A Safe Space

We all have our ways. We all have our habits. We all have our comfort zones. Currently in my life, I’m very comfortable and content with my everyday routines. I’m attached to them. I’m comfortable with my career, my home life, and the occasional weekend activity or adventure. But over the last few months, something strange occurred in my mind. Something that led me to leave my comfort zone. One August day, I decided to start trying new things.

The most obvious thing for me to try was hunting. Now, deer hunting in itself is not new to me at all. I’ve entered the woods and climbed the stand, got in the blind, and held a gun in my hand countless times but always alongside my brother or father. But now I’ve decided, I’m going to hunt BY MYSELF! With this new spark, I alerted my husband to get ready because I was going to harvest a deer this year, on my own! My husband and brother-in-law joined my enthusiasm and armed me with a Ten Point crossbow and showed me the basics. I was quickly shooting from 15 yards, 25 yards, and after a few weeks, I had mastered a 35-yard shot. I was ready and slightly obsessed. Look out deer season, here I come!

If you knew me, you’d understand why it was important for me to share this experience and excitement with someone else. My GON team member Jacqueline was the perfect fit to share my first female-ONLY deer hunt with. Jacqueline had never been hunting, but had recently been bitten by the bug and had immersed herself into learning as much as she could. She even began practicing shooting her rifle and became quite efficient. After being made aware of a women’s hunting program, we enthusiastically signed up. We went through the extensive adventure of our hunter’s safety course and obtaining our hunting license. We were ready.

We met a group of women in the middle of a young pine forest in the ‘real Buckhead,’ Georgia. I made quick work of setting up my camp and diving into the campfire stories of these ladies’ hunting adventures. After a couple hours of storytelling, it was time for Jacq and I to head to our stand, navigating the woods by ourselves for the very first time.

Thirty-five minutes and lots of sweat later, we had arrived at the stand. For the very first time, we climbed the stand, rigged our weapons, and pulled them into the stand. For the first time, we were in a stand, by ourselves. Not long into our sit, just a mere 20 minutes in, a young buck appeared abruptly around our perimeter and exited just as quickly. We were excited, just 20 minutes in and action was happening. All evening, we were visited by noise-violating armadillos that we considered annihilating more than once, but still, it was ACTION! About an hour in, we were visited by ‘Toothpick.’ Toothpick is the smallest spike/button buck I’ve ever seen. His tines literally looked like toothpicks had just broken skin earlier that very morning. Without a care or worry in the world, he walked within a few feet of our stand and meandered around for 20 minutes or so, munching on fallen acorns. Jacqueline and I were enamored with his presence. After some time of her and I sharing big eyes and big smiles, the sun began setting. It was then that a doe, perfectly camouflaged in the oaks, began easing into shooting range. For the first time, Jacqueline set her rifle on the stand, found the doe in her sights and begin waiting for her to get just right. After what felt like FOREVER, we made a team decision that it was just too dark to take a good, ethical shot. Jacq lowered her rifle, and we just watched our doe disappear into the fading woods as the sun completely fell.

It was now time to head back to camp. For the first time, we descended the stand, secured our weapons, and started our trek in the dark woods. It was on that walk that Jacqueline and I realized we weren’t disappointed or discouraged. We were EXCITED, we were PROUD, and we were READY TO GO AGAIN! We were excited about navigating the woods, climbing the stand, getting ready for a shot, and watching the wildlife around us. The deer woods was the safest space for us to learn and try something new. However, Jacq and I didn’t just try, we did something new and did it successfully. Overwhelmed with pride at our first hunt ALONE, we didn’t realize we had already completed the 35-minute trek back to camp IN THE DARK!

No, we didn’t harvest a deer, and no we didn’t see a trophy buck; but I did gain something. This first-time experience reminded me that the outdoors is a safe space to try something new. Trying something new can be intimidating, overwhelming even, but the outdoors doesn’t judge, outdoorsmen and women encourage, and the deer woods invite you back time and time again. The outdoors is a safe space to try new interests, to try new things for the first time, and to go back for more. Our adventure doesn’t stop here, there will be a harvest this season.

Kimberly Lee is GON’s Event Coordinator… among her many talents, hence her nickname the “Force Of Nature” by GON Publisher Daryl Kirby. Kimberly’s Force Of Nature blog appears regularly at GON.com and in GON magazine.