I never asked to have a dad that loves to hunt. I never asked to grow up with grandpas and uncles that also grew up hunting. But I was asked if I would like to be a part of the hunting tradition fourteen years ago.

I was five years old, had just finished preschool, and was ecstatic about going on my first turkey hunt with my dad. My dad never had sons, but he did have two little girls. Little did he know that he’d still get at least one hunting buddy out of the deal. Sitting in the middle of the woods in a blind, dressed in camo just like my daddy, and seeing him shoot a nice jake on my first turkey hunt sealed the deal for me. I mean, how many five-year-old girls get to go on a hunt with their dad? I went with my dad each season after that, and was able to see my dad shoot deer and turkeys year after year with a bow or a gun. We would travel way up north to hunt with my uncles and cousins, where the opening weekend of gun deer season was a holiday. It didn’t matter whether it was ten below or unbearably humid outside, I wanted to be out on a hunt with my dad.

Flash forward a few years to my middle school brace-face days. I had received my own bow, finished my hunter’s safety course and was finally allowed to carry my own gun. My grandpa passed down his double-barrel shotgun and eventually my dad bought me my own deer rifle. I was a fully-loaded hunter and within a few years I had my own success stories to tell, along with a few funny mishaps. I had become dedicated to the tradition. It was in my blood all along.

But it’s not just the hunt that’s kept me hooked. It’s the feeling of being out in the woods, on the edge of a field or high in a tree that makes me come back for more. Sure, it’s nice to experience the thrill of a successful hunt, but out in nature is where I find peace and stress relief. It’s where I’m closest to my Creator. When I’m in class or in my dorm room working on homework I’m usually wishing I were up in my tree stand or in a ground blind, a camo baseball cap on, looking through my sights at a nice deer or turkey.

Hunting has been such a large part of my life that I consider it a priority to get out in the woods at least once each season. It’s not just something I like to do once in a while or something that I do just because my dad does it. It’s vital for my mental health, and I’m not exaggerating. I couldn’t imagine giving it up for anything or anyone.

I couldn’t imagine marrying someone who doesn’t hunt, if ever the time comes when I could get married. I find it hard imagining myself giving my heart to someone who wouldn’t enjoy that part of my life with me. It would feel like I would be denying who I am. The cliché saying is that “couples who hunt together stay together”. I think there really is truth in that. Couples who have a strong connection with a similar activity or sport have something to do and talk about. To experience. To love together; and isn’t that what married people are supposed to do? And the biggest plus side is that hunting is the most inexpensive date you’ll ever go on, with the possibility of filling your freezer with all-natural meat!