1.
He'll want to
carry everything for you. This may sound like a perk, but in fact
you could miss out on key shot opportunities if your man is carrying your gun
or bow. I recently went elk hunting with my boyfriend in Colorado, and
yes, I depended on him to guide me being that I've never been West of St. Paul
before and he's an expert on elk hunting. However, he insisted on
carrying EVERYTHING, including my bow, the range finder, and all the calls.
He was only trying to help me since I was having a tough time handling
the altitude, but still, I was so frustrated because I kept thinking as we were
walking through the thick brush that I might only get a split second to nock an
arrow, and that opportunity might be gone if I don't even have my weapon in
hand. So on one hand it's nice of him, but on the other hand, if women
want to be treated equally, do whatever a man can do, and be strong enough to
carry out the game you're about to kill, carry your own damn stuff!
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| Rene carrying everything while elk hunting in Colorado, while it was sort of nice, I could have missed an opportunity if we would have jumped an elk. |
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| Me carrying my shotgun, a bag full of snacks and juice for my son, my turkey bag full of calls, shotgun shells, and tags, full camera tripod and equipment, a decoy bag with 4 hens and 2 jake fans, and a freshly harvested gobbler. (Photo courtesy of my 4 year old) |
2.
He'll insist on doing all
the calling. I'm not sure why, it might relate to why men always have
to drive when you go somewhere, but I've noticed that anytime I go turkey,
deer, or coyote hunting, whether it be with a guy friend or my boyfriend, the
guys always insist on calling. I've encountered alot of guys that are
TERRIBLE at turkey calls, or hammer on a distress call like a drunk with a
party horn. The exception to this rule is seniority. When I go hunting with an experienced,
veteran hunter, I do not overstep my bounds and I sit back and absorb every bit
that I can. This way, when you go alone,
you can have the chance to try out those same techniques. So if you are already an experienced caller,
you should have that chance to showcase your abilities. In the same
respects, if you are new to calling, the only way for you to learn is to
practice yourself! So if you go hunting alone and are forced to use that turkey
diaphragm or open reed coyote call, you're going to have to learn and you'll
only improve with every hunt. Sometimes when we hunt with another person, we
are embarrassed or shy to try calling on our own, so going alone gives you the
chance to build up that confidence.
3.
You need to make your own
mistakes. Hunting shouldn’t be this
fad or craze that it has become on Social Media. Every woman is a “huntress” or “prostaff” and
has a “Public Figure” Facebook page. Yet
most of these women have never set foot in the woods alone, or even have more
than one season under their belt. One of
the most important aspects of hunting is to learn from your own mistakes. You will make many. Many.
In turkey hunting, there can be everything from misjudging a distance on
a shot, jake versus tom, even shooting the decoy. You might set up in a spot that looks great
but no birds. You might set up on the
wrong side of the flydown or have some bitch of a hen steal your tom away. In coyote hunting, learning to set up
according to the wind direction is key.
Along with being on good sign, learning whether or not to use distress
calls or coyote vocalizations, judging distance, waiting for the right time to
take the shot. In deer hunting…well, we
don’t have enough time to list all the mistakes that you will make deer
hunting. But the point I’m trying to
make is; if you head into the woods and someone says, “Sit here, Face this way,
it’ll walk out right there, then shoot”, you are not learning nearly as much as
you would by spending your day in the woods alone. Literally every single time you go hunting or
trapping you will learn atleast one new thing.
I’ve never been on a hunt without doing something stupid as well.
A few seasons ago I missed a huge buck. Like huge.
I estimated he was at 25 yards but when I checked after the shot he was
at 34 yards. The arrow went right under
his belly. I cried, gave up hunting,
then cried some more. I was alone in the
swamp and didn’t have anyone to range for me, tell me to draw back, tell me to
watch for that limb, tell me that he was at 34 yards, etc. I had to make that mistake on my own and it
still haunts me when I think about it. But
redemption was sweet the next week when I shot a nice buck to fill my archery
tag for that season.
Now sometimes we have hunting mentors or get the rare opportunity
to hunt with a veteran hunter who will have a vast amount of knowledge to share
with you so you can avoid a few mistakes.
This is an opportunity that you do not pass. If you get an invite to accompany an
old-timer on his trapline, you better be calling into work sick that day. This is a great way for you to learn how to
gut your own deer, set your own traps, fillet your own fish, etc. The point I’m making here is to make sure
that you spend an equal or greater amount of time in the woods alone, making
stupid mistakes which will guarantee to make you a better hunter.
4.
One person makes way less
noise. This is a no-brainer, the
more people you have tromping through the woods, the less stealthy you can
possibly be. Women tend to be lighter
and step more diligently than a man.
Women tend to pay more attention to detail and not step on sticks, break
brush, etc. If you go alone, you can
mimic walking like a deer by taking 3-5 steps, then stopping and looking at
your surroundings for 10 seconds. You
can even put a turkey call in your mouth in the spring and fall and do little “putts”
to imitate a hen walking through the woods.
This will put all critters at ease, especially the “look-out” animals
like blue jays, squirrels, and crows.
5. You need to take care of your harvest. It is of utmost importance that when you shoot an animal, you get the meat cleaned and processed as soon as possible. When harvesting animals for their fur, it can be a matter of hours before the pelt slips and is rendered useless. If you take on the extraordinary feat of harvesting an animal, you have to take the responsibility of caring for it in a timely manner so as not to waste a single usable part of that critter. That is why it is important for women to not only enjoy the process of killing an animal and posing for a trophy picture, but you also have to know how to gut, quarter and/or skin from start to finish. If you think any part of that is "gross", then you probably should not be hunting in the first place. Hunters have a duty to honor every animal they take, whether it be a squirrel or a bear.
6.
Cooking up what you
harvest. Okay, this is a blatant
stereotype. But women can cook. It’s just the way it is. Women also value providing for their families
and making sure their families are well fed.
I guarantee you will have an amazing sense of pride if you go shoot a
deer, gut it, bring it home, cut out the fresh backstraps and fry them up for
your family all within a few hours.
7.
Greater sense of
accomplishment. I think this is the
number one reason that women should be attempting to hunt and trap solo. There is nothing more rewarding than
preparing for your season, scouting, calling, sitting still all day, and then
harvesting an animal all by yourself. Some of the best turkey hunts I’ve ever been
on were with my cousin Adam. He taught
me a lot and basically put several birds right in my lap. I appreciate and cherish the memories of
those hunts. However, when I shot my
first turkey all on my own, I’ve never cried so hard. I sat for 13 hours on an oak ridge until
finally a nice mature gobbler came up behind me responding to my calls and I
flopped him right next to the decoy. The
sense of accomplishment was so overwhelming, and the confidence boost made me
realize that I do have what it takes to hunt solo.
Now don't get me wrong. It is always fun to spend time with a spouse, family member, or friend in the woods. I'm not trying to come across as some bra-burning womens' rights crazypants. The point I'm trying to get across is that if you are going to take on the responsibility of being an outdoorsman, you need to make sure you're doing it for the right reasons and not because it's "cool". So, if you can accomplish the same feats in the woods solo that you can while with a friend, and you genuinely live to hunt, then you know that you are there for the right reasons. If you need someone else to tell you how to load your gun, or where to sit, or if you can't tell which direction the wind is out of, please, stop. If you don't dare set foot in the woods because you don't know what to do on your own, then please, stop.
