It is September 1…deer season is 21 days away..the only reason why I dread hunting season by any means is by then end of it, after using all the scent free products out there, I have become to look like more of a pre-teen scarecrow than myself.

Picture this, from my point of view if you can…..I have long, naturally blonde OILY hair and skin…EVERYTHING breaks my face out and I have to wash my hair EVERY SINGLE DAY..at night you can literally watch my hair become an oil slick just as if an egg was cracked on the top of my head and it slowly runs down the strands to the ends. I will say that its incredible for age defiance….my grandmother passed away at 97 years old and had not one wrinkle to her face….NOT ONE! so I am ok with that part of having oily skin but the challenges that exist for me are  more so in the woods.

Deer have a sence of smell that rivals a superhero. The nose of a whitetail deer has up to 297 million olfactory receptors, dogs have 220 million with humans limiting out with just five million.  So you can imagine me, using the shamoos I use on a  daily basis, to keep this mess tamed, with the sent of “ocean waves” or whatever happens to be the fragrance, and then trying to enter the whitetail scent free salon….you think any deer would come within 3 miles of me??!! Obvious answer is no….but the shampoos made for hunting/scent free do nothing but strip my hair of the small amount of oils I need to keep my hair from becoming one big gigantic tangle. Nests are good for squirrels and other woodland creatures….not so good to try run a brush through…ouch!

Then there is the camo face paint. Most products are mainly oil based….I have enough oil on my face to lubricate a farm tractor for a year..Why would I want to add MORE OIL? I did try several brands and as I thought I began to break out like a pre-teen. So I bought a face mask. Did I happen to mention I live in the SOUTH? Early bow season is HOT and I’m not talking “wow its a warm day out” kinda hot, its the type that you walk out the door and begin to sweat because the humidity is a high as the temperature. The air literally will hug you. Wearing any type of material on your face is like wrapping the inside of a hot car in tin foil….its hot enough as is!

But I began to search and found 1 product in each category of hair and skin that I truly feel like are game changers for us game chasers….

1. For the Shower: Just For Does has products specifically designed for women and believe it or not will NOT make your hair turn into a giant nest of straw. Plus they have body wash and lotion as well. Gotta be moisturized on those cold days! Don’t worry fellas they have a line Just for Bucks (you) too.  The products are affordable and they work ($12.99 per bottle). What is NOT to love??? <3  www.justfordoes.com

2. For the Face: There is a product I found just this year. It is called Natural Camo. It is made of natural ingredients comes pre-packaged in 3 colors color matched for each season, with a carry kit and towels, and is priced right too (24.95 for the 3 color kit in the season of your choice) This face paint relieves the need for a mask and is sweat proof, which is great when just walking to put the trash out causes a need for a shower around here some days. It comes off as easily as it goes on and will not clog pores….hmmm Ill take a case! www.naturalcamo.com

So for all you women huntresses out there, have no fear…you CAN still hunt and look good too!!

As I sit here on my back porch, drinking my coffee, it’s 68 degrees and I can only think of being in the woods…full camo..making my way into where I will hunt for the day. I think of the excitement to be back out there after 9 months have past. I think of the wonderful moments of it just being me and nature. Coexisting. One with each other. Blending in to the landscape. Adapting myself as a hunter to what surrounds me. I think of the laughter I have shared with my fellow hunters. The tears of joy when that one magical moment comes when that deer just happens to walk within range of you and you make a clean shot. The way my body reacts to the shear rush to see all you have worked for in the off season finally come together in that one moment. As the season draws ever near I am filled with the spirit of the wild (to quote uncle Ted) and I can only come to one conclusion. I believe in magic. Do you??

So as hunting season quickly approaches (not soon enough, I might add) and I get ready to turn another year older, I am reminded of one man who made such a huge impact on my life.  A man that loved to hang back in the shadows, content not to be the the center of attention but to let those around him that he loved most of all shine. A man who taught me to drive, to my mothers horror, way before I was 16 and who took me on my first hunting trip, 32 years ago to the fields of West Tennessee. My grandfather, lovingly known as granddaddy.

