With the recent closing of the 2025-2026 deer hunting seasons, students at Liberty reflect on growth and virtues that come from the immersive, nature-centered experience.
Kenna Jenn (she/her), 10, has been hunting since she was a kid, shooting her first animal at nine years old. With shooting hours ranging from a half-hour before sunrise and a half-hour after sunset, hunters like Jenn are able to enjoy the different times of nature.
“You have to be quiet. You’re watching, so you just get to see and hear nature,” Jenn said.
Eva Pentecost (she/her), 10, can attest to the heightened sense of awareness that comes with hunting.
“You’re not just looking at the deer, you kind of realize things around you,” Pentecost said. “After I shot my first deer, I could just hear all the animals scatter behind me. Even though I couldn’t see them, I could just hear them all.”
With anti-hunters questioning the morality of hunting practices, local hunters like Jenn and Pentecost always utilize the animal. For instance, deer meat can be taken to a meat locker and processed into summer sausage and deer sticks, or the liver and heart can be dehydrated into dog treats, according to Pentecost.
“You can still be an animal lover and go hunting,” Jenn said.
Another hidden aspect of hunting is the time and effort it constantly takes. Setting up food plots and trail cameras in order to recognize movement patterns of deer is vital to the process. Despite efforts to maximize success and control variables, hunting can be unpredictable at times.
“You can be out there for three days in a row and not see a single thing, or you could be out there three hours and see a deer,” Pentecost said.
Regardless of the amount of work put into the hunting season, the results can be very rewarding.
“You won’t see the results immediately; you just have to keep putting in the effort,” Pentecost said.
With 17% of all active hunters being female, according to a report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jenn and Pentecost note the surprise others have when learning that they are hunters.
“Typically, it’s more male-dominant,” Jenn said. However, reports suggest that more women are joining the hunting community.
“It makes me feel good because it’s breaking stereotypes. People need to realize that they need to not be so stereotypical,” Pentecost said.
At the end of the day, gender hunting demographics can vary. At Liberty, however, female hunters like Jenn and Pentecost continue to break down barriers associated with women in wildlife interactions.
