Shelah Zmigrosky: What got you started hunting? “I’ve seen photos of my Dad’s first whitetail deer that he shot around the time of my first Christmas. In one of the pictures, I was sitting astride the buck’s neck. I also remember seeing photographs of me rocking his dead squirrels, ducks, pheasants, and quail. I guess I was bound to become a hunter.”
Shelah Zmigrosky: How old were you when you first went hunting? “I was a tag-a-long any time I could talk Dad into it, but by the time I was six, I didn’t think that Dad should go hunting without me. Of course he and his buddies did leave me at home if they could, but it wasn’t without me having a fit.
Shelah Zmigrosky: What did you hunt first? “I remember taking the quail from Jeff O’ Honey, dad’s prize English Setter bird dog, then carrying them in his oversized-vest that I insisted on wearing. Every now and then, he would wound a quail that I would attempt to nurse back to health-- that was until dad realized what I was doing and insisted that I pop the bird’s neck to kill it.”
Shelah Zmigrosky:
Tell me what was the first animal that you killed?
“It was on one of those quail hunting trips that I got to shoot my first animal. I was the lone hunter accompanying Dad. The quail were scarce, so Dad told Jeff O’ Honey to tree a squirrel. It wasn’t long before Jeff O’ Honey had a squirrel up a tree. Dad shot it and several more. For a while, I had wanted to shoot the gun. Dad had let me pull the trigger while he held the gun, but I had never gotten to shoot at an animal until that day.
“Let me shoot it,” I begged Dad.
“You’re too little in the toots” Dad said.
“No, I’m not” I pleaded. “If I were a boy you would let me.”
I guess that hit a cord in Dad because the next thing I know he hands me the loaded shotgun.
“Kill him if you think you’re big enough” he exclaimed.
“I guess that was his way of shutting me up and proving to me that I was too small, but what happened next would change my life forever.”
Shelah Zmigrosky: Tell me more!
“I remember distinctly that the gray squirrel was sitting on a limb way up in a tall tulip poplar tree. Dad let me shoot his Winchester 20 gage shotgun. He put a shell in the gun and handed me the gun. He did not show me how to shoot. He just clicked off the safety and told me to kill that squirrel. I tried.”
“Of course the stock of the 20 gage was way too long to fit against my shoulder, so it was tucked under my arm. I squeezed the trigger, but the squirrel didn’t fall. I remember the gun kicking quite hard, but I was not about to complain. Dad pitched me another shell and after I struggled to load the gun, he showed me how. Now, I was a very small girl besides being young and I remember the gun being very big. I was determined to kill the squirrel. I shot and shot, but the squirrel refused to let go of his limb or come down the tree.
Shelah Zmigrosky: Did you get it? After 11 failed attempts, Dad said, “Let me show you how to shoot that gun.” I watched as he shouldered the gun and laid his cheek to the comb of the stock. I just knew that he was going to shoot the squirrel, but he loaded the last shell and handed me the shotgun.”
“You’ve got to make this one count or we will go home empty handed” he said.
“I remember taking my time, positioning the gun like he had showed me. I laid my cheek to the stock then lined the white bead up down the center of the top of the barrel. When the bead was on the squirrel, I pulled the trigger. The squirrel fell. He plopped hard on the ground. I remember picking up his warm dead body. I felt a sense of jubilation like none that I had ever felt before. I was no longer just a little girl; I was a real hunter.”
To learn more about Joella Bates and Foxy Huntress, visit them online at http://www.foxyhuntress.com and you can hear more great stories from Joella Bates at http://www.bowhuntingscents.com .
Both Shelah Zmigrosky and Joella Bates will be at the National Wild Turkey Federation in Tennessee from February 18th-22nd. Come by and see them, say hi, and take home the perfect outfit for your next outdoor adventure!