We woke up early that morning. I was 7. The air was crisp but warm. September has never been known to be cool in the South. He combed my hair and put it in the best pony tail he could, dressed me in his camo jacket, the arms almost touching the ground where I stood. I was excited and nervous at the same time.  My brain couldn’t quite grasp what was in store for me, nor could my young age predict how this one day, this one Saturday, could change my entire life.  He grabbed his thermos of coffee, we kissed my grandmother good bye, grabbed the dogs and away to the farm we went. I must have talked his ear off the entire way there, but I remember he just smiled as we drove.  He must have loved me being there, he must have known somehow, this experience would light the huntress fire in me.

We got to the field. All his buddies were there. I can still smell the fresh cut field, the coffee as it was poured into small metal cups, the feel of the dogs soft fur,the stench of my granddaddy’s cigar.  He handed me his shot gun, a box of shells…they were red with a gold primer.  He knelt down and showed me how a gun was loaded and quickly told me one rule,” never point it at anything you don’t intend to shoot”. The gun was so heavy in my small hands, but I wasn’t scared. I actually loved the way it felt.

When the sun started to peek through the trees, everyone changed. They became hunters right before my very eyes. Even the dogs took on a hunting persona and  knew instinctively what to do.  I watched in utter amazement as they prepared for the hunt, guns loaded, extra ammo close by, dogs lay beside them. The first doves came into sight, my grandfather shouted “BIRD” and I was jolted almost out of my skin by the heavy sounds of gunfire. A few birds dropped and the dogs, without being told, ran to grab em. I was HOOKED.  After a few rounds, my grandfather said, “you wanna go get the birds, let the dogs rest, little bit?” It sounds funny, now but I loved to help him, so I became the retriever, loving every minute, running through the fields, blonde head barely peaking over some of the tall grasses, loving being with my granddaddy.
That day a huntress was born. My granddaddy passed away in 1994, halfway through my nursing school. I took care of him some while he was sick, and he reminded me of that day. It meant as much to him as to me.  Every September, I think of him and every time I am in a tree stand or in a blind, he is with me. He is the man, the myth, and the legend to me and I hope now he is as well, to all who read this.

As a burn/trauma nurse for 10 of my 15 year nursing career, my favorite saying to live by became “an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure”. Sure we have safety vests for tree stands, we wear our seat belts in the car and our life vests on the water,  there are safeties for our guns,  hunter education courses, and we all are aware and  talk about “hunter safety” practices. You know as well as I, that accidents can still happen, even with the best safety practices in place.

I would like to share with you a quick list of first aid supplies ALL hunters need, no matter the season or what animal you hunt. All these items you can find at a local drugstore or Wal-Mart. And no need to buy an expensive “first aid box” either. A zip lock bag will do just fine.  You will NEVER find me on a hunt with out these basic items. I carry them EACH and EVERY time I hunt. You should too…..

BASIC FIRST AID SUPPLIES:

• Alcohol wipes or antiseptic cleanser (Hand gel works great and comes in travel size)
• Ace bandage (small and large)
• Adhesive tape- 1″ thick at least
• Ibuprofen or aspirin or another pain reliever of your choice
• Tums or antacid (never fails, someone ALWAYS gets heartburn when we hunt )
• Gauze pads
• Cotton balls and qtips
• Eye wash kit (they sell these as kits but some distilled water in a small squeeze bottle will work too)
• Instant cold pack
• Insect bite/sting stick (After bite is what I like)
• Smelling salts (this is basically concentrated ammonia, get some Windex and soak a few cotton balls to make your own)
• Tweezers
• Snake Bite kit
• Scissors (I cannot stress enough about having a GOOD pair of scissors. Trauma shears is what I carry everyday at work and hunting too. Invest in some, you will be thankful you did if you need em)
• List of allergies and medical conditions for you and the people you hunt with as well as emergency contact numbers in case you need to call someone. These can be kept in your phone too. But may need to write them down in case your phone is not able to be used.
• First aid guide book. Most smart phones have an app for this. The one I use is First Aid By American Red Cross. but keep a book handy in case your phone is not handy.
• Latex gloves (optional, but good to have)

If you feel comfortable, carry an Epi-Pen too for sever allergic reactions. This is a prescription but most doctors will write you one if you tell them what it is for.

