The 12 Percent

So, according to a 2003 study by National Sporting Goods Association, of the 18.5 million active hunters in the US, 12 percent, or 2.3 million, are women. I spent opening day here in Ohio with 3 women hunters, along with their friends and family.

Kim Metheny, right, helps Kaylena Moore, a Lakewood senior, ziplock her phone in preparation for the rain after a hearty, 5 a.m. breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and vegetables, all in a caserole style dish. Kaylena is dating Kim's son, Connor, and has been hunting with the group for 3 years. She finds comfort and camaraderie in hunting with other women. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

Kaylena puts on her hunting garb. Opening day was accompained with rain. Lots of rain. Fortunately, covered, waterproof blinds had been set up earlier so the hunters didn't have to sit in tree stands, exposed to the elemtns. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

Kaylena grabs a 20 gauge deer slug and loads her single shot after settling into the blind. Kaylena and Barb Terry, a friend of Kim's and hunting instructor, talk strategy should a deer approach from an old angle, how to adjust seating while making as little noise as possible. "It's amazing what noise you can get away with in a blind, though." Barb says. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

Kaylena waits patiently along with friend Barb, in a deer blind on Monday morning at Sugar Hill Farm. While luck may not have found them this morning, both women have taken trophy deer in years past. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

While on the trek back, Kaylena texts her boyfriend, who was also out hunting. He had texted her a few times during the morning to see if she had any success. The two can be a little competitive. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

The hunting party meets up at Kim's father's house for Lunch. The only one to shoot a deer during the morning of opening day was Kim's boyfriend, Chris. The group went back out afterwards to try again. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

Open Season

I took this photo for a preview we ran in today's paper. I included what I thought would be a good headline.

Nobody else seemed to like it though.

Gun season opens December 28 in Ohio. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

Scandal Bowl

All-in-all I enjoyed being back on the field for some major D1 football. I didn't get anything amazing from the day, but I got some decent stuff.

Check out the full gallery

Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller motions to a reciever in Saturday's 20-14 loss to Penn State. Jason Lenhart/CentralOhio.com

Ohio State senior wide receiver DeVier Posey isn't able to hold on to his one-handed grab in Saturday's game against Penn State. Jason Lenhart/CentralOhio.com

More Hockey

Generals defeat Hilliard Wildcats, pushing them a 3-1 league record so far.

Full gallery and article.

Newark Generals' Alex ONeill fires through Hilliard defenders in Thursday's 2-0 win. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

An airborn Matt Congos narrowly misses burying the puck past Hilliard goalie Mack Burton in Thursday's 2-0 win at the Lou and Big Reese Ice Arena. The Generals scored both goals late in the third period, pushing them to a 3-1 league record. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

Ok, now do THIS!

I only had a short time with Advocate soccer player of 2011 Brandon Pound. I went in with a pretty grand idea that I pulled from this ad.

First off, the ball in this image was added post-process, which, in the ad world, is perfectly fine. Second, since the guy is spotting his landing, and not the ball, it's very probably there was a landing mat to protect the player.

So that was my idea. Once I met with Brandon, we did a simple 'safe' shoot first.



With the remaining time I had, I showed Brandon a quick print of what I was hoping for. Luckily, he was a great subject to work with and was willing to give it a try. Because we didn't have a mat or anything, Brandon wasn't getting vertical, but we definitely got something, and eventually it's the photo that ran.

Photos © Jason Lenhart

Hockey

Believe it or not, the local varsity hockey team, the Newark Generals, are the Ohio State runner up varsity team. Not some team from up north, but nowhere central ohio. Pretty cool. I try to go to their games every thursday, schedule permitting.

The team is a conglomerate team. Meaning, not one school has enough players to make a strong team, so the school combine players and form a joint team. The generals have players from Granville, Heath, Bishop Rosecrans, Licking Valley, Lakewood, and Newark Catholic.

Newark Generals seniors Matt Congos, left, and Thomas Nichols, right, try to stuff the puck in during Thursday's game against the Westerville WarCats at the Lou and Gib Reese Ice Arena. The Generals defeated the WarCats 5-1 in their second home game of the season. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

Newark Generals' Christian Thomas sends a Westerville Warcat to the ice in Thursday's 5-1 win. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

Newark Generals' goalie Zach Dennis pins a Westerville Warcat against the wall in a 3rd period scuffle. Dennis received a game misconduct and was ejected from the game and replaced by backup goalie Austin Pitcock. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

The Fog

Had some awesome morning fog about a week back. The paper initially wanted 'Frost' photos, but by the time I got out there, the frost was gone. The fog, however, stayed till about 10:30.

A couple jogs across a bridge near OSU-Newark on Tuesday. A heavy fog blanketed the Newark area till the late morning. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

Gary Loveday takes Eva for a walk on Tuesday near OSU-Newark. A heavy fog blanketed the Newark area till the late morning. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

Off the Grid

A local football team, the Granville Aces, allowed us behind the scenes access for their last game of the season. After a little finagling, we were able to get a picture page to go with the reporter's story. Also did a gallery, of sorts, in a story form.

Check out the gallery.

My favorite.

Columbus Academy's locker rooms were small. Too small to fit the entire team in one area. The seniors, including Tyler Camarata, claimed the shower as their area, affording them the most free space. Jason Lenhart/The Advocate