[MUSIC] KORI PRICE: The whole experience of being out there like waking up before the sun comes up, getting yourself on a ridge, you just become so much more inquisitive about, nature and ecosystems and animals and how they move and what they're thinking.

And I just, I felt like so much more connected with the land.

JEANNE MCFALL: I guess I'm kind of awestruck by, you know, if you've heard an elk bugle and it just, it gives you shivers and goosebumps.

And if you can actually call back and bring that elk in it, hands down, one of the coolest experiences I've ever had.

TATE ELLIS: It's taking a life which doesn't sound spiritual, but you know, this is what our ancestors did.

It's primal and very instinctual.

And until I think you've done it, it's really hard to put into words what the experience is actually like, but it's very powerful.

BRUCE REICHERT, HOST: Beneath every person there's a reason for why they do, what they do... Join Outdoor Idaho as we find out what it takes to be a hunter.

[MUSIC] ANNOUNCER: Funding for Outdoor Idaho is made possible by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis family legacy of building the great state of Idaho, by the Friends of Idaho Public Television, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

BRUCE REICHERT, HOST: Idaho is home to more than 50 million acres of public land.

That's virtually 70 percent of the state.

And for centuries, people have been hunting on this land, the Nez Perce, the Shoshone, the Bannock, the Paiute, the Coeur d'alenes.

And occasionally it was both men and women who did the hunting.

Hi, I'm Bruce Reichert and welcome to Outdoor Idaho.

You know, today, nearly 300,000 Idahoans hunt, and lest we men forget putting fresh meat on the table is not a gender specific activity.

All it takes is a good eye, a steady hand and a desire to get out on the public's land Now every hunter has her own story.

So let's hear some of those stories firsthand, from the women who hunt.

[SNOW CRUNCHING] TATE ELLIS: [whispering] We are going on a cow elk hunt today, it's been snowing and it should be a beautiful morning.

Going to find some elk.

I started hunting five years ago growing up in Idaho.

It's always been present in my life but I've never actually pursued it myself.

I decided to try it.

[Whispering] Oh yeah, it's exciting, you know you're hiking up in the dark, peeking out around every little ridge, making sure you're seeing everything.

It's a beautiful morning, couldn't ask for a better hunt.

[DOG BARKS] KATIE WATTS: Oh you're going to be a hunting star today.

Well, the boat is part of the adventure.

I grew up with three brothers so I did hunt a little with them, one quail hunt, a couple duck hunts with my brother Pat.

And I cried the first time I shot a duck too.

Alright Trudy you're about ready.

ANDREA MAHORNEY: I am the dog captain and that entails managing the scheduling of all the dog handlers and making sure all the dogs are all up to snuff for the season and properly trained.

[WHISTLES] Whoa, good.

If I'm hunting for myself, then it's heaven.

It's so peaceful and tranquil and you're just there and it's just you and your dogs and they're pouring out their heart for you.

And it's just almost like church.

LOGAN ERES: I was ten when I shot my first limit of grouse and I remember feeding everybody in the house with my grouse.

That was a moment of pure pride and then I went on to shoot deer and elk.

Getting meat does matter, I don't want to discredit like, oh, it's just so much fun to be out here.

No, I'm out here intentionally with the intention of harvesting an animal, but if you focus too much on the outcome then you don't really get to enjoy the beauty of the hunt.

KORI PRICE: I'm feeling sexy.

Ok, we got that big guy.

So you can just make that steaks.

I took Hunters Ed when I was twelve and I had every opportunity to learn how to hunt when I grew up from my dad who tried to get me involved but I don't know, I could've cared less.

A couple years ago I met a group of female hunters and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever and I thought why am I not doing this?

I should get involved in this.

I wish I had found it sooner but I do feel like this is a sport that I was meant to do and meant to keep doing, forever.

ELLIS: We do have respect for life and we do take it as a heavy, heavy thing.

It's not like you just want to go out and kill everything you see, it's heavy, taking a life.

But we do understand that it does contribute to the conservation of these animals We love seeing the animals.

Um, we just want to eat one or two of them a year.

BRANDI BURNS, CITY OF BOISE HISTORIAN: Women became involved in the conservation movement shortly after the Civil war ended in 1865.

Women in the West were campaigning for conservation efforts also through writing and their art work, but they were also hunting.

They were hunting for sport as well as to support their families.

And then as time goes on, you get that, those white upper-class women who have the leisure time, and then they're coming into the West and they're doing more of that sport hunting.

Working towards not only preserving certain landscapes, but also working to preserve and educate the public about the wildlife of the West.

ELLIS: It's not about the harvest.

It's about pushing your limits and facing your fears and just being outside.

And I always say, it's amazing where one little piece of paper, one little piece of paper that says you can go out and kill this animal, where that will take you.

