While Riley was gone on his hunt he called me a couple times to give me updates on how his trip was going. Every time he called he was so excited; first call, he made it to the landing strip safely. Second call; sheep down. Third call; caribou down. Fourth call; coming home and couldn't wait to show me his animals.
This made me start wondering... why don't I start getting involved in this whole hunting thing. So the week he go back we discussed it and went to a local bow shop and set me up with a bow. It is black with pink accents and very small and lightweight. :) Of course I had to get a stylish one! We started going to the shooting range a couple days a week. I have learned so much about hunting in the last couple months. Not only about how to take an animal down but all the regulations.
In Alaska you have to be bow certified to hunt which meant I had to take an online class and than pass a test. After the online test I then register for a proficiency shoot where I would have to shoot twice at 4 different targets and hit the kill zone at least once at each Target as well as hit the kill zone 5 of the 8 shots. The worst part is you would have to shoot in front of groups of people. If you miss twice at the same Target you fail and have to do it all over again.
Well we had our caribou hunt planned for the middle of September and I got a bow in the middle of August. So I had 4 weeks to get up to the required bow draw weight for caribou of 40lbs, pass the online test and pass the proficiency shoot. I was able to pass the proficiency shoot about 5 days before leaving for our hunt and got up to 41lbs about four days before we left!
The proficiency test was so nerve racking!!! There were over 20 people (about 4 girls) and we split in to groups of 5. Three of us girls decided to go together, one of the girls was about 12 years old and has Alaska state shooting records haha. The other was about my age who's husband was with her too. The couple was in the same situation as Riley and I. She had only been bowhunting for weeks as well and they were leaving to head up to the haul road to go caribou hunting the following week. We actually met up with them when they were up there hunting.
Riley was able to come with me (although I don't really think he was suppose to) I did pretty well and hit the kill zone 7/8 shots and this was actually better than some others! It was nice having him right there helping calm my nerves and making sure I used my range finder correctly since it was my first time to even hold one. I was pretty pleased with my shooting and I think Riley was as well!
I was ecstatic about passing! I always knew I would tag along on Riley's hunts but I never thought I would be hunting along side him. We were both excited about trips we could take and I think he is actually excited about having his wife as a hunting partner. Atleast on some trips, I think I will stay away from the trips that require a rifle or shotgun... atleast for now.
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