Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Shopping with the duck-huntress-to-be

Ya know how it is watching young kids enjoy Christmas, the way you get to relive a bit of your childhood?


That's what it's been like for me this month watching my friend and colleague Hellen take steps toward becoming a waterfowl huntress.

Hellen, who joined me at Delevan last week to observe her first duck hunt, knows she can't realistically get ready to hunt before the waterfowl season ends in three weekends. She still has to take her hunter safety course, get licensed, buy a gun, endure the 10-day waiting period, get the gun fitted and take a couple shooting lessons. Not gonna happen.

But that's not stopping her from becoming an important part of the economy. Yesterday, I took her (and her husband Derek) out for her first trip to area hunting stores (Wild Sports in Orangevale and Sportsman's Warehouse in Rocklin) and helped her shop for things she can use as she continues to accompany me and my friends on hunts this month.

Watching her discover fun new toys - and some of the problems with them - is... Well, there's no way I can do justice to the story. You've got to read it on her blog. But I'll give you a clue: The Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum picture is up here for a reason.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

thought I should stop lurking and say hello to a fellow duck hunter - it is my favorite sport! Have you considered getting a dog? It is a lot of work but watching a trained retriever make those retrieves for you is fun and... it gives you something duck-hunting related to do in the off season - train the dog, run hunt tests (or field trials if you are really competitive) We have two black labs, our youngest is doing really well - he would have his senior and master hunt test title but starting a business and having a baby cut into our training time some :) Oh well, there is always this year, or next... Congrats on finding a fellow female hunter - her blog about shopping for camo was great! Everyone at all the public areas we go to know us because of me - I've only met one other woman who hunts with her husband consistently too. We had a little girl so we'll be adding another female hunter to the ranks as she grows up. Do you hunt anything else? Ok, I guess if I want to leave really long comments I should just start my own blog :)

Holly Heyser said...

I would love a dog! I'm not sure I really need another obsession, but who cares.

Thank you so much for commenting! Glad you enjoyed Hellen's blog. She cracks me up!

Holly Heyser said...

P.S. I'm so glad to hear about your huntress-in-training. Please send pics when she gets her first duck!

Anonymous said...

First of all, Jenn you should start your own blog. We need women women writing about hunting and the outdoors.

Second, this was a great story. I went over and read Hellen's blog too. The pictures were priceless.

Can't wait to read the story of Hellen's first hunt.

Blessed said...

Ok - I did it, I started a blog! I'll be posting pictures and stories about hunting and life...

Jenn