On the Saturday morning of Homecoming weekend—before curling her hair and applying mascara, before donning herself in a glittery burgundy dress and sparkly silver heels, before brightly smiling for photos—
Nola Moore (12) was awake at 5:45 am, decked-out in camo and tall boots, a gun slung over her shoulder, hunting in the woods with her dad.
Moore got her hunting license two years ago, which allowed her to hunt by herself. Before then, she would go into the woods with her dad and his side of the family, including some family members whom she rarely sees aside from these outings.
“I love hunting, but it’s also really nice to be around other people in my family that have that similar interest,” Moore said. “Before I hunted by myself I would just go sit with my dad or my grandpa [as they hunted] There’s not many deer up where they live, so usually we don’t get anything, but it’s still fun to be up there with my family.”
One of the places Moore hunts is up north, in Cadillac, where her grandparents live. She also goes to the Manistee National Forest, which is right outside of the town. She mostly hunts deer, but occasionally she
hunts for squirrels, turkey or rabbit. Though Moore enjoys the social aspect of hunting, there is nothing that compares to the feeling of shooting one of these animals.
“It’s such an adrenaline rush,” Moore said, “After, you get super shaky, but it’s so exciting, especially if you know it’s a good shot.”
Moore would love to see more representation of hunting in the media. There tends to be a negative stigma around hunting, especially that it is bad for the environment, which is true in some cases, such as illegal poaching of endangered animals. But in Michigan, there is an overpopulation of deer and hunting deer can help restore biological balance.
According to Bridge Michigan, when the deer population is too high, “car crashes increase. So do farm losses, as deer devour crops. Forest understories disappear as deer overbrowse saplings, eliminating habitat for species such as ground-nesting birds and creating a void for invasive species to fill. Ailments like Lyme disease, bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease also spread more easily in dense herds, in turn threatening humans and livestock living nearby.”
Even when Moore isn’t able to shoot anything, she never regrets spending long days in the woods.
“I always like to go out, even if I don’t get anything,” Moore said. “It’s always fun to see [wildlife]. Last year, my dad and I saw a doe with her two fawns, and we just watched them for an hour. It’s so cool to see them living their lives, even if I don’t get anything.”
Another reason Moore enjoys hunting is that it gives her a chance to disconnect while being in the gorgeous outdoors.
“I really enjoy sitting in the woods, which sounds kind of weird, but it’s very peaceful,” Moore said. “It’s a nice experience to just sit and be alone with your thoughts.”
