One Young Woman’s Personal Journey

EVERYONE REMEMBERS how they felt when they killed their first deer, whether they were ten years old or twenty.

Nothing can replace that feeling of bringing down your first buck or doe, no matter how big or small. In that moment it feels like you shot a record winner.

I first got into deer hunting when I was eleven years old. My dad had been going for years, and just like most little kids I decided I wanted to be just like him. Little did I know, it would spark a lifelong passion for the outdoors.

I don’t remember everything from when I first started hunting because I’ve had four concussions since then. But there are a few details that I don’t think I will ever forget.

I think what I remember the most was hating morning hunts. I was a little kid and waking up early was not something I wanted to do on my two days off from school. Not to mention, I didn’t like walking in the woods in the dark.

If there was even a little bit of moon showing in the sky, my dad would not turn on the flashlight while walking to the blind. As I got older and started hunting by myself, I did pick up the same habit from him.

Although morning hunts weren’t my favorite, I would still drag myself out of bed to go each morning for that chance to take down a deer—and eat a ham and cheese sandwich in the blind.

The first deer I shot is still my favorite hunt to this day. I was particularly fond of it because it was an evening hunt, and I shot a buck.

It was youth weekend in 2013, and I sat in the blind with my dad, squirming with anticipation. I remember turning my head at every noise thinking that it’d be a deer. I was ready to cuss out the squirrels by the time the hunt was over.

The sun started setting, and I was beginning to lose hope. Just before it was time to go, an eight-point stepped out at the feeder. I pulled the trigger slowly and watched the deer’s knees crumple.

To this day I still don’t think I’ve seen my dad be any prouder of me than he was in that moment. After that day, I was hooked. I was obsessed with anything that involved hunting. My love for deer hunting grew as I got older and along with it, my respect for nature and its resources.

To have the opportunity to be able to hunt as much as I do is a gift from God. As a hunter I feel like I have the responsibility to protect the resource for the next generations to be able to use as well.

That’s why I decided to go to Stephen F. Austin State University to pursue a degree in Forestry and Wildlife Management. I’m hoping to use this degree to spread the joy that I find in hunting as well as to promote the ethical use of natural resources.