Growing up, everyone has something they’re good at, a sport, a certain hobby they love. When you’re young and new to a hobby, you don’t really think about how others in that field see you start out.
Many of us who grew up here in Humboldt love the diverse range of animals and plants found just outside our homes. For me, waterfowl captured my attention at a young age. I started hunting and shooting my first 20-gauge shotgun at trap and skeet clubs when I was just seven years old.
This was a fun way to pass the time with my mom, and it greatly strengthened our connection. Being able to leave the house and play a sport that involved shooting a gun, something I was really good at. But at a young age, I never realized all the hate surrounding girls in a male-dominated field would feel like.
In my experiences hunting with my mom, others would always somehow have a problem with it. Seeing a woman and her daughter engaging in “men’s hobbies” seemed strange to them.
My mother, Jennifer Caldwell, said, “I remember one time I was hunting in the field and a guy came up to me and he was like, ‘Get out of here, this is my field.’ So I moved to a different field, and he was like, ‘No, you need to go away…if you want food for your family, you go to the grocery store little lady.’”
But to us, it wasn’t strange, a way to connect and get out and be with nature, away from electronics. We would take trips down Southern California and get to experience hunting snow geese (my first ever bird I shot) and deer. I loved hunting and shooting my gun, but when I look back at those sacred memories, there was always an older guy giving me advice on how to “do better.”
I know my skills, and I know how to better myself. When I got told my skills weren’t good enough or heard laughing when passing by older guys for standing wrong while shooting my gun at the gun club, it really got to me.
Now that I’m older, I realize that almost every woman who has been into hunting or trap and skeet has had a similar experience with men giving unwanted advice. People don’t expect girls to be into such a sport and find it surprising, but it’s very important that girls stick with it.
Kenny Rocourt, a past member of the Arcata High clay target club, said, “I’m proud to say that I have won state conference medals because of my passion.”
Having people in your life that support you in every way, like my mom, who encouraged me to pursue trap, pushes you to accomplish so many things with the skills you learned young. Sexism is very commonly seen in sports, no matter what gender-dominated field it’s in. Suggestions from older men really stick with you; a small laugh can change so much coming from them, and people don’t realize how that can affect others.
