Welcome to the VNO monthly blog!

Some of the MANY things you come to realize or become part of your life when your husband is a professional outfitter and hunting guide…

1. You need to be prepared that a simple shopping trip together can turn into a spontaneous scouting expedition for the next great shoot; and the binoculars better be in the console!

2. Every time you drive passed a field and see birds, you pull over and drop him a pin.

3. His eyes light up like a kid on Christmas when you tell him that you found a ‘Landownership Map’ for the counties in your allocations; online…and for free!!

4. When you hear geese or ducks at home… it’s probably your husband practicing his calling…don’t go running to the window with excitement to see if a flock is flying over…you have been fooled many times before… and will continue to be fooled.

5. You enjoy hearing the stories of your incredibly kind landowners; some who proudly still live and farm on generations old land. You also look forward to meeting and getting to know your clients.

6. Your heart melts when you watch your husband passing on his love of hunting, the outdoors and conservation to your young nieces and nephew. Whether it is explaining how to process birds, sharing the delicious meals and jerky he makes from wild game or letting them quack and honk away on a spare call.

7. Never try to tune his calls…ever… They won’t sound the same after that… (Or so he says).

8. You will never be rid of the feathers and down after processing hundreds of birds for clients…it gets everywhere …just deal with it till the season is over.

9. He meticulously searches for the ‘right’ camo to use…for clothing and for the blinds…And as a result you have been educated on all the types available…Realtree MAX-5, MAX-4, Mossy Oak Shadow Grass Blades, Duck Blind, Cabela’s Seclusion Backwater….and the list goes on. Sometimes it seems like he is the Goldilocks of Camoflague: ‘This one is too dark for corn, this one is too light for peas…but this one is just right for barley.”

10 When setting up you will hope that your ‘brushing in’ abilities pass muster. You will be amused when he curses over there not being enough stubble straps on the flaps of the blinds…and then you realize he’s got a point.

11. That small deceiving looking box wrapped so nicely at your birthday will never be a piece of jewelry…instead it’ll be kickass Lynch Mob Goose Call. Also, the standard gifts you get each other will be gift cards to hunting stores. Everything on your registry for your wedding will be from Cabela’s. He’ll also buy you your own 12 gauge Mossberg as a Christmas present. (To be honest, you are MORE than okay with this!!!)

12. He makes you a better hunter, each and every time he takes you out; and he will ALWAYS, ALWAYS have time to take you hunting even if he is exhausted from back to back groups of clients.

13. You thought he was obsessive compulsive about the camo….just wait till he sets up the decoys, and then continually tweaks the set up…he is up and down out of his blind like a Yo-Yo! But he wants to make sure that everything is perfect!

14. He will be gone before you get up for work in the morning; because he has to get the jump on the birds –sometimes it seems he lives in his truck.

15. You wouldn’t trade this lifestyle for any other out there.