And last piece….GET CPR CERTIFIED and advocate for others to get their certification too. You never know when you may need it.

Keep practicing safe hunting but you will feel better knowing you have the tools to Survive the Hunt!

XOXO

This is me. Throughout my years, I have learned great lessons in my life….my favorite: being blonde is a powerful thing, you hold more cards than you think you do

In my life I have cried, I have laughed, I have hurt and been hurt,  I have loved and lost, and each step of my life journey has shaped the person I am today. Life never fails to teach you a lesson, but hunting does the same also but in a much softer voice. When you sit in the woods, nature all around you, you feel so small yet so connected. You learn to listen to yourself, trust you instincts, rely on your training and skills, and overcome fears you never thought you had, one by one….growing in confidence, growing in strength, and growing as a human…and you don’t even realize it is happening, but it is. You never realize what you are truly made of until your site is set on the animal you came to hunt…heart pounding…adrenaline flowing,….hands shaking…breath shallow and rapid…excited…nervous…scared… exhilarated….praying for just a few more yards…a few more steps…the perfect angle….your mind focuses on the animal at hand..consciously slowing your breath…steadying your hands…for that perfect shot.

You never truly know who you can be until you do something that makes you feel that way every day. You learn just who you are and that you are amazing…just by being you. xoxo

Born and raised in Tennessee, I began loving the outdoors as a very young child. My grandparents had a large farm in West Tennessee and any time I could, I would be down there help out my Granddaddy. I learned to drive a farm truck before I could see over the steering wheel, and I learned to hunt before I could hold a shotgun. My grandfather was an avid hunter, me I was his faithful retriever. I was too young to hunt by his standards, but he knew there was something in me that loved hunting, so to justify to his buddies why his 6 year old granddaughter was with him, I became the “dog”.  For every duck, dove, turkey or deer season that rolled around, there we were, out in the field or in the blind waiting for the calls that would bring in the game. Once the “BOOM” of his shotgun was heard, and that game hit the ground, there I’d go, blonde hair barely seen over the grasses to get whatever my granddad shot. It may sound odd or crazy to some, but back then, women didn’t hunt much, if at all. But my granddad saw the fire of a hunter in me and fanned those flames as often as he could. That fire dimmed some in my teens, too busy with boys and such, but it never truly went out. I have been fishing, in lakes and in the deep sea, rode horses in shows, kayaked many whitewater rapids, certified in scuba diving, backpacked along the Appalachian Trail, but it was only in that three years ago when I picked up a bow and let the arrow glide out of its rest, that hunters fire was relit.

In the short time that I have been back into hunting, I have been on several amazing trips. I have hunted West, East, and Middle Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and even the northern end of Georgia.

This year I will be going to Missouri, back to Virginia, and Kentucky (so far) for some amazing hunts that are sure to bring home some good times, great stories, and more for our freezers.

I am outgoing, fun, and laid back. I am an avid hunter yet I love animals. I love to have fun and can find the humor in just about anything. It is so exciting to see more women hunters today than ever. It is so important for me to serve as a good role model for other women from the newly interested and starting out, to the experienced and advanced hunter. We all learn from each other and are a family within this field.  I always have said “if something weird is gonna happen, it will happen to me.” Well this statement proves true time and time again. This has taught me how to laugh at life and enjoy each moment, because it’s not only about a good clean shot, or the food you can put on the table, but it’s also about the stories you bring with you, because those stories are what make us who we are, those stories make us hunters.

Love yall! xoxo