#89 Lisa

I Grew up hunting with my dad. He was and still is my hero. He taught me respect and love for animals and the wilderness. My first harvest was a Shiras Bull moose at the age of 16. Hunted many deer and elk until I was in my early 30s, th...en was introduced to archery hunting. I harvested my first archery bull 3 yrs ago on my own. My second the next year. In the 28 yrs of hunting I have never lost an animal. I practice a lot and never take a questionable shot. I love to take young people and novice hunters out for their first animal and teach them what my father taught me. Please vote for me, Miss Huntress 2011.

I began learning about hunting from the time I was a very small child.

My father took my siblings and myself along on hunts. I always loved spending time with my dad and wanted very much to be just like him. When I was a child we hunted strictly for the meat. My parents were poor and trying to start up a business so huntng was mainly for going out and shooting the first legal animal they saw. It was to save money, so no extra trips up was their goal. They made the trips fun, my mom packing a good lunch and a thermos of hot chocolate for us. As I grew older hunting became more than just harvesting my animal but a time to spend in the woods with my husband, children, friends and family. There are a number of reasons I hunt, the first is for the meat it provides for us and many others. I try to promote healthy eating for my family and elk meat very healthy, it contains a good amount of omega 3 and is very low in fat. The best part of hunting is the quality time I have gotten to spend with the people I care about. Seeing the beauty of our mountains and watching how animals behave in an undisturbed environment is also one of my favorite things about hunting. During archery elk season I have had the pleasure of watching cow and calf elk interact, listening to them talk with each other and play. We called in a calf one year within feet of us.

She was so cute, looking and calling, trying so hard to find the cow. She would come running in close, look around, and give up, once we called again she would come back. This went on for several minutes and I wish I had made a video of it. I have had many similar experiences like this because with all my years of hunting it has become my goal to always harvest a mature animal. I hunt for the big one until the end of the season, but in that last few days I am strictly hunting for meat because we do rely so much on wild game as part of our diet.

My husband and I have mentored many youth hunters as well as new adult hunters. Last year we took a friend hunting. He had never gotten a bull elk and it had been several years since he had an opportunity to hunt due to a brain tumor and neurosurgery. Our focus on that hunt was to help him get his bull. We got him on a young bull and he made a prefect shot. He was so happy,

as he walked up to his elk he had a huge smile on his face. He turned around and gave us a big hug. Seeing him so happy and able to fill his freezer for the winter made last season an exceptional one. With our children we taught them respect of an animal. They always observed our hunting behaviors and how we treated our game. Taking a new person out on a hunt so they can experience it without being the hunter is a great start. Our children always came on our hunting trips. They walked the woods with us, helped dress out, and hang the animals. They knew from the start what they should do. When they started hunting we stayed right next to them coaching them through the shot or telling them not to take a shot when an animal was too far or not positioned well for a good clean kill. Mentoring a new or youth hunter involves a lot of teaching the ethics of hunting and respect for our wildlife and land. We have always told our children and those new hunters we take with us that these are living creatures and with that in mind, when we choose to take a shot with a gun or a bow and arrow we need to make absolutely sure everything is right to ensure a good clean kill. It does not always work out perfect but we must try our best. We spend 3 months a year hunting on our days off work and taking those who have not been able to get their animal out hunting. We are very successful hunters in our area and share that as much as possible. During others times in need we have given away entire elk we butchered ourselves and will continue to do so.

Practice makes perfect in shooting rifles and bows. I shoot my bow year around to guarrentee if I choose to take a shot it will be an awesome shot. If a shot is not so great, as with my first archery bull, the wind was blowing and I hit the bull too far back hitting it in the liver. I could see the arrow sticking out of the elk as knew this was a fatal shot. My son came up to help me find him. We looked that night and spent half a day looking the next morning. When I went to bed that night I had a terrible time sleeping. I felt bad about my shot placement and the fact that this animal would suffer due to it. I was worried about finding him and if he had crossed on to private land.

I had a million worries running through my mind. We did find him and packed him out. I did not and would not have taken a shot at another animal after shooting that bull, I was determined to find him and not allow an animal to be wasted. I have never lost an animal in the 27 years I have hunted. I hear of people that shoot an animal, look for a short time, give up and go shoot another animal. This is unethical and an embarrassment to those of us that do our best to promote ethical hunting. Sometimes I think hunters should have to prove their shooting abilities prior to going out hunting. Gun hunters should be able to shoot a bullet within a certain diameter group and log time spent practicing and maybe archers shoot in a 3D situation with a certain score needed to get an archery tag as well as logged time practicing. I hear a number of people make statements about not picking up their bow all year and now archery season is a week away so the are hustling trying to get their shooting down. These kind of preperation is why we get so many wounded animals.

Archery hunting and archery in general is my greatest love in regards to hunting and the outdoors. There are very few female archers in my community and I try very hard to get females involved in archery. Recently I have been able introduce archery to 4 females, 2 adults and 2 children. One of those ladies harvested her first archery animal last season, a buck antelope. I also took her out elk hunting. She did not get her elk but the experience was very exciting for her and she is now hooked. My archery elk hunt with my son is by far the most memorable and charished hunts I have been on. We started our hunt knowing we would need to walk quite a ways. We talked quietly and called with a cow call the entire walk. Once we got a response, my son told me to get ready. I felt he needed a chance so we had a bit of an arguement. I did listen to him and got ready. He continued to call and the bull came running in screaming. Stopped just in front of a tree allowing me to draw and take the 30 yard shot. I saw the arrow hit and knew I made a perfect shot. My son called more to calm the bull. Then he ran over to me and gave me a high 5. He was so excited, you would have thought he shot the elk. After bringing the elk in to town to cool we headed back up and I called for him. A

6×6 came in hitting trees with his antlers and screaming, throwing dirt and grass in the air with his antlers. It was quite a site. Stephen also made a perfect shot. Took us til 3am to pack his bull out. We talked about that hunt and decided this may have been a once in a life time experience for a mother and son to go on an archery elk hunt together and both of us get our elk.

Mine was a 7×7 and Stephen’s a 6×6. It is a memory I will treasure til the day I die.

I would love to get the opportunity to go on the African hunt. It would be amazing to see the land and different wildlife, to experience a different culture and the beauty of the people their. My husband and I are avid hunters and had planned to spend our 25th wedding aniversary on an African hunt. It just so happened our daughter was engaged the same year we were to celebrate our 25th. That definitely changed our plans. Our children have always come first and her wedding was definitely going to take priority over an African hunt. We gave her a beautiful wedding and in turn gave her and her husband the memory of that for their lifetime. The wedding was worth every bit of the money spent for the memory it provided so many people. She will celebrate her 1st anniversary this August. It is still a dream for my husband and I to go on a hunting trip to Africa. We have never hunted big game out side of our state.