My First Bird, Leslie Dunne Ketner

Leslie Ketner

The first time I ever shot a bird it was a dove.

I was on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early ’90s. It was opening day, and I sat excitedly on a bucket in a field of sunflowers.  My husband and our yellow lab, Berkeley, were in another row of sunflowers. 

As the birds started flying, I looked around to track my fellow hunters, showing caution on my first attempt to shoot something other than an orange clay. All of a sudden a dove was flying a nice left to right pattern.  It was pretty far off, but I mounted my side-by-side 12 gauge and  boom, it dropped in another row of  dried flowers.  Being new to this, I wasn’t sure of the protocol on when to pick up my bird...

Trent Ellingsen | StockVault

Female hunters are on the rise – and they’re appearing more and more on TV and in the news. Instead of men with beards, we’re seeing images of blondes in pearls with a shotgun (think Debutante Hunters).

A recent article on Salon, Nothing like “Duck Dynasty”: My life as a female hunter, points out that hunting isn’t as glamorous as hot girls with guns. Its author is a Korean-American professor who says she is neither hot, nor blonde, contrasting herself to one of the authors on our Sportswoman’s Reading List from this week (can you guess who by the covers?)

Paula Young Lee, the article author, says people are usually surprised – sometimes appalled – that she hunts. Here are two excerpts:

City people are frequently surprised to learn that “hunti...

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The Hunt of a Lifetime

Amy Lawry

I drew a mule deer buck tag and hunted during the juniors-only weekend in October. My dad and I decided to go camp out at a site in the southern Bitterroot Mountains of western Montana. On the first day of the hunt we walked three miles but no bucks, only does. We did “glass” staring at the hills to try to spot any movement.   

Later that day, we took another drive to a second area. My dad said, “I wish a big buck would just run across the road.”   Next thing you, know a big buck runs across the road. My dad stopped the truck and I got out. My dad and I walked over to where the buck ran. Right there, the big buck stood staring at me. I could only see his head. My heart was beating faster than a flying bullet...

Stuck in a rut or don’t know what to read?  Get ready for the next season with these great reads:

Call to the Mild by Lily Raff McCalou
A story of transformation from big city dweller to country gun-slinger.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed
One woman’s powerful story about finding herself while solo hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.

A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
One family’s history is intertwined with fly fishing in Montana.

Beyond Fair Chase by Jim Pozewitz
A to the point read about the ethics of hunting from preparation to shooting to care after the shot.

The Total Outdoorsman Manual by T. Edward Nickens
A how-to manual for everything in the outdoors from tying a cleat hitch to flagging geese.

Girl Hunter by Georgia Pellegrini
A chef becomes a hunter and catalogs her adventures...