[MUSIC] WATTS: This is a hunt we do a lot, where we actually go back first [WHISTLES]and come back around.

We find sports or activities that make us live in the moment and so I think that's another thing, is when you're out there and waiting for the birds to flush, then you're living right in the moment, you're not thinking about yesterday or tomorrow.

That gets me, keeps me going.

MAHORNEY: And I can't even put it into words, but there's something about when you're just you and your dogs on the side of a hill or out in the wide open prairie, it's like breathing, I don't know.

It's that exhale after taking a deep breath.

That's what I love about bird hunting.

[GUNSHOT] [WHISTLES] Good girls, good girls.

BETH WARD: You can be in the mountains, you can be in the desert, you can be in the snow, you're outside in the elements and you're focusing on accomplishing a goal.

That's what I love about it.

ERES: But once you see something it's like, is this the one?

[LAUGHS] It's instant adrenaline rush.

And it gets so exciting.

And then you have to like, okay what am I seeing and calm herself down.

And then if it's a legal buck, then it's like, oh my gosh, it's the legal buck and your adrenaline spins again.

Lots of deep breaths.

So it's, it's an emotional day.

ELLIS: [WHISPERING] They'll get up and feed at night and go down to water and now they're working their way, they're feeding their way back into the timber.

This time of year with more snow on the ground they'll tend to be out a little longer so hopefully we get a good one here, where we have this little open spot where we know we have an elk.

BURNS: The women who picked up hunting and other outdoor activities were sort of viewed as a little novel and eccentric and you see even in the captions of these very impeccably dressed women hunters there's a lot of emphasis on their gender, like father with daughters or so and so huntress.

They really did emphasize that novel part of women hunting.

ERES: One of the things I was thinking about when we were filming this is, you know, I got my nails done for a friend's wedding.

And I was just like, oh great.

They're going to shoot me hunting.

And my nails are done.

And now I'm going to be one of those girls who gets all dressed up to go hunting.

It shouldn't matter what I wear or what I look like, but it runs through my mind, anyways.

These are irrelevant.

Yet, they're a reason someone can choose to invalidate me as a hunter.

MAHORNEY: I've had experiences where I've been told I wasn't going to work because I was a woman and I never would.

I mean, it's certainly been hard, but certainly worth it.

[GUNSHOTS] I think I'm at a point now, you know, I'm near 40 and I don't care anymore.

And so I'm going to do what I want to do because I love to do it and that can either intimidate some people or not.

And we just roll with it.

Good girl, good girl, thank you.

MCFALL: Yeah, it was a little frustrating because I actually worked with a lot of hunters.

And so I would hear about all of these successful hunts and men bonding and men going on on hunt camps together.

And there's a little bit of jealousy because I wanted to so bad and I really wanted to learn.

I'm just checking the range, so I know what pin to use.

I have two or three mastering elk calls DVD's.

I would just play these DVD's and so, yeah I did a whole lot of learning on my own.

BURNS: These early women really created a foundation for women hunters today you know they proved their medal that women are able to do all the things that a man does.

These early women really showed the contributions that women could make and sort of normalized the practice so that women participating today aren't viewed as eccentric or novel that they're a part of this field.

ELLIS: [WHISPERING] See the tallest tree in the middle, she's to the left and down.

She's at like 250 yards.

We have a cow right here and she's standing directly behind a tree, just feeding away moving really really slowly so I'm just going to wait for her to hopefully step out and get a clean shot.

[MUSIC] MAHORNEY: You get one dog and you love it and it's great.

And you get two because to work better than one and then you get three.

So then you can rest, and then you get four so you can rest the two and then work the other two.

And you just keep snowballing.

Well, maybe a whole other team of four would be great.

And then you get eight.

"He's happy to see you Payton."

And then you get some Spaniels and you've got to have a double team of Spaniels too.

So it just kind of snowballed into where I am now, but the versatility and the ability to do all of this, I need the dogs and they love what they do.

"Thank you."

MCFALL: And you felt pretty good about it?

"uh huh" I had a little boy and I want to be able to teach him hunting because his dad doesn't hunt.

And I knew that one day he's going to be of age and I wanted to be able to take him hunting, just like my dad took me.

So if I didn't know how to do it and I wasn't proficient on my own, then I wouldn't feel comfortable taking my son out.

Because I wanted to be a good instructor to my kids.

[MUSIC] ♪"GPS on a rocky trail T-Bone steak with a side of kale He's a millenial cowboy in Idaho."

♪ PRICE: I definitely consider hunting for me and this elk for me, very much a community situation.

Like I wouldn't have been able to do this without the people that have been supporting me from day one.

"Give her a chunk of meat and let her go."

I've been lifted up and supported since the moment I decided to hunt.

And I just, I just can't see it any other way.

