Do You Know Who Your Kids Are?

Yes, you read that correctly!  Do you know WHO your kids are?  I started thinking about this Saturday.  A young lady came to check in a deer.  It was her first one ever!

As, I began to think about her accomplishment, I kept thinking about how wonderful it was that her family was with her as she checked the deer in.  I also thought, "What a special time that was for her and her father."  My thoughts quickly changed, though.  What about all the kids who do not have that chance?  What about all the parents who don't spend the time with their kids teaching them about hunting, or more importantly, life?  It was a long process to get where this young lady was.  There was scouting.  There was days sitting and waiting.  She had even missed one the week before.  In all that time, she was hanging with her dad and her family.  Learning.

I could throw statistics at you about kids, but let me tell you what I see as a business owner and a youth group leader.  There are a lot of kids who love the outdoors.  I have kids who come in all the time just to shop around.  They are frequent customers.  Kids want to know they are loved.  If they don't find that love from us as parents, they will find it from somewhere else.  This generation is exposed to more garbage and overall distractions from media, than any other generation in history.  They need a break from those distractions.  Put the cell phone or mp3 player down.  Listen to nature.  Watch the sunrise or set.  I find they generally want to spend time with their families, although, some I have do not.  I also know many of their parents have no idea of the pressures at school they're dealing with.

Then I see kids who go hunting/fishing with their parents often.  I have been at my store long enough to thankfully see some of these kids grow to be responsible adults.  They are polite, not just to me but to their parents.  Many of their parents could tell you what these kids are planning to do with their futures.  They know their kids.  Their kids can tell you about the parents when they come on their own.  They know them, because they spend time with them.  I once had a parent tell me that the best thing he ever did was to buy some land with a cabin.  He felt the time he spent with his family up there was priceless.  The memories they had and the relationships built were well worth the money spent on the purchase.  His son now comes in as an adult.  From what I know of his son, he's right.

TGIC- Thank God It's Christmas?

I was sitting here throwing around ideas for my next post.  I was listening to Christmas music while I was "thinking".  "How can I think and listen to Christmas music at the same time?", you ask.  It's simple friends.  I am a multi-tasker.  I can do many things at once and none of them well!  It's how we've all learned to live in the 21st century.  What was I talking about again?  Ha, Ha, Ha! I remember.  Just testing you. 

Really, I should say Ho, Ho, Ho because that is the time of year we now find ourselves in.  Can you believe it?  I was listening to a Christmas song by Relient K called "Merry Christmas, Here's To Many More".  The first 2 lines of the song really describe how I, as well as, many people I know and come into contact with feel.  They say:

I made it through the year and I did not even collapse
Gotta say "Thank God for that."

Wow, Isn't that true?  This year has sped by.  It has also been tough.  As a small business owner, the economy is really hurting my business.  Many of my customers have had hours cut back, or even been laid off.  The other day a customer said, "It sure takes a long time to make the money, but a few seconds to spend it."  I couldn't have said it better.

The thing is, yeah the economy is bad, but maybe it's made us think about the important things.  Instead of spending money on things we don't need, we save for items we do need.  That's one of the great things about our store.  If you come here, you can buy products that will help you eat- like a fishing rod and reel.  Of course, you'll need some tackle with that to catch a fish, but you get the idea!  How about if you know someone who is an avid hunter?  Why not get them some gun cleaning supplies?  Knife sharpeners are always good gifts whether or not you hunt or fish.  How about some hot hands for folks you know who work in the outdoors?  Or, better yet, a set of gloves!  If you want to get back to when kids played outside instead of vegged out on a screen, we have kickballs, footballs, basketballs.  If you have a friend that camps, we even have items like compasses or fire starters.  Many of these gifts are less than $10.

You see, we understand how it is to use coupons and save your pennies.  We aren't a big box store offering layaway.  I don't even think we have anything that you would need to put on layaway here!  We are a business in YOUR neighborhood.  We live here too.  We shop here.  Pay taxes here.  Some of you may even know me as your child's coach!  When you shop with us, you keep that money in your community.  So this Christmas, come by and shop local.  I'm not the only small business in Broadway.  There's a lot of us.  In my building alone, there are three.  If you come here, we'll greet you with a hello and help you the best we can.  Most of all, we'll always be grateful for your business.

By the way, if you'd like to hear the song by Relient K.  Here's a link to it on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE0s2cGVF10

Why Hunt?

Well, hunting season is in full swing here.  We have been very busy at the store selling licenses and equipment to hunters.  You may ask, "Why do people hunt?"  Some people think it's barbaric.  To others, it's good stewardship.  It's my blog, so I guess I'll give my opinion.  Isn't that the whole point of a blog?

Let me start this out with, I do not hunt.  Again, I promise to give you a blog entry on that soon.  I have many friends and family members who do.  I also have many who don't.  My siblings do not hunt, but love deer meat.  We live in a time when everyone is talking about organic foods and health.  Deer meat is very healthy.  It's also low fat.  There are no hormones, antibiotics, or other additives.  It contains many key vitamins including Niacin and B12.  We all want to be healthy, right?

Also, let's face it, the economy is BAD!  Hunting is truly a way to feed your family.  Yes, you have to have a license, etc... but have you seen the price of meat lately?  Unless you live on a beef ranch, I would say hunting is great way to get your family meat.  I have customers who live basically off of venison, fish, other forms of game.  They truly live off the earth.  They would be recyclers in the truest sense of the word!  What about single mom's?  Oh yeah, women hunt as well!  What about the ones who don't?  The ones who are struggling to get by.  Wouldn't some fresh meat donated from a hunter be welcome.

