The First Hunt

Written By: Kerry Roberts

After completing my Hunter’s Safety course, my 7 year old, Raylan, insisted on taking me on my first hunt.  He was ecstatic that I passed the course and couldn’t wait to show me the ropes. With a virus sweeping the globe and everything shut down, we needed some excitement in our lives! 

   I finally got to rock my She Outdoors camo that my husband bought for me. He painted our faces, and lent me his turkey hunting vest and Winchester shotgun. I looked at my reflection and felt the imposter syndrome set in. I grew up only seeing boys dress like this. I felt like a little girl playing dress up. But gosh that camo was so comfortable and fit perfectly! It sure felt better than any pair of heels I’d ever attempted to wear, and it actually had pockets! 

 I looked at my toddler twin girls, who were giggling at my painted face. I didn’t have a hunting woman in my life, but they do. I could blaze this trail for them. So I grabbed the gun and set off for the woods to shoot glass ceilings, turkeys, or maybe both.

   Thanks to the trail cams, we were able to pick a spot where a hen was hanging out just a few days earlier. We didn’t have to hike very far since we were hunting our own property. 

We sat against trees facing our little creek. With the decoy set up, and the turkey call out, we waited. Raylan would call, and I sat ready to shoot. There didn’t seem to be any turkeys, however. I went into this hunt knowing that success doesn’t always happen on the first try. It didn’t help that we had a coyote in the area that we suspected was chasing off the once abundant turkeys. I planned to take him out if I saw him, but he didn’t show up. We sat on the forest floor as still as we could, listening for toms.

The red-shouldered hawk that frequents our property landed on a nearby branch. She hung out with us for a few minutes, then extended her magnificent wings and took off like a ghost into the forest. The barred owls serenaded us with their haunting “who cooks for you?” duets. The breeze effortlessly moved the branches above us, sending vibrations all the way down the tree trunk as they collided with each other.  For the first time in weeks, the world felt peaceful and made sense.

  Then we heard footsteps. They were quiet, but they were close. And then I saw legs.  The three does we had been watching for weeks on the trail cam were walking just 20 yards from us. I watched them stroll right by us, and it took my breath away. I was so excited I could hardly stand it!  I felt like a fan girl seeing a celebrity in person. They were absolutely beautiful and had no idea we were there.

Not long after the does crossed the creek and left, we both had to pee. I obviously have the bladder of a 7-year old. Raylan came back in a silent panic. “Mom!  I just saw a lone star tick! I’m going home!” He then started packing up to leave. He is the biggest meat eater I know and is terrified of contracting alpha-gal. I whisper-talked him off the ledge and got him to stay.

Suddenly, the wind started picking up and gusting. I could feel the branches slamming together in the tree I sat against. The decoy spun violently in circles. Even if there were toms in the area, we were not fooling them with that exorcist-style hen. Raylan gave me the “let’s get out of here!” look, so we packed it up and left. The short hike home felt long and treacherous with the sounds of limbs cracking in the woods around us.

We came home to my husband hard at work in the kitchen. He had our younger three children under-foot while he baked pizza from scratch. I was instructed to sit, which felt strange. I felt guilty for sitting on the couch while he slaved over dinner. That kind of support is priceless and I couldn’t be more grateful for it. I have learned so much from him. The pizza he made me was a delicious way to end the day.  We didn’t come home with a turkey, but seeing the does in their element made my week.  Time spent in nature is never wasted, afterall.