And I want to share it all with everybody, except the backstrap, not the back strap.

♪ "One more time... they're millenial lovers in Idaho."

♪ [LAUGHTER] ERES: We had a holiday potluck one year at work and a woman from Ethiopia brought Ethiopian food and a man from Italy brought Italian soup.

And I, as a Hunter in Idaho got to bring elk meat and we had pulled elk sandwiches.

And to give that to people like in my own state, city and from around the world, the opportunity to eat something that's so wild and free was just like, so cool.

So cool.

[GUNSHOT] WATTS: Nice shot John, that was a nice fat one.

And the fact that it's organic and you know where it's been before you put it in your freezer, which you can't always say about some of the protein that you buy in the store.

We make really good stews.

We can just do it with mushrooms and... JOHN WATTS: Onions and mushrooms and butter and oh my gosh it makes all that heart pounding and leg throbbing worth it for one second.

ELLIS: When it's time to take that shot, you kind of go into that meditative super grounding, grounded mode, just kind of everything else goes away.

[GUNSHOT] ERES: I think hunting should not be taken lightly.

It is so dangerous.

You're driving out to wild places.

You're shooting a gun or really sharp arrows.

You're putting yourself into the wild, away from your safety net of a vehicle.

And then you've got to pack this animal back to your car and store it safely and then cut it up and then be safe with the meat once you get it.

It's so dangerous, it's so hard and yet we do it.

[LAUGHS] WARD: You're hunting, you're not shooting.

And my philosophy that I learned a long time ago when I was young was that most predators take nine to 10 times to actually get a prey.

So you have to keep that in mind when you're hunting, you might have to go 10 times or you might get out the first day and get your deer.

[MUSIC] ELLIS: [Whispers] So exciting.

I hope I got her.

I just made a shot at that elk, and I think I made a really good shot.

We watched her run behind some trees.

And lost visual.

I can't find her.

So now we're going to give her some time and then we'll make our way around this bowl to that ridge and hopefully find her back behind those trees or find some tracks to go find her.

ERES: You are literally looking in the eye of pain that you've caused and you're just not human if that doesn't slap you across the face.

So there is a part of terror that reigns through me after I pull that trigger because I want to see that animal go down hard and fast.

You've got to put it out of its misery.

Pride and joy and sorrow and I can't explain to you what goes through my mind.

I cry, I'm excited because I did it and sad because a life has ended.

WARD: Every time you shoot an animal, for me, it's a little bit spiritual.

And it's a little bit like you want to thank that animal for giving its life to you.

You know we don't trophy hunt, we actually go out to get meat to put in our freezer.

ELLIS: You know, it's all about being grounded and connecting with your innermost self.

And I feel like hunting brings out the primal energy in that same kind of way.

That's very, very connecting to the world around you.

It's really cool.

MAHORNEY: When it all comes together and it's all working well, like there's nothing better than that.

And then it just kind of gets quiet, everyone's quiet, the guns are quiet, you're quiet, the dogs are doing their thing.

And I think that's the moment, you know, everybody's smiling and happy and everybody's just quiet because they're living in that moment.

They're probably looking out at the field of nothingness and just being like, this is so great.

You know?

So I think it's in the silence in the silent times when you're just kind of there.

[SNOW CRUNCHING] ELLIS: [Whispering] Here we have a bunch of hair in the snow and a few drops of blood so it's a really good sign.

It's pretty thick.

BURNS: I think the draw was that these women of the past are like women today, like they, they had adventures they wanted to go on, they felt the thrill of doing something new, being outside, they knew was it was like to be watching a deer that they had the best shot at and then deciding whether or not they were really going to take it or not.

They felt all the same things that we feel today.

ELLIS: We tracked her for a good three, four, maybe five hours.

And she actually ended up coming all the way back down the mountain, across a creek, and then back straight up the other mountain.

So unfortunately we didn't harvest anything today.

PRICE: I don't think it's always going to be this easy, I think I got very lucky.

And I think that's part of it.

But I think I needed this moment to let myself know that I can do it and I might be good at it, who knows.

MAHORNEY: Dog training is at my core and so I love it.

I love it.

It's who I am.

ELLIS: Hunting is such a spiritual activity for me, out in the woods.

So it really, really hits home when it's not successful, you know you hunt long enough and things like that happen.

I have until December 7th if I wanted to keep hunting, but as far as I'm concerned my cow tag is filled.

That notched my tag.

I'm not going to keep hunting.

ERES: I cannot represent everybody.

I can only represent myself and I'd love for people to be willing to have conversations and to learn more about being a hunter and what we do and why we do it.

[MUSIC] ANNOUNCER: Funding for Outdoor Idaho is made possible by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis family legacy of building the great state of Idaho, by the friends of Idaho Public Television, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

To find more information about these shows, visit us at IdahoPTV.org