, Donna McKittrick, Andrea Baker and Genevra Fields made a great group. These ladies spent the entire tournament encouraging each other, consoling after the occasional bad shot, and sharing stories and tips on how to shoot better. There was also camaraderie in the groups to our left and right. The gals in those groups also were encouraging each other, and sharing laughter as we switched targets. This entire experience has reminded me why we started Shoot Like A Girl in the first place, to encourage and empower women to participate in shooting sports with confidence. So, gals, Thanks for a great weekend, I truly enjoyed shooting with you!

by Karen Butler

Gearing Up for Turkey Season
Not much longer until Turkey Season, and I have a date with a turkey who stood me up last year! His name is Tom…not very original, I know. Last year was a first year for me to hunt turkeys with my bow. It was a beautiful spring, and I went out several times by myself…which meant calling in my own bird.
I’m not afraid of the occasional misery you sometimes have hunting, but if available I like to be comfortable too. Well, this particular day, I walked for a little under a mile through the woods, and came to a spot where there was a dog trail that led to a nice open field. Earlier in the day, I had come across some hens on the other side of a ridge, so I knew the area had turkeys, but where to go. So as I walked through the woods, I came across a tree that had fallen down, and as luck would have it, it rested on another tree that made sort of a perfect chair/bench for me to sit on and lean against another tree. I liked not having to get on the ground, and I blended in, and could draw back with the cover of the tree to shoot a big bird….comfort.

 

I had gone out somewhat unprepared, no decoys, no blind; just me, my bow and my turkey call. I had never called in a turkey before, but I had watched tons of hunting shows and practiced with my box call. So, I sat on my chair on this lovely spring day, hitting my box call. I could hear a dog barking in the distance and cows mooing; it was simply the most relaxing experience. After a while, I heard this awful sound. I literally thought, “that dog just got kicked in the head by a cow”! It didn’t occur to me it was a turkey, until moments later I heard “gobble, gobble, gobble”. Well, I knew I had to wait for a few minutes to hit my call again, it seemed like forever, but soon, I hit my call again, and Tom answered right back! I watched him walk straight down the dog path. I was so excited; he was on a direct path right behind the tree, a perfect shot! So after he finally walked behind the tree, I went to hook my release on my bow and realized I still had the box call in my hand…”Crud”, so I set it down on my tree chair, and was frantic as it slowly slid down the tree. Then I made a big mistake…instead of just letting it fall, I reached quickly for it…and all that good luck, went away as Tom saw me, and then ran away.
This year, I plan to call him back to me, perhaps a bit more prepared, and I definitely will set my box call down before he gets close; or maybe I’ll learn to use a mouth call, but no matter I’m sure it will be a relaxing day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by Karen Butler

Quiet Time With Your Family: Why More Families Should Shoot Together

The divorce rate is staggering in our country. In a quick Google search, I found that 3.6 couples per 1000 were divorced in 2007, and most sites quote a current divorce rate of 40% to 50% in the United States. I wondered why this rate was so high, and found that according to ezinearticles.com, the reasons are lack of communication, arguments and infidelity. The good news is however, that all of the articles on improving family relationships indicated that families who spend quality time and quality quiet time together were less likely to get divorced. I have to agree, because recently my husband, Todd and I had the chance to spend some quality time together sitting in a double tree stand scouting for deer; and this peaceful time together was spectacular. Maybe if more families shot and/or hunted together, we could combat this staggering divorce statistic.

I think if you ask men, you will find very few that never want their wives to intrude on their shooting and/or hunting time to themselves, but I believe (and hope) the majority of men, would welcome their wives to join their passion for shooting and/or hunting…or vice versa if the wife is the shooter/huntress! There is something to be said for the shared excitement of shooting a good score or killing the big buck.

 

My own experience recently at Bosco Lodge in Monroe, LA was heightened by the fact that Todd was there to support me and encourage me to do my best. I was thrilled when he got to my buck before I did, and was shouting, “Excellent Shot…Excellent Shot.” He was truly happy for me, and I was thrilled that he was so proud. Let’s face it, as independent as we think we are, in most of us, there remains a primal desire for approval from those we love…well, it’s that way for me anyhow.

A few days later, we got t he reverse experience, while Todd hunted and I watched. Todd and I had Casey, (our baby) German Shorthair Pointer with Chuck Tash, a bird dog trainer in Alabama. It was time to pick her up from school. Todd was excited to see her, but more excited to hunt over her. I got to be the picture taker and follow the journey of the two of them as man and dog were both extremely happy. I was thrilled to be there to share in that joy.

In reflection of my hunt, and looking back at all the wonderful pictures, the one I value most is the one attached, taken from my phone….it is Todd and I, sitting in a tree stand, in the peace and quiet of nature anticipating that big buck! Could having a great relationship be that simple, that we just need to take time to together and share in each other’s joy. Well, if it is, then families who shoot and/or hunt together are definitely on the right track for long, happy and healthy relationships!