Mr. Wonderful is a huge fan of hunting. He gets at least 5 animal tags every year and generally fills them all. So when hunting season rolls around it is fair to say I am the definition of a hunting widow. He leaves in the early morning and comes home late at night so I get to spend hardly any time with him. Well instead of trying to pull a guilt trip and asking him to stay home and spend time with me I decided at the end of last years hunting season that I was going to flip the script. When the people I love the most are happy it makes me happy. It makes life easier to live and stress is at an all time low. When I told my Mountain Man that I wanted to accompany him I don't think he took me very seriously. But I was determined to spend some time with him during hunting season!!!
It took more time that I thought it would to even be in the vicinity of shooting an animal. First I had to attend and pass hunters safety. For me, this was a 2 week course. I went every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 3 hours. The class was at 6 at night so Mr. Wonderful was in charge of dinner and baths for our little princesses while I was away. He was lucky that I set a strict 6:30 bed time for our twins!! After passing hunters safety I needed to get comfortable with a rifle.
I am 27 and have never ever shot a gun. It was by far the most intimidating activity I have done. I don't know if you know but rifle's make a big KA-BOOM when you shoot them...something I knew, but never having shot one didn't realize how loud it is. I know very little about guns so all I can tell you is I shot a 243, apparently it's big enough to shoot an antelope but not big enough for a deer or elk. We went a couple times over the course of 2 weeks just so I could get comfortable. The first time I went I probably took 15 minutes between each shot. Mr. Wonderful was happy that I was even venturing down this road so he was super supportive and didn't tell me to hurry or anything. He just let me take my time and do things my own way. He told me he wanted me to try shooting at the 200 yard target. (That's the length of 2 football fields) I told him he was crazy but he just said "You'll be surprised. The scope does all the work for you. Just put the cross hairs in the center of the target and pull the trigger." Because I had never done this before my confidence was at an all time low. Did he really expect me to hit that little target on the hill?! He told me my first shot was low...just try again!! I did. I tried 3 more times and hit the target every time! I decided to leave that day on a high note so I called it quits. As we were leaving he told me that women are better shots than men statistically. Apparently it comes more naturally for us.
While family was visiting this summer we meant to go to the range more often and practice but life got in the way and it never happened. Fast forward to this week. On Wednesday I went to town so we could shoot but Mr. Wonderful couldn't get away from work and said we would just have to go on Friday. Friday came and at the range I took some shots at the ground target (100 yards), the 200 yard target and the 300 yard target. At the end of the day I told him I feel most comfortable shooting at 200 yards. He didn't tell me at the time but it turns out he has never been able to shoot an antelope at 200 yards...they have always been 300 or farther. So he didn't think I would end up getting one. Let me rewind that statement for a second. My mountain man has recently been bow hunting. At the beginning of hunting season bow opens before rifle. The animals haven't been shot at so they aren't as scared and generally hang out close to the roads. When he went at the start of the season he harvested his first antelope at 70 yards. As hunting season progresses and rifle opens the animals are getting shot at a lot more and become more nervous when they see you and run away at the drop of a dime. So it makes sense that as the season progresses the antelope are more skid-dish.
We left our kids with their grandparents on Saturday so we could go get me an antelope. After a couple hours of driving around my first real chance came. There were 2 antelope (a male and female - I had a doe tag) bedded down. The range finder said they were 201 yards away. PERFECT! And then reality set in. There was a road right behind them...and occasionally trucks would drive by. If we drove behind them on that road we were facing a few guys working. We decided to pass with the hopes that making the responsible hunting decision would give us something better. We rounded 2 corners in the road and opportunity struck. Sitting 168 yards right off the road were 8 antelope. "Get out of the truck and grab your gun." Here we go!! Mr. Wonderful told me to look through the scope and try to find a female. Just as I found one he said "Shoot the one that just stood up. It's a doe." What?! So I panned over lined up my shoot and fired. I remember thinking "I don't think I got it." So I reloaded. Then Mr. Wonderful says "You hit her. Get ready to shoot again." But by this time I have ZERO idea where she is. I mean ZERO! Then I hear "she's down! You got her!" High five!!
From the beginning of this experience I told Mr. Wonderful that I was most nervous about just wounding an animal and having to shoot them again. So as we were approaching her that is what I was thinking about. I made him go first to see if she was still alive. She wasn't (thank God). 1 bullet...I shot her through both lungs missing all bone. She didn't even know she was hit.
After the field dressing was done and we were back in the truck I said "I didn't think this is how it would be." He said "what do you mean?" I guess I anticipated that I would feel some kind of way. Guilty for taking an animals life, or so happy and excited that I had just done that. For me it was neither. My heart rate never went up when I took the shot. It didn't go up when he said "she's down! You got her!." It didn't go up when I saw her. It remained the same. I definitely didn't feel anything. I feel like I felt before I shot her. With that, Mr. Wonderful looks at me and says "should I be worried about you? Are you a killer?"
I will continue to hunt with my mountain man next year. It was fun and I learned a lot. I mostly liked spending quality time with him and seeing him in his element. This is the thrill and excitement he lives for I love seeing him so happy. We couldn't stop smiling after I got her. He was so proud of me! Next year we plan on taking our oldest. She's a pretty tough girl and has already asked if she can go :)
Until next time,
xoxo
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