Freshman Kristina Kurelja has been hunting with her father since she was five years old. “I never used to hold the gun, but I enjoyed being out in the woods,” says Kurelja about her earlier experiences.
And at 14, she is still as interested as she was nine years ago. Now Kurelja hunts both squirrels and deer. Squirrel hunting season ranges throughout the year, but deer season starts in November and ends in December. “I go squirrel hunting once or twice a month, but during deer season much less because the season is shorter and because I only shoot rifle,” says Kurelja.
Kurelja participated in the Junior Hunt for deer. It takes place three days in October and allows hunters ages 12 to 16 to hunt for buck. “It was like a regular season, but there were less hunters in the woods,” says Kurelja who went to the hunt with her father since her youngest brother Joey did not opt to go this year.

PULLING THE TRIGGER
On Saturday, December 4, Kurelja shot her first deer. “I killed a doe, and it was about a hundred yards away,” says Kurelja. She and her father were about a half mile away from their cabin that is connected to the state game lands when she killed the animal. “I am the first Kurelja woman to shoot a deer or hunt for that matter,” says Kurelja.
Like other females, Kurelja has a liking of animals, but has a different approach to when it comes to killing them. “I love any animals, including deer. It’s really hard for me to think about killing it, and when the time came, I did not know if I would be able to pull the trigger,” she says. Most girls are against the killing of animals and Kurelja feels that she still has that same feeling. “When I shot my first deer, and saw it die, I started crying. That fact that I was looking at this animal and realizing that I killed it, was pretty hard,” says Kurelja.

UNDER PRESSURE
Hunting, commonly known as a male dominant sport, makes Kurelja feel that she is in competition with males her age. However the main competition seems to be with her younger brother Joey. “The pressure is pretty high with us and I feel pressured to out-do him because he is younger than I am,” she says.
Kurelja is proud to say she’s a hunter and ignores the pressure and comments she sometimes faces. “I wouldn’t say I get picked on, but I do get called ‘lumberjack’ and ‘lumber-jail,’” she says.

HUNTING REMAINS AN OPTION
Sophomore Taylor Young encourages women to hunt. “Females make the sport continue,” says Young. Kurelja also thinks that allowing females to hunt is important. “I would definitely encourage girls to hunt, but I know many girls don’t want to,” says Kurelja, “I think it takes a certain type of person to actually want to go and hunt, but if a person thinks that they’ll like it, then they should go out and try it.”