CINDY LAVENDER
I'm 43 year old female hunter; I started deer hunting in 1989. I've always been a tomboy my whole life. When my husband (who was my boyfriend then) asked me, the thought of hunting with him was exciting to me. I didn't grow up in a hunting environment. I can't explain why it would this seem remotely exciting to me, but the feeling was there. I really wanted to hunt.
I can remember that time, almost 20 years ago, preparing for my first deer hunt was interesting. We drove to the first Gander Mountain in Antioch, Illinois, one of the only or few hunting outlet stores around. It was a little over an hour's drive, we make a road trip out of it, and I'm up for any road trip. They didn't sell women's hunting clothes back then. I never hung out in the cold all day so I bought my first (Men'size) blaze orange overalls with a (Men's) blaze orange hunting coat. The overalls I had to have tailored, which was funny because I'm 5'3" and my legs are short, so even when they hemmed the legs, the butt still hung down too low. Oh well, I won't win any fashion contest but I won't freeze to death either! The coat was bulky and too big, and when I held up my husband's Remington 30.06, I could barely see through the scope, because the large coat gave my shoulders an extra 2" of padding (and barrel length) I didn't need. Good thing I never had a shot at a deer that year.
Back then, I was also under the impression that the more you layer your clothing, the better to keep warm, so I padded my skinny legs with 7 pairs of men's cotton longs johns under my blaze orange and about the same number of layers of thermal underwear shirts (they were just making fun of me the other day about it-years later you'd think they'd forget). I was ready to brave the tundra, but I felt like a giant puffy Pillsbury dough boy. My hunting boots were nothing to speak of either, they were a well known brand but they were heavier than boat anchors and my goodness; I got a good workout from walking in that getup through sometimes many inches of snow, over uneven terrain and the cranberry marshes.
Over the years, I have evolved! Way back when, a girl named Suzy Smith had a hunting line for women and I bought a Real Tree Camo® jacket from her and gosh something actually fit right. There are other women, but barely a few that I knew of out there who like to hunt also! Then, with the invention of Microfleece and UnderArmor, I now can get away with one or two layers underneath my insulated camo overalls and be lightweight, warm and dry all day. I have the right size woman's hunting coat (sometimes), women's overalls, and women's boots. I use a Corcoran ladies winter military tall lace up boot for hunting, very warm, very dry and very comfortable. You need good footwear when you hunt like we do. We stalk hunt and walk for miles from before the light creeps over the horizon in the morning until the end of the day when the sky turns a charcoal color at dusk.
My second deer season (yes, I wanted to do it again) it was decided that I needed my own rifle, so we looked around and I settled for a lighter kicking, longer range Browning A-Bolt Medallion .243 with a Redfield scope, which later got replaced with a Leupold.
For nine days, from dark to dark we walk the logging roads, highlands, the swamps and marshes to stalk upon unsuspecting deer. We're probably the only idiots that will break our own trail through a deep, snow-covered, knee-deep wet cranberry marsh. We'll also crawl through a cedar swamp to explore it, there are endless 'deer highways' (beaten down paths of thick green, lush peat moss). The thick peat moss sometimes one to many feet in thickness; with water flowing just beneath its surface filling the hollows, with trails weaving and crossing in an enchanted underworld forest, the cedar boughs make a dark roof over the area blocking out most of the sunlight. I walk by a tree and it grabs my hat right off my head. I follow behind my partner, keeping a safe distance from a tree branch being flung back into my face.
A day or two into the week, we might explore completely new territory which is exciting to me, every tree and bog and rock has become so familiar to me in our 10 square miles behind a small northern Wisconsin town. While it is a futile search for game at times, this is what we do. It's not so much about the kill for us. It is about us, getting away from the rat race, being outside, there mainly to enjoy the outdoors, be within sight of the black bears, porcupines, ermine and nature! Only hunters can say they have seen the kind of incredible beauty that I've seen.
