In my 50 years of penning this column, I’ve incurred the wrath of my readership on only three occasions. The most recent related to my suggesting that herbicides might be relate to our pheasant decline. I won’t apologize for that as I just don’t know. My second falling-out related to my suggesting that SD Game, Fish, & Parks might be right in their effort to ban rifles for turkey hunting. I was deservedly bombarded by senior hunters. My third miscue occurred many years ago when I opined that a woman had no place in the guiding business. I took a well-deserved beating on that one.

My female guiding hang-up related to what I foolishly believed was inappropriate. I didn’t want to share a tent with any woman other than my wife and children, and I would have been very uncomfortable stepping behind a tree to relieve my bladder in the presence of a female guide. My “Archie Bunker” point of view came during a time when most doctors were men. Today I wouldn’t give a second thought to being guided by a woman so long as she knew the country and the elk.

My learned perception of “man the hunter” and “woman the gatherer” goes back to gender bias rather than truth. From the last centuries of the Middle Ages, restrictions on female roles in society spread from Europe on the winds of imperialistic ambition. In essence, women’s lives were governed by male ideologies. American women were encouraged to avoid unfeminine behavior. There were notable exceptions. Annie Oakley, the equal of any man in shooting skills, much preferred hunting. Paulina Brandreth published her first story in Field & Stream at age nine. Her deer hunting classic, Trails of Enchantment, was published under the pen name Paul Brandreth.

It is now theorized that early hunting cave paintings were done by women. Archaeological evidence indicates that women hunted alongside the men. 9000 years ago Peruvian hunting weapons were buried with women for use in the afterlife. European queens hunted tigers and panthers like their Egyptian counterparts as an aristocratic pastime. Queen Elizabeth II, that matronly-looking 95 year-old woman we often see on the news, hunted tigers in Nepal back in 1961. Girls, Ladies - there is nothing unladylike about hunting!

Today female hunters represent the fastest growing segment in America as women make up 22% of all American hunters. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, this figure is up 25% from the 2006 numbers. While a number of these women grew up in hunting families, many are introduced to hunting by friends. As the father of three daughters, I failed in developing hunting daughters. Other than always encouraging them to do their own thing, I don’t know where I failed. Perhaps they tired of venison and pheasants and never wanted to eat it again. I asked SD Game, Fish, & Parks for some figures on women and hunting licenses, but they didn’t respond.

As high school principal at Wagner during the years 1976- 1997, my favorite day of the year was the Monday that followed the opening weekend of the East River Deer season. I loved standing out by the lockers before 1st period and listening to the exciting deer stories. Not just the young men spun yarns, but the young ladies too. Today’s column was inspired by Shane Mahoney’s “A Women’s Game.” His article appeared in the March/April 2022 issue of Sports Afield magazine.

About 20 years ago I wrote about a TV commercial that aired when I was a kid. A handsome Indian brave sat on a fine horse, and tears streamed from his eyes as he peered at a garbage heap. I commented that the commercial was pure fiction, and referred to the garbage strewn about a farmer’s field that came from the tribal housing unit two miles north of Wagner. The following day on Main Street, two native men told me in so many words that it took guts to write that column, and that his people needed to hear it. That field was cleaned up immediately.

Today that same field is again strewn with garbage. The Yankton Sioux Tribe has made great strides in recent years, but this progress is marred in the eyes of all by the travesty north of town. Let’s see some Native Pride straighten out this mess. Much respect will be gained.

See you next week.