A Better Informed Female Hunter

Remember this: Everyone has to start somewhere; encouraged or not.

Recently I have been scheming to hunt outside of my state. Hunting within your state is where you cut your teeth. From there you have to branch out.

Of course the reality of this would be casting myself out into the world alone, which is a scary thing to do. Eventually this gypsy-like quality strikes all people for them to migrate and see new places for the excitment, awe, and alas vacationer fatigue (when you go, then come back more tired than what you were when you left).

While entertaining this idea of out-of-state hunting I was plotting to hunt turkey nearby on this tract of land that belonged to the DNR, but being familiar with the property over time, had some questions before I set out to beat the bush. I referred to the rules and regulations book; no answer. This tract of land was fifty miles off the coast in a swampy area.

My questions were on unmarked lanes with gates that were at times locked. Seemed simple enough to answer.

Called up the game warden. Not a nice chap; didn't answer my question. He admitted to me lack of knowledge on his part about the area. Belligerently referring to the rules and regulations book, which did not cover this particular question. Sadly I had to raise my voice which I don't like to do. He made me feel like I was not welcome to go to that place or I was pestering him when he had more important things to do. The most useful thing I got out of him was the problem of bogging down so some of the lanes with locked gates could only be walked down. It would seem previous hunters or woodsy people just tore up the roads. It was the Blood Moon. Maybe he was on his manstruation? (Love you guy!)  I wondered why he didn't take my name and get back to me. Moving on.

What does one do when the game warden is of no help and the possiblity that you could run amuck of the law exist? I stewed then got an idea. I considered people that were new to the sport without a clue. One must get a clue after all.

When a person starts out hunting, fishing, camping, or even hiking there are rules and regulations that you must abide by while utilizing property. If you do not understand or know these regulations and rules could mean a ticket, fine, or jail time. God forbide losing your hunting license for the rest of your life.

If I were to go to this area, get myself in trouble, the game warden is not going to care, then will most likely antagonize me for whatever crime I commited by making me feel stupid; giving me a ticket anyway. I refer back to my conversation with the game warden when saying, "I don't want to go to this area then commit a crime by happenstance and have the game warden say to me, "Ignorance is no excuse" when I am calling you with questions. Made sense to me. I will tell you I love the SCDNR but sometimes it is the individual attitudes within this department that make life problematic.

Sometimes you can't let off-putting people stop you. I can admit there have been up to three different people excluding the game warden that I have asked to clarify or go down to this tract with me so I won't get in trouble. All they do is walk away or ignore you.

Here is what I did. I knew of a retired game warden that lived close by and called him. I explained to him what I was attempting to do. He took 45 minutes of his personal time out to explain to me about the tract of land. After this conversation I felt more empowered to go by myself and sit under a tree to do my business.

I had paid for my license last year for this particular tract that didn't need tagging or special permits. Always thinking of safety, if I were to go inside this place by myself then someone would have to know. I went over to the local DNR office to pick up maps for each game zone. I looked them over. Unfortunately there were no detailed maps of the specific area. What was a girl to do?

I googled Earth. For every one of those little lanes or entry ways, I followed the white line to see exactly where it ended. Most of them looped back to the main road so I was comfortable with the fact I could get back out. I did note the swampy areas where it would not be easily accessed. I then thought I would go down and make my own map with numbers and where it ended so when I went back I could mark the places where I hunted, water holes, game that appeared, general direction of tracks and time of day among other things. As we know some animals do not go back to the same place twice or travel the same path. Overall this endeavor was to pinpoint my location to family members if I were not to come back so it would be easier to find the body. There is the old saying, "Gone and let the hogs eat you". Gone being the southern sounding word in exasperation for "Go on". I could be eaten by wild hogs; it happens.

This is why sometimes you have to consider the way people get into hunting or fishing. Someone else takes them and minus the license probably do not feel responsible for the knowledge because they are temporarily there for the pleasure of the activity.

If you go by yourself it is rather different. As a hunter you have to put some semblance of thought and planning into your trip or else come up empty handed or worse yet in disaster. Your success depends on your knowledge and not someone elses unless you are gathering it from the source that dictates the legal parameters of whatever it is you are doing. I negate guided hunts in this piece because you are still relying on another person for your success.

I know there is a lot of online chatter about how close people are that hunt but when  you are considered the outsider in circles or just starting out while not knowing anyone it can be hard. To some extend it is who you know. You don't know anyone; it gets harder. You might approach people that turn their nose up at you, do not want you to know their hunting spot, or consider you a joke because they don't think you have "the look" or "attitude". Unfortunately for me I don't have "the look" but my attitude I wonder at sometimes. I don't wear camo all the time, sleep in it, cover my truck in it, or whatever else people do with camo. I don't look the part which confuses people. Usually I wear a red plaid shirt, blue jeans and snake boots. Half of the time there are memes that have make-no-sense messages that drive me crazy. Hence, keeping my inflammatory writings relegated to my blogosphere.

When you are a female hunter starting out, as magazines and other people that hunt are tooting their horns while neglecting to educate these women on the details of what life is going to be like, may find moments where things are just unclear or you are going it alone.  A lot of this information you can get from online or at the local Department of Natural Resources. It is always a good idea to check with these departments because when land tracts are exchanged they could have changing legislation, logging companies could be on or off the properties, there might be existing private property within the tract, and  the reality of changing conditions. Moreso what you can, can not do and telling someone when and where you are going, then coming back at what time. You have to consider cell phone reception in case you break a leg, bog down, shoot yourself, or pass out. Some hunters go down in the woods to have a heart attack then where will you be?

There is nothing wrong with asking for help. If whoever doesn't want to help you find someone with character that will. There is always a way, might take you a while to get there, or find a friend or two to get your back, but keep trying and doing. Eventually it will come and they will find out they found a diamond and not a piece of coal; when coal was all that surrounded them.

P.S. So going to get a ticket from the DNR.

Written by: W Harley Bloodworth
                  
 

~Courtesy of the AOFH~