I just finished an Adventure Getaway in Texas with a big group of wonderful women from all over the map. We had been sold out for 6 months and I had a long waiting list of women wanting to attend. I don’t like leaving people out so I have planned another one for this coming February… can you guess what we’ll be doing? Better grab your spot fast. Details here.
My Latest Adventure Getaway Was Epic and Here’s Where We’re Going Next:
One of the best parts about this experience were the safari rides through thousands and thousands of acres. The wildlife were stunning.
We hunted in the late afternoons, as the sun was going down and golden hour was setting in. This was our whole group on the evening of our final hunt right before the wine started flowing.
I loved all of the conversations I got to have in the back of those jeeps, it was girl bonding at its finest.
The heat was working against us some evenings and so the doves were flying late, but there was a flurry activity and it was exciting when they all came. Some people have a misconception of what dove hunting is–because of those videos circulating from staged Argentina dove hunts. I have to say that’s never been my experience dove hunting. I love the waiting and the social aspect of it. I am not interested in a bunch of planted doves bred and dropped off for me to shoot from the sky. But I think people who are new to dove hunting don’t realize the difference.
This is Hana who shot her first dove and was such a bada$$. She ate the warm heart of the dove as a way to inherit its spirit and be grateful for it. That is something that I talk about in my book “Girl Hunter.” The Native Americans did it when they hunted as part of the prayer of gratitude. And you get marked with the blood of the first animal you kill.
One of the gals emerged wearing a dress and boots one evening and looked so stylish it inspired me to design a hunting dress. What do you think? There are some aspects of hunting that are less hard core and more social and I think it would be so fun to wear then.
This was fabulous Sherry. She was such a great shooter and fisher woman. She was such a star.
And Robin! This was her second trip with me and she’s already signed up for her third with me in February.
And Meredith is signed up to join us again as well! She was our star shooter, she is a natural and such fun to be in a room with.
Loved the style these gals brought with them… they made it their own.
She even pulled out her By Georgia t-shirt that came in her gift bag!
And Elizabeth is our social media maven so she’s responsible for all of the amazing content you got to follow throughout the weekend on Instagram. The Instagram highlight titled “AG 2019 2.0” is still up for you to view.
People always ask me why I don’t shoot a lot on these and it’s because I enjoy being a teacher and bringing people in on the access I’m blessed to be offered. For me it’s about getting to see it all through new hunter’s eyes, it brings me just as much joy as if I were shooting myself. I remember being on the other side of that and being new and I’m grateful that I get to pay it forward in some way.
It’s interesting that there seems to be a clear divide between people who fish and people who hunt. I try to incorporate fishing when it makes sense as well as other opportunities to practice manual literacy — for example we had a woman wildlife conservationist teach us about animal tracking, as well as an expert forager who took us on a walk to experience the abundance of wild edibles around us. This was Susan fishing, she was so wonderful I’m so glad to know her now and call her a friend.
This is Molly and Elizabeth about to head out to their target practice! Clay shooting always gets peoples blood flowing.
These are just some of the incredible wildlife we saw — kudu — which are delicious!
Driving back as it got dark was especially fun, it was a fairly long drive and we got to see the animals move and the sun set.
At one point we stopped at a lookout point and saw this. One woman said: “It’s all the people who you have loved and who have passed, reaching their arms out to you and telling you to live life well.” I loved that and thought of my dad in that moment.
Every evening we did a Modern Pioneering project — this was the natural dyeing that I learned from my friends at Hillfolk Textile Studio in Bentonville. I filmed with them in August and learned so much from those talented women makers. It’s fun to pass it on, probably not as well, but we did our best. We used all kinds of natural food dyes and flower dyes, it’s amazing what you can use that we often throw out — everything from onion peels to coffee grinds to avocado pit peels!
