Making memories in the field and enjoying the
great outdoors is what hunting is all about!
In
August 2015, Shoot Like A Girl was a featured exhibitor at the Virginia Outdoor
Sportsman Show. As part of the event, we
teamed up with Monquin Creek Outfitters, of Virginia, to give away a spring
turkey hunt for the 2016 season to one lucky shooter at our trailer from the
show. Monquin Creek Outfitters is known
throughout the country as one of the premier places for turkey and I was thrilled
at the opportunity to aid in this hunt’s success for our lucky winner.
Rita Cook was randomly
selected as our winner. I had such a
great time talking with Rita in preparation for the hunt, her excitement was
radiating through the phone!
My
April calendar was filling up fast! What
an exciting month! My daughter has accompanied my husband and I turkey hunting
her entire life. At eight years old it was finally time for her to try and fill
her very first tag. My family traveled to Kansas to hunt with our daughter for
the youth season. What an emotional roller costar that was! Kansas is know for
its large turkey population and we had many close encounters along with two
missed shots. All the time spent teaching and helping assist my husband in molding here with all the needed skills for her success in the field I almost cried
after those two missed opportunities. She didn’t get her first turkey but
learned many valuable lessons in the field; and she would eventually harvest
her first turkey towards the end of April. Tears of joy flowed that day I must confess.
After my families trip to Kansas it was time to go to work for Shoot Like A Girl. We were a featured exhibitor at the
Cabela’s store grand opening in Short Pump, VA. The Cabela’s grand opening was
a success and I even got the chance to meet Rita’s family at the event.
It
was finally time to travel to Manquin, VA in preparation for an early morning
date with the turkeys. There is always
something special about sharing the outdoors with another female that loves and
shares in the same passion. Knowing the alarm would sound extremely early that
morning we couldn’t help but sit up late the night before trading stories and
getting to know one another better.
I
wanted nothing more than to help locate and watch Rita successfully harvest a
turkey, unfortunately, this is not one of those articles.
I had many highs this
turkey season, my daughter harvested her first bird, which I must confess is at
the top of the list, and I too, had several successful hunts harvesting birds
in various states. As I look back on the
2016 turkey season and the many days in the field, this hunt with Rita actually
makes the top three.
Accompanying
us on the hunt was Chip from Monquin Creek Outfitters, along with Hank who was
representing Virginia Outdoor Sportsman’s Show. The turkeys were extremely
quiet that morning and as you turkey hunters know, it is very hard to harvest a
quiet bird. A few distant gobbles from
the roost and that was it, the odds were defiantly stacked against us! Even through the struggles with the turkeys we
were having a great time. We all shared
stories as we traveled to from location to location, looking for that hot
lonely tom. I have to applaud Chip, he
tried as hard as he could to get Rita on a bird, we logged many miles and
covered a lot of ground in our efforts.
As I got to know Rita better, I began to understand the various
obstacles she has faced in hunting. Rita had struggled to find information of
public hunting opportunities in her area; she also struggled with acceptance as
a female hunter in her local hunting club. As I learned of her troubles, I started
evaluate how we measure success as a hunter.
Success is not measured in our harvest! To me, success is enjoying the outdoors and
passing along our knowledge and skills to others, to passionately appreciate
the beauty and serenity of the outdoors that the good Lord created! Hank and Chip were able to share with Rita their
knowledge of various public hunting opportunities and hunting clubs in her area
that she had previously not known about. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to hunt
and share the outdoors with Rita, Chip, and Hank, and I am thrilled to call
each of them friends! It’s amazing how
fast the outdoors bonds people together from various backgrounds. I have enjoyed keeping in touch with Rita
since the hunt and here are her thoughts about the hunt.
“I was fortunate enough to win a turkey
hunt at Monquin Creek with Shoot Like a Girl’s Cristy Crawford. To say I was excited is the understatement of
the year! I was going to get to hunt
some of the best land in my area with a woman hunter that I totally admired. It was a dream hunt for me. I made that fatal
turkey hunting mistake of assuming that I was no doubt going to harvest a
turkey. How could I not, right? Ha!! Turkeys
never make it that easy, which is exactly why I can’t stop! The ups and downs of turkey hunting are what
make it so exciting. This hunt was no
exception. We heard some Toms early but
they did not follow the script we had written. We hunted all morning and I had a blast! I did not harvest a turkey but the hunt was
everything I dreamed it would be. I met
some awesome people and I got to experience hunting with them. Never miss an opportunity to hunt with
experienced hunters because they will teach you so much. Cristy was no exception. She shared stories and offered advice that
will help me to become a better hunter. This
hunt was a HUGE success because I was able to hear turkeys, hunt beautiful land,
and made friends that will last a lifetime and that is what hunting is all
about.” – Rita Cook
Making memories in the field and enjoying
the great outdoors is what hunting is all about. Measure success by the
memories and knowledge created in the field and you will always have a
successful hunt! Take a friend hunting and help us pass on the blessings of the
great outdoors!
Come Shoot a Pistol, Rifle & Bow with Shoot Like A Girl at the 2016 Virginia Outdoor Sportsmans Show! Click Here for More Details
For More Information on Monquin Creek Outfitters CLICK HERE
Cristy Crawford - Shoot Like A Girl
Chief Operations Officer, Cabela’s Pro Staff
