Elk Hunting Camp 2010 – Part I

I survived. Elk Camp lasted an entire week for some of us and that included our family. It was a delightful time albeit a bit hectic for me. There were a lot of campers this year. More campers than hunters. A few days there were 97 of us (including all children and babies). That’s a lot of people in the woods!

I organize all the evening meals so that there is some cohesiveness to the group. Breakfast and lunches everyone plans and eats on their own.  Anyways, back to our shared evening meals.  The first night is soup night. Everyone brings a pot of their soup that is enough for their family. We then put all the soup together and everyone can pick and choose what soup they want to sample. Or they can be like me and sample all of them!

I dooon’t think Audrey is sampling soup.  What’s your guess?

We called this a 24-hour camp.  There were games of volleyball and soccer going on night and day…

singing around the campfire accompanied by 3 violins, 1 cello and a guitar…

Sword fights with the littles and the bigger kids were frequent…

Some went squirrel hunting… I have to tell this little anecdote. Austin (Justus’s cousin) took Justus hunting and together they shot a squirrel. After they shot it, Austin saw Justus with his head bowed and his lips moving thanking the Lord for giving them a squirrel.  Justus told him, “I knew we’d get a squirrel because I prayed that we would get one.”  On the way back to camp, Justus (my 6yo) says, “I’m going to have to keep my pride down since Zachary went hunting and didn’t get anything.” 

Austin showed Justus how to skin it. Afterwards they pinned the hide to a little board. We even grilled the meat for Justus to eat.

Games were played. The ladies chose to play Speed Scrabble and the kids’ favorite was Dutch Blitz.

We were a noisy crowd.  We sang, we laughed, we played, elk bugles were blown and guns were shot.  We felt sorry for the campers that had decided to camp in close proximity.  Next year we figure they’ll steer away from any signs that say “Wallace Camp”. 🙂

A few of the ladies even gave a tea party which was held at the Wall Tent Parlor.

On Saturday night our fellow campers and friends, blessed us with a little ceremony in our honour.  Very thoughtful and precious. They wanted to express their thankfulness to us for planning the elk hunt for so many years and all the labours that we put into making the camp go smooth.  (It is true.  My husband and boys put a lot  of time into the setting up and tearing down as well as supplying the camp with many things.)  There was a parade with the little kids beating on pots and pans as their drums with a banner that said, “Thank you Wallace Family Outfitters.  We love and appreciate you.”  It was adorable.  They gave us a few gifts, a scrapbook and a money tree.  These ladies went all out! 

Thank you, Joane for your thoughtfulness towards us!  We really look forward to elk camp, too.  It’s an enjoyable annual event!

Here’s a shot of almost all the children and young people that were at camp this year.

There’s too many pictures to put up in one post.  So let’s continue this tomorrow, shall we?  I hope you’re enjoying this glimpse into our hunting camp.