Deer season in Northern Wisconsin is during Thanksgiving week. There's no telling what the weather will be like. This past year it was in the 50's. Some years it's as warm as 60 degrees, and some years it is as cold as below zero, with a wind chill of negative pretty fricken cold. I remember a day I particularly enjoyed, it rained the entire day, a steady downpour, I was completely soaked, my feet were wet, but I felt warm and keyed up all day. A good year is when there is lots of snow on the ground and the deer need to keep moving to stay warm and look for food. If you walk in deep snow, and you move in a slow quiet stalk, you will almost certainly sneak up on deer. Then, sometimes, when the ground and your surrounding vegetation is frozen over, every step you take is a loud crunch and it echoes throughout the woods; all you get is to swing in the direction of a bunch of white tails running away from you, either that or nothing is in your path for miles.
I have slept very soundly in a swamp lodged between two fallen logs when I'm tired like a sleepy owl, and while trying to keep alert, I have drifted off, the sounds of the crows and the hyper high pitched chirping and yakking, eek eek eek eek of the squirrels becoming a blur; my eyes gradually falling shut despite my best efforts. Everyone's had a nap in their blind, haven't you?! We're out here in the weather and you can't turn the heat up, so we build a fire to keep warm. If you're really hungry and miles away from food it's not totally unheard of around these parts for someone to shoot a rabbit for lunch. But… we usually try to meet at the truck around midday to dig through the cooler for sandwiches, snacks and pop.
I have been up in a tree stand, bored and frozen, willing and prayin
g some way, somehow, I would be lucky, that it would be that one moment when that non-typical monster buck would come out and I would be the talk of the town! Nothing moves for long periods of time, or the squirrels are having a squirrel-fest and they are so loud and constant that I can't believe that I am actually getting annoyed by their sounds. Sometimes, there's barely a wisp of wind in the leaves, yet I would still find it in me to be patient and keep convincing myself that my bladder had a reserve tank I could switch over to.
I have sat on many wet logs and contemplated my life in the big city and had interesting conversations with myself during the course of my hunting day, but as tiresome or cold, or eventually renewed that I am, I would never trade it for anything else in the world, not even a cruise in the Bahamas with tan island men taking my drink orders while I am lounging on a white sandy beach. Well, we could do the cruise in the Bahamas some time other than Thanksgiving week.
For being a girl playing in a man's world, I will hold my own and always have. I don't expect special treatment. I will gut out my own deer. I do need help dragging my deer, but the dressing I will do myself. I've also had an audience of men circled around me while I am 'operating', making jokes while I gutted out a buck (you know the one about the deer pecker sandwich?).
Just like a private pilot I know who says, "you're not a pilot until you've soloed an airplane", I don't believe you can call yourself a real hunter unless you can dress your own deer, anyone can pull a trigger. It's a blood sport, so unless you're willing to finish the job, you're not a hunter in my book. If you can take a life, then you can give it the respect by finishing the job, by not just pulling the trigger and letting someone else do all the dirty work.
The BIG event every year of my life is deer season, though I have had many memorable experiences pheasant hunting, duck and goose hunting also. I have harvested a couple of rabbit for a friend of my father who likes cooking a rabbit dish. I'll save the other stories to tell to my grandchildren some day. Being a female hunter today is better in a lot of ways. My experiences have taught me how to survive in the wilderness. Today the resources of information, the gear and clothing are much more accessible.
For a long time, 
I have wanted to try to shoot the bow. About 3 years ago, I finally got a bow for Christmas. Today, I've already owned 5 bows and shoot competition archery aside from having my first bow hunt last winter. As for competition, I came in 1st PLACE in the State of Illinois 3D Championship, in 2008 I placed 1st in the NFAA Illinois State Field Archery Championship, and in 2007, I placed 2nd in the NFAA Illinois State Field Archery Championship. I am now involved in 2 indoor leagues during the winter, when it’s too cold to shoot outside.
Bow hunting is much better than I ever expected! I have my own tree stand and all my own gear, and I know how fletch my own arrows. I typically hunt with my guy friends, and also hunt alone. Every time I go out, I learn something about how to be more efficient with my gear for next time.
Bow hunting for me has opened a whole other world for me, and I am more passionate about the bow and arrow than anything I've ever done in my entire life. I practice as much as I can, it’s such an intricate sport, every little thing affects how an arrow flies. There is still much more to learn.
I put a lot of effort into my hunt no matter what tool I choose to hunt with. I can hunt more days, I will walk more miles, a longer distance, and I will stay out in the cold as long as the next "guy".
Cindy Lavender