Let’s talk about something somewhat controversial…Disclaimer: there will be talk of hunting animals.
While Hunting has usually been dubbed a “man’s sport”, I can first-handedly tell all of you ladies that it is not just for men in the least. It is also not as scary and evil as you may think. We don’t walk around with harpoons and automatic weapons and we also don’t kill every living thing we see.
In fact, hunting is a noble, strategic, patient and daring sport. Not many people give it the credit it deserves. Especially with all of the civilian violence happening right now, it’s hard to embrace the real and true purpose of guns just as our ancestors use them as survival tools.
The first rule of a good hunter is that you eat what you kill. My boyfriend and I have freezers full of duck, geese, quail and deer. The best thing is we don’t have to go buy any other meat. We aren’t a part of the cow slaughters or the chicken guillotines. We hunt fresh meat, that of which is overpopulated anyway.
As a farmer’s girlfriend, I know that there are some animals that ruin farmland. Deer, fox, geese and doves are just a few examples of crop-killers. Not to mention there are so many of them. But what we are doing with these animals is population control and totally encouraged by wildlife conservationists and game wardens as long as we stick to the guidelines. Especially when they eat the crops that are the livelihood of farmers, who are undoubtedly some of the hardest workers in the world, we need to do something about it.
Aside from them being animals, it’s well, fun. Honestly. Since I had to give up my previous sport/hobby of volleyball because of college, I needed to find something else competitive for me to do. I was introduced to hunting previously, but was never an avid huntress. Now, however, I can out-shoot anybody I am with…maybe besides my boyfriend. I am a very competitive person, so what’s better than being alongside six boys in a goose or duck blind and kicking their butts at a stigmatized “man’s sport.” They get very jealous and it feels so empowering. The biggest key is to detach yourself. Realize it’s a wild animal, not something you can go cuddle with, because trust me, at first I had a little bit of a problem realizing that, so I get it. But again, it’s very empowering.
Now, of course you have to be careful with any weapon given to you and a gun is no exception. Not just anyone can be given or trusted with a gun. I had an entire year of watching before I was really given a gun to shoot anything. I also took my Hunter’s Safety Course so that it was legal for me to shoot. This taught me the rules, regulations, safety tips and anatomy of all guns.
Being a huntress means that you are powerful and frankly, bad-ass. There is definitely a feministic appeal to it since you prove yourself against men. I know I have proven myself to be better than them and yes, I get to be cocky about it. So not only men shoot, not only Republicans, but anyone that has an appreciation for these creatures.
There’s nothing like shooting your first goose because it is unreal. There’s nothing like killing your first duck, because those suckers are fast and require skill. There is nothing in the world like the rush of adrenaline running through your body when you shoot your first deer. I cried because I was amazed and appreciative that God gave me this animal. There’s my point. You can’t take these creatures for granted because they are special and sacred. But, I am not hunting just for fun. I am hunting to eat and appreciate the animals on this earth. However, hunting clays is just as fun if you’re really against the idea of animal hunting, which I get. You can go to a range and literally have clay disks flung through the air replicating the flight pattern of an animal. In some cases it can be harder and even more fun!
So give it go. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it. Just remember: there is more to it than you might have thought. More skill, more emotion, more control and definitely more bragging rights; and hey, we look hot doing it!