Maricia Mlynek                                                Robin Gordon

In this county during October and November, there is an epidemic affecting most men and a lot of women.

Symptoms are increased heart rate, fever, nervousness, sleeplessness, and tremors. If you are a hunter, then you have had this disease before. It is known as “buck fever.”

From now until deer season, Maricia and I would like to take you through a journey of the experiences we have this time of the year with our husbands, Andy Mlynek and Danny Gordon.

We would like to journal our trials and tribulations and share them with you from our points of view.

We are not avid hunters, since this will be the first time Andy is taking Maricia, and Danny wishes I would go out hunting more than one day a year.

We hope you take pleasure in our tales of what it takes to be a hunter’s wife.

We confess that our husbands are very different when it comes to hunting strategies. Andy is in a predator vs. prey mode, always on the ground, sniper-type hunter.

Danny is a tree-stand man so they won’t catch his scent, but if he is walking to his stand and a “big one” jumps out, he is steady to get his shot in.

First, let’s discuss hunting shows. Sometimes, a person does learn something new and interesting, but usually it is the same old things in a different way.

It is awesome to see monster bucks, don’t get me wrong, but where are they around here?

Another question to ponder, Maricia would like to know, why do the narrators whisper throughout the whole show?

If we shot a deer, we would not be able to contain ourselves. We would be giving each other high fives, doing a little dance, and making a lot of noise--before our husbands remind us to hush.

Next, our husbands scout the areas where they are going to let us hunt with them.

Danny has put a lot of effort into the place he is taking me. He borrowed his cousin’s dozer to work up the ground and sow winter wheat grass seed. (Remember, you can’t just buy any grass seed, it has to be the kind that grows monster racks!)

He has checked it and made sure the seed has come up. When the work is done and your husband asks you to ride on the four-wheeler to see all that he has accomplished, don’t say it is too cold, because that will cause an argument. Just enjoy the ride with him, and let him know what a great job he did. Again, Danny, I am sorry.

The last lesson for today is tree stands. There are a variety, but Danny chose a two-seater, so that I can hunt that one day a year with him or he can take our son Levi with him.

Putting up a stand is a day’s work in itself. Danny does pretty much all the work, and I hand him things he needs to put it together. If other couples are like us, they do not work well together when it comes to building anything. He says I ask too many questions. Who, me?

Next week, we will chat about wildlife cameras, and why they seem to take pictures of nothing; feeders, and when not to fill them; and scent-free products that cost more than a pretty cent.