They’ve been in the woods, marsh and swamp sweating or shivering, depending on the weather at the time, waiting for that shot at a duck, deer or squirrel.
They are ready at a moment’s notice — heart beating wildly — to shoulder a rifle or shotgun, take aim and squeeze the trigger at the bird or animal, like every hunter who draws a breath. But you might not recognize them without their makeup on, or without their hair done up, or with them wearing camo instead of skirts, shirts and blouses.
Teche Area girls who are hunters have been in the outdoors for years and many of them have become avid outdoorswomen whose passions include fishing and boating. There have been generations of female hunters in many families ... or some who have started trends.
Ashley Anslum, 12, and Makayla Dupre, 12, both of Charenton, and Amanda Hankenhof, 11, of New Iberia, can be counted in the large number of area girls who hunt and are proud of it, as are their parents.
“Absolutely. It’s something for us to do together. It’s not just for boys. It’s good quality time for us to spend together,” Scott Dupre, 32, of Charenton, said last week as he warmed up to one of his favorite subjects. He also hunts with his 9-year-old daughter Chloe. Makayla and Chloe are students at Glencoe Charter School.
The senior enforcement agent with the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries added, “I have a strong passion for hunting. For my girls to want to do it with me, I can’t ask for better. Like the bumper stick says, ‘Teach your kids to hunt and fish and they won’t steal and deal.’ I find the less time you spend with your children the more time they’re going to be looking for attention somewhere else.”
The bond between a father and daughter or daughters formed by taking them on a hunting trip can be as strong or stronger as a father bringing a son or sons hunting. Schedules for many girls are adjusted and readjusted for hunting and take precedence over dancing, arts and crafts, karate, Girl Scouts, soccer, cheerleading, etc.
This is a great time of the year to be a hunter, male or female, any age. Small game hunting for squirrels and rabbits has been in season for a full month. Deer hunting is in full swing. Waterfowl hunting gets under way Nov. 10 in the West Zone and brand new Coastal Zone.
The Hankenhofs, Dr. Rob Hankenhof, a New Orleans native who practices family medicine here, and his daughter Amanda Hankenhof, a sixth-grade student at Highland Baptist Christian School, plan to be duck hunting next weekend south of Marksville.
They can’t wait.
“My dad can’t shoot. Only us,” she said, noting the hunting party for the youth hunt-only weekend probably will include younger brothers Hans Hankenhof, 9, and Caleb Hankenhof, 8.
“We’re looking forward to it. I don’t get to shoot. I’m sure they’re thrilled about that. Usually, if they miss I back them up. I’ll do the calling and I’ll work the dog,” Hankenhof said.
Amanda said she went on “four or five” duck hunting trips with her father last season.
“But I really didn’t shoot anything because I wanted to get used to it,” she said.
The approach paid off. During the special teal season in September, Amanda killed a teal with her .410-gauge shotgun and proudly held the day’s harvest for a photo.
She thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
“It’s interesting. I don’t sit there watching television all day long. I sit in a duck blind with ducks over my head. I shoot one and the dog goes get it,” Amanda said.
Angelle Hankenhof, her mother, who also lives in New Iberia, said, “I love the fact she’s not in front of the television. I love the fact she’s outside and active. She fishes. She hunts. She crabs. She plays soccer.”
Her HBCS classmates Blair Abshire, Jacob Legnon, Rory Ronsonet and Cade Lipari also hunt ducks, said Amanda, who also plays softball and in a drumline.
Amanda and her older sister Julia Hankenhof, 15, are waiting to shoot the first deer of their hunting careers, she said. Julia, she said, is a manager for the HBCS football team and has been busy this season assisting the Lions.
Amanda used to call herself a “tomboy,” her father said. But she’s definitely not a tomboy, he said.
“Amanda also has that competitive edge personality ... Everything she’s done from karate to band to soccer to softball, she’s always been ‘let me take it one step higher.’ She’s one of those competitively driven kids. So far it’s been the same way when it comes to shooting,” he said. “From the time Amanda was born, she was always a very independent child. Her mom and I used to joke she’s going to be CEO of a Fortune 500 company or be a lawyer because she has that killer instinct.”
Look out, ducks.
Capt. Scott Anslum, narcotics division manager and accreditation manager with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, enjoys taking his daughter Ashley Anslum as much as Hankenhof likes to take his daughters and Dupre enjoys taking Makayla and Chloe, 16-year-old son Elijah Dupre and Evan Dupre, 5.
Ashley’s godmother Tammy Ashley of New Iberia wholeheartedly approves.
“I’m glad her dad is a great role model. She’s in arts and crafts and dancing,” Ashley said, “but she can go out there hunting with her dad and brother. I’m glad the exposure is there. I think it’s great she is a girl and it’s great she can go out there and hang with the guys. It’s not every dad that’ll take a girl hunting.”
Later, after thinking about it some more, she sent an email that read, “The experience and lessons that I believe hunting has taught Ashley are: patience, discipline, working on a team, safety and survival skills, listening and following instructions. She understands that hunting contributes food to the household. These lessons will benefit her thoughout her life!”
Ashley’s father was hunting by himself Wednesday on the Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area when he took a break to talk about his daughter, a student at Glencoe Charter School. The 38-year-old outdoorsman recalled she killed the first deer of her career last year on a lottery hunt on the Atchafalaya Delta WMA.
Ashley wasn’t as fortunate on the lottery hunt Oct. 18-19. But her reaction impressed the veteran deputy.
“We saw four does, but she wasn’t able to shoot,” Anslum said.
Well, she could have, but ...
“She didn’t have an ethical shot. A couple of does came out the Sunday morning. One was facing her ... it wasn’t a high-percentage shot. She wasn’t able to get it in the scope” when it turned broadside a short while later, either, he said.
“After, she told me ‘Dad, it’s OK if I don’t kill anything. I’m still having a great time and I’m spending time with you.’ That was toward the end of the hunt and we were about to get out of the stand.
“Ummmm, I think it’s great. She enjoys it a lot. It gives her an opportunity to spend time with me. She enjoys that. She likes to watch the animals, the rabbits, the other stuff. She’s been tagging along with me for years, probably since the age of 5,” he said.
“I enjoy hunting. I grew up hunting. My biggest thing, being in law enforcement, dealing with kids and doing talks and stuff at schools, is to keep them busy and active or somebody (else) will keep them busy and active for you,” he said. “Hunting’s good all around. Nothing bad can come out of it.”
Anslum’s close friend Scott Dupre agreed. Ashley and Makayla are best friends.
The eight-year veteran game warden fondly remembered a poule doo hunting trip they took last season at the end of the second split with the girls and sons Elijah and Evan Dupre. They got their limit.
“We would find a big flock on the water and drift into them and shoot. There were poule doo flapping all over the water,” he said, noting young Evan picked the shot ducks up by the feet as they went by.
Stephanie Anslum, Ashley’ mother, remembers that trip, too.
“It was crazy insane. They had like 100 birds. They were just all over the place. The kids just had a blast,” she said.
That’s what it’s all about.
Don Shoopman is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.