WILD & GATHERED

By Brentlee Smith

I took a deep breath as I reached into the dark to take hold of the tree stand ladder on that October morning in 2018. Rung by rung, I climbed until I was situated on the seat eighteen feet above the ground. I was a bit breathless, but not from the climb. No, it was from the sheer adrenaline and excitement that, at 22 years of age, I was finally sitting out for my first hunt ever. No mentor, no guide, no prior experience. Just a girl with a dream to chase and a passion for the outdoors, urging her to step out of her comfort zone to take a chance and blaze a new trail for herself…even if she did it afraid. I was eight months postpartum with my first baby boy and was trying to navigate this new season of my life. It was the first time that I never had something going on to keep me structured: no career, no sports, no schooling. While I cherished my new title of ‘mom,’ I still felt like I was just going through the motions of daily life, and I was not handling it too well. Motherhood is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever gotten to do and simultaneously the absolute hardest. I needed adventure, excitement, and something new that I could do that would refresh and recharge me, and I knew exactly what it was that I wanted to do. I grew up living next door to my uncle, Tony, who taught himself the art of taxidermy after a car wreck left him unable to pursue his previous trade as an electrician. He has always been known for the beautiful mounts he does. He worked on all kinds of animals, and the trips I took to his shop allowed me to encounter the lifelike mounts of bobcats, fish, bears, waterfowl, elk, moose, deer, and even some exotic species that I otherwise would have never been exposed to (even if they were just the skins). We would sit at his worktable and play with modeling clay while he popped one of the fake deer eyeballs into his own eye socket to get a laugh or scare out of us. I never realized just how much of an impact his passion for hunting and his work had on me. It represented a life I instinctively craved, and a seed was planted in my heart.

It was August when I handed a one-hundred-dollar bill to my neighbor in exchange for his son’s old compound bow and immediately began practicing. Whenever you’re self-taught, You start with the expectation that you’ll make mistakes to learn from. The measurements of the bow were not right for me, my stance felt awkward, and I’m not proud of the bruise I left on my forearm from improper shooting form. It was my start, though, and things could only get better; at least, that was my hope. I was standing in Bass Pro Shops, intently studying the dozens of broadhead choices, when an older gentleman glanced at my forearm and asked what had happened. When I explained it was from shooting my bow, he kindly showed me a ‘trick.’ “If you’ll put a little bend in your elbow and a slight twist to your wrist instead of locking out your arm, you won’t get whacked anymore.” I could have let pride get in my way and rejected his instruction, but I was grateful for the suggestion and immediately put it to use. Never again did I bruise, and that gentleman will probably never know how grateful I am for the advice. I thank God for his kind way of putting people in our paths right when we need them. Be coachable; I Promise it will get you farther than you can get on your own!

My next step was to get my hunter’s safety education completed along with the proper tags and licenses. When I had all the legal necessities taken care of, it was nearing opening day. I spent my spare time practicing, bingeing hunting articles, and scouting where I would hang my first stand. I spent many an evening sitting up in that stand just watching the wildlife and enjoying the peace that being in nature brings until, finally, it was open season. I trudged up the ladder almost every evening with my bow in tow, only to have it sit by my side as I sat for hours and watched. You can read all the literature out there on hunting, animal habits, and all the “how-to” articles, but if you don’t allow yourself the chance to experience it for yourself, then you will never get to be your own primary source. Allowing yourself the time to get to know the landscape, trails, and the specific animals you are hunting is probably my top tip for new hunters. Yes, take the time to read and even watch shows about hunting (big MeatEater fan over here), but you’ll have more fun learning from your own personal experiences. The mistakes I made serve both as valuable lessons and good laughs. Don’t let the pressure to be perfect suppress you from pursuing the passions you have! I’m the hunter I am today because of the mistakes I made yesterday. I’d love to share a story with you from an evening in my first season of hunting to show you that some of those mistakes can turn into some of your best memories.

Don’t Leave at Dusk

My younger sister, Monica, is pretty much my complete opposite and my best friend. She decided to tag along on one of my hunts, and we knew we would be in for a fun evening together. At the edge of a clearing on my grandparents’ land is where I had my stand hung. I knew the deer liked to feed there at night, and we had a blind set up about 30 yards from the tree. I took the stand, and Monica took to the blind. It was such a quiet evening, and I was enjoying the silence. Dusk was on us sooner than I would have wished, and it was then that I made my first big mistake. I have trouble with my vision, and dusk is the hardest time of day to see. So, I sent Monica a text and told her I was coming down. I vividly remember her response: “Are you sure? Do you want to wait longer just to see if they’ll come in?” My response of “No, if they were going to come in, they would have done so by now” should let you know just how much of a beginner hunter I was.

I watched my steps closely climbing down, and all my focus was making sure I could see the next ladder rung well enough to put my foot on it. When I hit the ground, I heard Monica opening the zipper blind to step out, and we met at the halfway point. As soon as we reached each other, I glanced over her shoulder and was shocked to see a herd of deer about 60 yards away that had been working its way to us. It didn’t take but a second for us to notice the nice 8-point buck included in the herd. We looked at each other with panic in our wide eyes and dropped to the ground. She asked, “What do we do?!” I took a second and threw out, “Let’s call them in!” Even now, I can’t get to this part of the story without laughing. The image of two girls laying on their bellies out in the woods giggling and hoping to somehow call in deer with no plan of what they would do if the deer came close just cracks me up! So, I whipped out a call I had in my pack, and she gave it a blow. She had never used a call before and, of course, did it exactly how you shouldn’t. The sound that came out was loud and obnoxious and echoed through the otherwise quiet nearby woods. We couldn’t hold it in any longer and buried our heads in the ground and laughed hard enough to make my abs ache. We popped our heads up to see how the deer responded, and sure enough, they had all eyes on us. The largest buck gave a loud snort that prompted me to return one of my own. We laughed all the harder at the stand-off between two giggling girls and a herd of very confused deer. The buck gave one final snort and ran off with the rest of the herd. They headed to the woods while we started making our way back to my grandparents’ house with no tag filled, but a memory that would last forever and still makes us laugh to this day. I have learned a lot since that first hunting season, and believe it or not, I did take my first doe just a couple weeks later, and a few friends took me under their wings the next year to teach me even more. Now, I am entering my 5 th year of hunting, and while I am far from an expert, I thoroughly enjoy how much I have learned over the years and take pride in now getting to teach my own three boys an appreciation for hunting. It’s sobering to think I could have missed out on the passion I have for hunting if I had let the excuse of “I have no one to teach or take me” or “I don’t know how to” continue to play out in my life. Some of the most precious friendships I have are with other women I’ve met who share a similar love for the outdoors. Let me be the first to encourage you to step out and do it. Do it naïve, do it hesitant, do it afraid. Don’t let your future self regret not giving yourself the grace to learn now. So go out and have fun, hunt by yourself or with a friend. Just remember to hunt hard but laugh harder.

Author Bio:

Oklahoma born and raised, Brentlee is proud of her titles as wife, mom, and friend, but delights herself most in the identity of Daughter. She spends her days wrangling her three boys, chugging coffee, and feeding scraps to her chickens. She loves her Church on the Move family and enjoys sharing her life and the light of Jesus in her Heart of the Homeland social media platforms.