Becoming a Huntress

By Katie Shackelford

If someone had told me a year ago I would ever find myself sitting in a blind, giddily anticipating hunting a wild hog in Oklahoma, I probably would have said they were crazy. Yet this is what I did a few weekends ago with several experienced huntresses. And it was FUN.

My adventure started when the fabulous Tracey Splechter from Outdoor Connection contacted me with interest in learning more about GG2G and to tell us about her company.  She thought, rightly so, that rather than simply having phone conversations, an actual hunting experience would be best. Lucky for me I would be going with 5 other women – honestly, other than going with my dad or brother, this was the best way for me to jump in! What kind of hunt would I be going on? A wild hog hunt!

Er. Not quite.

It was going to be a weekend experience Gray Ranch in Oklahoma – just a few short hours from my home state of Texas. And I was nervous. Not about the hunting part, but more about the going hunting with 5 experienced women part. Yes, it was like making friends in grade-school all over again – Would I look too much like a city girl? Would my gear work for the job? Would they like me? Would I be the only one who didn’t take a hog?!

What I found were 5 incredible women who I now call friends and with whom I absolutely hope to hunt again. And it was a lot like summer camp – just with guns and hunting and some beer and wine thrown in for good measure (after the firearms were safely put away, of course)! Two are from Prois Hunting Apparel – Kirstie Pike, the founder, and Katherine Browne, her awesome colleague. They kindly provided me with some Prois gear for the weekend and let me tell you – it was fantastic (I’ll have a review soon). Ladies, if you need camo that’s made for women by women, definitely keep Prois on your shopping list. Another fabulous female huntress who was with us – Mia Anstine – runs Wolf Creek Outfitters with her husband as well as keeps her fans informed with her personal blog, My Many Outdoor Adventures. Oh, and she’s hilarious. Hearing her stories of her pet turkey, Tom, kept us laughing at all hours. And finally Tracey – the woman who put it all together – and her sister. OK, I did learn that her sister was somewhat of a newbie like me, but still, she had done this at least one more time than I!

Fortunately, despite my anxiety about hunting, Tracey kindly accompanied me to our stand on the first night and after sharing stories and giggling for a couple hours, she actually spotted a group of hogs coming our way!

Since it was my first hunt, Tracey also let me take the first shot. OK, actually she had to walk me through it a little bit so I wouldn’t freak out. Here’s the thing: I don’t take this “killing a living creature” thing lightly and I wanted to ensure that I had a humane kill. I also wanted to get one that would provide me with good meat to eat. I only support hunting for sustenance and fortunately the majority of hunters are the same way.

In any case, I lined up my shot, took a deep breath, and after I had let all the air out squeezed the trigger and BAM… I got one! Although I was shaking from all the adrenaline and freaked out because the hog I got ran for about 5 seconds before toppling over, I was also happy to have gotten one! My first hunt ever I got a hog on the first night!

When the guides came by to pick us up just after nightfall, we brought the hog (which turned out to be a boar) back with us and the guys weighed it and field dressed it.  And they also soon told me it was, in fact, a humane kill.  Whew!

Posing with my 118 pound boar!

Although I realize that field dressing is something I’ll eventually have to learn, I left it to the experts this time.

The rest of the weekend was, in a word, fabulous. I immediately felt like “one of the huntresses” with my very own hunting success story and despite the 4:30am alarm clock looming above us the next morning, we happily ate, drank, and told stories late into the night. The next day Katherine, who I’ve decided is my sister from another mister and one of the first women I will call when the zombie apocalypse happen, and I got to do a little horseback riding with the guides. We were officially just riding unofficially in search for hogs, but we only saw traces of them. Oh well, we both had a blast and looked awesome while doing it.

Katherine geared up for some hogs complete with rifle, sidearm and knife.

Although only Kirstie also ended up getting a hog, I think we were all happy by the time Sunday afternoon hit and we were all packing up.

Posing with all the ladies. Yes, I'm the giant among them all.

———————-

So ladies, if you’re interested in trying out hunting for the first time – definitely consider an all female hunt. And check out Outdoor Connection (www.outdoor-connection.com)– they can pretty much arrange for the hunting or fishing trip of your dreams, as they have trips literally all over the world. And since one of the top folks there is a woman, you know you’ll be getting something that’s female arranged & approved on many levels.