Special to The Archery Wire
Melissa Bachman |
I grew up in a family where everyone hunted. My mom, dad, brother and I would spend our weekends duck and deer hunting in central Minnesota. We enjoyed every moment together from the early mornings, to the excellent snacks, to cleaning and preparing the game for Sunday dinner. I believe this hunting bond our family shared brought us closer together and my mom's involvement was key. It gave me someone to look up to, someone to show me that girls can do anything that guys can do, and that's important for all girls to see.
Not everyone has a woman in their life to look up to who enjoys the outdoors or hunts, but for those women out there who do hunt, it's extremely important to get out there and give these young girls support. Many great organizations, like Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW), exist solely to help get more women and kids involved in hunting, shooting, archery, and the outdoors. If each of us takes a little time to give back and just be around and visible for these girls, it's amazing what this can do.
I don't have any children, so I enjoy meeting kids at NASP (National Archery in the Schools) events where girls tell me they want to be a hunter just like me someday. Usually their parents' eyes light up as they realize their little girl may become a hunter too and that's great to see. Any female in their life - whether a mom, sister, aunt, or a family friend - can be that positive role model and get young girls fired up and excited about the outdoors. You don't have to be the greatest hunter on earth, you just have to be there for them and show support.
So, you may ask, what are the steps to doing this? Here are my tips:
- I'm a firm believer in slowly bringing kids into the hunting world and let them decide the pace. The last thing anyone wants to do is burn a kid out by making them sit from dark to dark in a blind or go out in the freezing cold and be miserable.
- Begin by shooting targets together, then plan a few hours sitting in a blind where they can still move around and bring plenty of snacks and games to keep them occupied.
- When they are ready to hunt, be sure they completed their bowhunter safety courses. And when trying a longer hunt, but remember to not push too hard. You want to make sure they think of fun when they think of hunting.
This is coming from a girl whose parents did these very steps. They slowly brought me into the hunting world and I grew to love it almost instantly. Now my number one goal is to get as many other women, children, and people involved in the outdoors as possible.
And speaking of my mom, for her present this year, I bought her a Mathews Jewel. She's already a pretty good shot, but with her new setup, she'll be better than me in no time! This is a complete surprise to her, so I hope she doesn't read this before I have the chance to gift it. So, shhhh, this will be our little secret!
To all the mothers out there, I hope you had a wonderful day, and to my own mom, thanks for everything!
Melissa Bachman is television producer and co-host, outdoor writer and blogger, and full-time promoter of hunting-especially with a bow and arrow. Follow Melissa and her outdoors adventures at: https://www.facebook.com/DeadlyPassionMelissaBachman and http://www.melissabachman.com .
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