Can it taste gamey?  Sometimes.  If it is cooked properly, I can't even tell.  There are so many ways to cook deer meat.  Many folks also make jerky, sausage, bologna... the list goes on.  I even know folks who can it.  Again, another way to be thrifty in tough times!

Come on!  You know that looks good!

There are many people who make hunting look bad.  As in any other part of life, you have bad apples.  Please don't let a few people skew your judgement of many good ones.  Has it become a major industry?  Yes.  Hey, this is America.  We are supposed to make money.  Capitalism is good.  In the end, many people benefit from harvesting a deer and my family is in that group.

Earthquakes and other excuses we can use

Today's earthquake in our area and the whoppers (oops, I mean testimonies) surrounding it, got me thinking.  I could just hear the earthquake being used as an excuse if it happened in hunting season!

Imagine this conversation in my store?
Me: Hey, Mr Smith. How did your hunting season go? 
Mr Smith: I had the buck of a lifetime.  He was the biggest I've ever seen.
Me: Really?
Mr Smith: Oh easily.  Thick tines, nontypical, but I missed him!
Me: What happened? Your ammo failed? Something wrong with your scope? Did he pick up your scent? 
Mr Smith: No, no.  We had that darn earthquake and it threw my shot off.
Me (incredulous): Really?

Oh, I can think of all kinds of excuses the earthquake could bring about...
I had a monster fish on and lost it when the earthquake knocked me off my feet.
I was going to catch the winning touchdown, but the earthquake tripped me.
The earthquake struck me out in baseball.

It goes on and on.  Any you can think of?

Hunter Safety Classes: Elmer Fudd needed them

Last fall, my son and I took a Hunter Safety Course.  I mainly took it because he needed to take one, but I also wanted to see what they taught.  It was several nights long, a couple hours a night.  Really not a big chunk of time.  Shoot (haha, get it, shoot and a hunting class?), I spent more time at football practice with him.  So I dove in.

I had told several people about the class.  It ended up being a blast.  My sister, my son's friend, a customer of mine and his wife- by the way, I think that could be sung to the tune of Gilligan's Island!  Those were just the people at my table.  My neighbors were there, as well as, some other friends!  So I can say, I was quiet comfortable.  The teacher was knowledgeable and accessible.  He patiently answered questions.  We watched videos and at the end of the week I had my Hunter Safety Certificate.  Simple.

I did learn some things in the class:
#1- People are not as knowledgeable about hunting as they think they are.  They had a video titled "Shoot or Don't Shoot".  In the video, they went over various scenarios to shoot at game or not.  One scenario was a guy deer hunting sitting by a tree and looking into some brush.  He saw what looked like a deer in the brush, but it was hard to identify.  It came closer, he still couldn't identify.  The instructor stopped the class and said "Shoot or Don't Shoot?"  I would say at least half of the people said, "Shoot!"  That's a little scary considering there were about 50 people in the class, maybe more.  He turned the video back on and it showed a hunter coming out of the brush carrying a deer on his back.  Ok, obviously this was lame.  What kind of fool... Almost got into a rant there.  Anyways, even though it was seemed ridiculous, it happens every year.  This one happened last year in Virginia-  http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/Boy_Killed_in_VA_Hunting_Accident_110980484.html 
It's pretty simple, if you can't see it clearly, don't shoot!

#2 Blaze Orange Saves Lives- He told the story of how the Blaze Orange Law came into effect.  A tragic hunting story years ago, but it still continues even though it's the law to wear orange.  In 2009, a college student was killed while walking in the woods during hunting season http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/254936  This is a sad story for both sides.  Apparently the students didn't have on blaze orange and the hunter, did what we talked about in the first point. Now, a family has lost a daughter and a hunter has year in jail and a lot of guilt on his heart.  So, whether you hunt or not, please wear Blaze Orange out in the woods during hunting season, especially you hikers.  You can buy a vest at our store for under $3.  Isn't your life worth that?

#3 We are the best examples to our kids of how to enjoy the outdoors.  The kids in that class were there with their parents or adults who took the time to take them.  If you know a kid who likes the outdoors and the parents aren't interested in taking them to the class, ask if you can take that child.  Single moms, don't be intimidated.  It's not that hard, unless you're a little squeamish about cleaning game.  We'll talk about that another time!

I hope you take the class if you get a chance.  One day, I would like to teach it.  I just have to get the time to take the training course!  Here is a link to the classes: http://my.register-ed.com/event/studentchooseevent
If you put in your zip code, you can get the classes closest to you.  If you plan on hunting, please take the time to take this course.  When you're ready for your license, come by the store and I'll sell you one!

Why in the world did I pick THAT name!

I own a small sporting goods store in what most would call rural small town America.  Every day I give advice in a male dominated world.  Often times I'm ignored.  You know, I'm just the little lady that runs the store...  I've actually heard, "She doesn't know what she's talking about.  She's a woman."  I've had people buy the wrong product, against my advice, because they assumed they knew more than I did about the product.  Hint: you may want to know the right ammo for your own rifle before you argue with me, just sayin'!

Over time, though, my customers have come to know me.  They know I fish and I don't hunt- unless cow hunting is opening up.  They know I try to be informed about the products I sell and if I'm not, I'll tell them.  Mostly of all, I hope they've come to know me as a person who is not just interested in their business, but in them.

With this blog, I hope to give you a little glimpse into my world.  Those of you who know me, know it will be intertwined with humor and sarcasm.  I also want to introduce you to different products that I have come across and hopefully help you be better informed when you buy.  Either way, I'm looking forward to the journey.