During bow season it is still pretty hot outside, so we usually go back to camp for lunch. One afternoon we were sitting outside in the only sliver of shade remaining and a friend stopped by. Soon we were sitting in the blazing sun with several friends. It was a lot of fun and we were mostly talking about what we had seen and what we had missed. Apparently none of us were winning any awards for marksmanship at that point. We watched a video of one friend who missed an elk at 20 yards. I’m not sure what was funnier. The video or the fact that his buddy took such delight in showing it to us.
As I sat there I was struck by the folks gathered there. We were friends. And even though we are all still friends in town, town puts labels on people and forces us to all play our roles. We had attorneys, law enforcement officers, a person or two who had been on the wrong side of the law and women. Women in hunting camp who hunted with the men and weren’t expected to stay in camp and be the cook. None of the roles we play and the ways we make our living mattered in camp. The labels go away and we can just be who we are, not who we are expected to be. I will remember that afternoon as one of the best times I had all year.
Oh, and the guy who we all laughed at for missing his elk sent us a picture a few days later of a bull elk just outside our camp while we were in town. I am sure he enjoyed taunting us.
Real Women Hunt 