Under Wing: Hunting Mentorship Guides the Way

It all began in 2019 when I walked up to a wall tent in the middle of nowhere Montana. I pulled back the door flaps and was greeted by 15 female faces, laughing, cooking, eating, and sitting around swapping stories. Some were old friends; some I had never met before. It was the 2nd annual Montana Women’s Hunt and that’s where I met Lyndsey. We had been chatting on social media for some time, and she came right up and gave me a big hug. We instantly connected and spent a day in the field glassing and sharing about our lives. It sounds cheesy to say, but at the end of those few days I felt like I had known her forever. Despite living on opposite coasts, her on the west coast an island off of Seattle Washington and myself on the east coast near Cape Cod — we knew we had to be friends. 

Over the next two years we reconnected a few times, first out in Colorado with a mutual friend Amy who was an ice fishing guide. We accidently were twins in our brown Carhart bibs, hat, and red plaid scarfs! A few months later we met again at the National Pheasant Fest event in Minnesota. We finally hunted again together in Wisconsin at an all-women’s turkey hunt. Though Lyndsey had experience with big game hunting, small game was relatively new to her. I helped her pick out a shotgun and bought her a turkey call as a birthday present that year! My passion is duck hunting, and I couldn’t wait for an opportunity to share it with her.

I’m a Massachusetts native and grew up new Cape Cod. We fished, we gathered oysters, we gardened, hiked, and camped, but no one in my family hunted. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I discovered my love for hunting which followed me when I moved to New York, Colorado, Michigan, and back home to Massachusetts. Along the way, I began teaching hunter education and volunteering with hunting mentorship programs, mostly with women. If not for people taking me under their own wing and being a mentor to me, I may never had stuck with hunting all these years. I knew it was a gift I wanted to share.

When this opportunity came up to hunt in Alberta, Canada, I could not have been more excited, this would be my first-time hunting in a different country! When I found out I got to invite a mentee, well, I knew just who to call. Lyndsey was excited but had a LOT of questions. Like any responsible hunter and traveler, she wanted to make sure that she knew everything she needed and was prepared. I arranged to have her Savage Renegauge sent out to her to practice and get familiar with before the hunt. We went over the rules for flying with a firearm as well as a packing list. Entering a new country with a firearm and leaving with wild game would both be new experiences we would be going through together.

Arriving at camp I was excited to see some familiar faces, my friends Allison and Beth and our cameraman Joe. After meeting our guides from Ole Dog Outfitters, they admitted what a sight it was to see their lodge filled with all women hunters! They revealed that we were their first female clients. Even though women are the fastest growing segment in the hunting world, we are still somewhat rare to see, especially in a group! I could barely get any sleep that first night out of sheer excitement. I whispered down to Lyndsey who was in the bottom bunk “Are you still awake?”. Of course she was, just as excited as me. “I’m so glad you’re here”, I said with a smile and finally dozed off.

Out in the field we set up our layout blinds by the light of our headlamps. I taught Lyndsey about brushing in a blind and then tucked her inside. We sat side by side as I demonstrated opening the doors, sitting up, and shooting in unison. I quickly followed up by letting her know that although I have owned one for years, I myself have never got the hang of it! Sunrise came and we were in awe. I have never seen so many ducks in my whole life. I rolled over and whispered that she was surely being spoiled on her first duck hunt and that on my first trip I didn’t see a single one! Shooting time came and we went into action. We shot a few, we missed a few, we laughed when we got caught in the doors and didn’t get a shot off. We went back to the lodge happy, hungry and covered in mud. Digging into pancakes and bacon we recapped the morning and planned our evening outing.

Setting up in a new location, we swapped shooting positions to make sure that everyone was getting a chance to shoot. As the sun quickly set, we were yet again greeted by a breathtaking aerial display. I’ll admit, there were times I was too mesmerized by the sounds of thousands of whistling wings. . . I forgot to shoot! I remember a particular group of birds coming in, us sitting up to shoot, and them all falling. We heard our guides and our cameraman cheering behind us exclaiming “That’s how it’s done!”. There was a certain amount of satisfaction as we headed back that evening with full straps of birds. We plucked some of the ducks and I taught the other women how to cook them up for dinner.

The next two days passed by too quickly. Freezing cold mornings, whistling wings, less misses, more smiles. I watched as Lyndsey’s shooting became better and better as she learned the balance of the gun and how it swings. Even with the number of rounds (and there were a lot!) we ripped through the guns, the felt recoil was minimal. Our guides taught me a thing or two about calling and working with gun dogs. That’s one thing I love about hunting mentorship, you can both be the mentor and the mentee at the same time. There is always more to learn, there is always something to teach.

It's not easy being a new hunter, especially as a female. People tend to not take you seriously. Never be afraid to speak up if you have a question. If something feels unsafe, say so. When you have an idea, chime in! Hunting mentorship is about making mistakes, learning from them, laughing at yourself, and sharing that experience with others.

When women get together to hunt, something truly special happens. It transcends just hunting. The 4 of us came from all different states, some of us are married, some are mothers, some are just becoming an adult. We stared up at the Northern Lights one night. Lyndsey growing up in Alaska had seen them a million times, for me, it was a first. That friendship that started years ago in a tent in Montana will live on, whatever state (or country) we meet up in next!