A Womans Perspective on Hunting and Fishing

If you’re an avid hunter or fisherman who happens to be a single guy, chances are, you’ve never given a second thought to what the modern day female perspective is on the whole “hunter/gatherer” thing or the increase in women hunters. That’s fine. If you’re a married sportsman, chances are you’ve heard just about all you care to hear as far as your spouse’s opinion goes. Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who have a wife that actually scours the internet and combs cookbooks in search of recipes for venison and wild game. If not, odds are pretty good that when you bring home a trophy buck, you hear things like “just don’t hang it in a tree where the neighbors can see it” and “no, I’m not coming out into the garage to oogle over you murdering a beautiful defenseless animal, no matter how many points he has on his head”. Remember, women hunters and women anglers are on the rise and your wife may turn out to be your best hunting or fishing buddy!

So while it may seem like there are two distinct camps of women; those ‘for’ and ‘against’ hunting and even fishing, I’m here to tell you there is yet a third type of woman out there.. the hybrid female. I consider myself a ‘hybrid’ when it comes to hunting and fishing season. Now before I go any further, let me first state that ‘yes, I have in fact gone hunting’ and ‘yes, I do love to fish’. When conducted in a sportsman-like manner, I can tolerate hunting; do I love the idea? No. But when I say ‘sportsman-like’, I mean, without the use of bait or dogs, without being outfitted with every advantage Dicks’ Sporting Goods and Cabella’s has to offer. Have you noticed that many of these super stores now have separate sections for women hunters? Any woman, if equipped with the patience to hear a man’s rationale on why they hunt, has the ability to empathize with the fact that there is a season on deer to prevent over population and to promote healthier herds. When you speak in terms of ‘positives’, we women can accept the fact that you want to go sit in a tree at the crack of dawn and wait for an animal that is depicted as tame and beautiful to come walking down the trail so you can put food on the family table.

What we are incapable of understanding are those hunters (I keep referring to men, when in fact there are plenty of very successful, well known female hunters out there, so excuse me if I’m being stereotypical) who hunt, and essentially, to use a harsher word, KILL, for the mere fun of the sport. Women, being nurturing, emotional souls, cannot agree with the idea of killing something, no matter if it be as small as a squirrel, just ‘for the fun of it’. There is an ecological balance to our planet and if we were meant to kill things for fun, we all would have been born with gun barrels on the tips of our fingers. I know there are many people that feel this way; not just women, so if you get anything at all out of this article, please only harvest what you will consume and/or use. If we could think like the primitive Native Americans, where no part of a deer or buffalo was wasted, we could probably do some good in the way of living greener as well, finding alternate uses for ALL parts of a creature that sacrificed its life to provide sustenance for you and your family.

The same mentality goes for fishing; while I know there are “plenty of fish in the sea”, it seems some sportsmen don’t feel the need to abide by catch limits or seasons on certain game fish. These rules all came to exist for a reason; to preserve the species, while allowing us to experience the thrill of the catch and enjoy the bounties of the ocean. I’ve been on chartered boats where people seem to think it’s all about how many coolers they fill to bring home and brag about. For me, and I’m sure for other women hunters or women anglers, it’s the thrill of the fight and finally, after a particularly tough battle with a big fish, bringing him to the surface and taking your photographs. Depending on the fish, I’m just as happy to let him go and see him swim away as I am to serve him up for dinner. It’s the personal challenge and satisfaction that will remain preserved in my photo album that I find satisfying, versus seeing an animal mounted on the wall.

So while hunters and fishermen (I feel like I should use fisher-people here) come in all shapes, sizes and genders, the main thing, from a woman’s perspective, is respect. Respect the environment, respect your fellow man and the various feelings they may have about your hobby, and don’t forget to pause a moment and respect the animal that you choose to harvest. Women hunters and women anglers are no different from the male counterparts, except that we maybe look a bit better in Cammo!

Take a kid fishin’

As the old adage goes “Give a man fish, he will eat for a week, Teach a man to fish, he will always eat”. Well, it should start when he is a boy!  Fishing is a sport that can really make the father-son bond, a strong and lasting one. Fishing with a kid should start as simple as possible.  There is no need for elaborate equipment and tackle to be used in the early days of this sport.

 

It should be a happy time, a memorable one for the youngster, as well as the parent.  Too often I see fathers getting annoyed with their children for not doing it right. There is no right or wrong at this stage! No one is born with a rod and reel in their hands. It is a process of making mistakes and learning from them. It is, like most things, a learning curve. The more you do it, the more you learn the better at it you become… Like most things in life.

 

A good example of what not to do is what happened with a friend of mine and his 8 year old son. For his first fishing encounter, he was put aboard a large, diesel powered boat, in moderate seas, for a day of ocean fishing. Before getting out of the harbor, the kid was already nauseous from the fumes, and by the time they were at the fishing grounds, was also quite sea sick to boot. As a result, his kid, after spending some hours in hell, hates the sport! How sad. How unnecessary!

 

For a first encounter in to the sport of fishing, the parent should start the child off with freshwater, preferable from a shoreline, with minimal tackle. I recommend a good old cane rod with a small hook and a worm. Sure, the size of the fish to be caught will probably be small, but who cares, the child will have fun. And that is the most important aspect of the experience.

 

As the child gets older and more proficient, a light rod/reel combination will do very nicely. By starting the experience slowly, and with enthusiasm, it can develop into a fun, relaxing sport that will last a lifetime.