Virginia Huntress: How I Got Here

I found myself standing at the Sporting Good's counter at Wal-Mart today. I was purchasing my hunting license for this fall. I was standing there thinking to myself 'twenty-nine years old, 2 kids, 3 cats, 2 dogs, a house to take care of, 3 vehicles on the skits, credit card debt along with many other debts and here I am putting $70 out for this fall to hunt.' How in the world did I get here?

Well, it started the fall of 2006. My husband and I had just bought a house in Cumberland, Virginia. I'm originally from the next county over and he's from Caldwell, West Virginia. I'd known him for a while and knew all to well with fall and hunting season approaching, he would become very scarce around the house. His love for hunting is equal to that of his love for me, so I decided to size up the competition so to say. I figured if I wanted to get to see him at all, I'd have to tag along. He was thrilled at the idea when I mentioned it, so no backing out then.

The plan was for me to tag along and learn as much as I could the first fall. Also, before investing a ton of money in hunting gear for me, we figured we better make sure I see a kill first. Well, I learned a lot that fall. The most important thing that I learned was that you don't necessarily see a deer when you go hunting, little lone kill one. We hunted 'down here'-Virginia and 'up there'-West Virginia. We spooked a couple of does going to one of the stands up there, but all I saw of them was white bouncing butts going down the mountain. Nothing else all fall and winter.

Here's what else I learned from that fall: The difference from rabbit doo and deer doo. The difference between a rub and a scratch and what they both mean. Oh, and I really don't like the cold.

I was not discouraged though. I patiently waited for the next fall, filling my time with hunting videos and target practice. I've never shot more than a BB gun, so that was extremely fun. My husband says I'm actually a pretty decent shot. Guess that's good.