At a very young age my niece Addison started referring to our deer mounts as Bambi.  Around the time she started talking, yet not in full sentences, she couldn’t wait to take my hand and show me into her room just to dig through piles of kid’s DVDs. Without a word she found the one DVD associated with me – Bambi.

Many nights I’d rock her to sleep and just as soon as she was about to fall asleep, she’d raise her head and look up at the deer and whisper, “Him don’t have no legs.”  And quietly put her head back down on my shoulder.

Addison is 4 now and we still haven’t discussed how the deer became mounts.  We will leave that up to Mark to explain when it’s of concern.  At the moment, the girl is more concerned with my dog  …

Addison:  My dog Hoho is all black and how come Puddles is wipe and black?  Dogs are suppose to be black or wipe.  But your dog is black and wipe.  That isn’t right Auntie Jojo.  He’s reguarded.

Me:  He’s what?

Addison:  He’s reguarded.  He shouldn’t have spots all over him.

Me:  I’m not understanding you Addison.

Addison:  HE IS REGUARDED.

Me:  Retarded?

Addison:  Yes.  He is.  He really is.

Oh help me.  This isn’t a word that any of my family uses.  Some feel the word is appropriate while others feel the word is inappropriate.

Me:  Addison there are a lot of dogs that are black and white or brown and white or black and brown.  Like your favorite movie 101 Dalmatians.  Those dogs are white with black spots like Puddles.  Dogs can be many beautiful colors.

Addison:  That Gorilla Devila is mean.  (Cruella De Vil)

We’ve moved on to Gorillas.

Have a good day all … And just so you all know, she thinks I look like Snow Wipe.

See the original article at TheHuntersWife.net

A few months ago, Rick Young of Rick Young Outdoors sent me one of his E-Z Open knives to review. It was after the hunting season, so I wasn’t sure that I would be able to use it until next spring. I did do some mountain lion hunting, but we never caught a good one. Things were looking bad for the review, but on our way to a Christmas party I got a badger. I decided that this would be a good enough test for the knife, plus I could make a cool hat for my kids.

The E-Z Open knife was invented and field tested by professional hunter Rick Young. The E-Z Open Metolius is 9” long and made from 440A Stainless Steel with a firmly embedded composite ball for guiding the blade between the animal skin and muscle structure.

By cutting from the inside outward in long continuous cuts, the tool ensures clean cuts and eliminates problems with opening the entrails during field dressing. Here are my thoughts:

Ease of Use:
Super easy to use. ‘Nuf said.

Functionality:
The knife performed exactly as it was supposed to. The ball on the end, although it looks kind of goofy, keeps the blade from getting into the guts and opened up the badger just like a zipper. Mutch better than traditional hook knives.

Is it Practical?
It is practical for most situations, although I don’t believe that I would keep one in my day pack if I was on a strenuous hunt such as archery elk. In that case it would be an extra knife and not a neccesity. That isn’t to say that I wouldn’t keep it in my truck though. If I was hunting on a stand, I would definately take it along.

* That said, check out the 2-Blade Folding Metolius EZ Open & Skinner

Will My Buddies Make Fun of Me?
They might at first, because like I said before, it kind of looks weird with that ball on the end. Once they use it though, the jokes will be over.

TOTAL SCORE:
If you’re in the market for a good knife, check out: www.rickyoungoutdoors.com.

See the original article at GotHunts.com