Beretta Duck Hunt 2022
Beretta Duck Hunt
November 2022
By Melissa Glaser, Owner Shedhorn Sports, Ennis, Montana
When you are invited to go on a hunt, you go! I was contacted by one of the reps for Beretta who I have had the pleasure of working with for some time. He asked me if I would want to go on a hunt with a group of women in El Campo, Texas, a hunt sponsored by Beretta. I pinched myself. I had duck hunted before, but it had been practically an entire lifetime so I would be inclined to say I'm a duck hunting virgin again. Where do I sign up?!
The details panned out to include my presence in the hunt as a female gun store owner and a dealer for Beretta firearms. Being a chick owning a gun store is a peculiarity given to a small percentage of firearms dealers in the US, and such a distinction always seems to raise eyebrows. I didn't dream about owning a gun store when I was a child, but I did dream about Montana. Those dreams became reality when I moved to Ennis, Montana in 2012 and started working at the local sporting goods store Shedhorn Sports in 2014. I managed the soft goods including all clothing and footwear and spent my spare time riding horses into the mountains whenever possible. I had the privilege of joining the previous owner of Shedhorn, Rob on pack trips in the mountains and we formed what I would call a special bond. So much so that when I found out he was actively trying to retire, I had to save Shedhorn. Save Shedhorn from whatever future I could not control. Small family owned store fronts have declined dramatically across the United States, but Shedhorn Sports is special and unique and I want to keep it alive as long as I can, for the employees, for the community, and for that sense of nostalgia that many feel when they walk through the door. I never thought of being a female as a hindrance or even an anomaly, I was just strutting through that door of opportunity keeping dreams alive. And not too long later, another door opened to join Beretta on this all-women duck hunt.
This hunt was sponsored by Beretta with the Shoot Like a Girl event marketing group. This group's mission is to empower women to participate in shooting sports with confidence. The mission of the hunt is to introduce women who have never duck hunted into duck hunting! What a classy deal! We were all shooting the Beretta A300 Ultima in 12ga or 20ga. This is an affordable field gun that takes a beating and can handle it. It has not been in the Beretta lineup for long but it has built a solid reputation as a duck gun. One of the guides noticed what we were shooting and was so excited that we had the same gun he used every day in the field. He proceeded to gloat that he had not even cleaned it once yet. Securing his approval was a bonus, but what impressed me was the lack of recoil on the Ultima, backed by Beretta's Kick Off recoil reduction system. I was outfitted with the 12ga and could have blasted those Federal Black Cloud 3" 4 shots all day without feeling it. And I wanted to.
Once I shot my first duck on the first day, my adrenaline for the hunt was turned on. I came home with the exact feeling that Shoot Like a Girl's mission reads--- to participate with confidence. I know I can go by myself, with a group, or even as a mentor of others into a waterfront location and listen to my heart beat with anticipation for the distinct wing beats overhead moving my direction. Over the course of the two mornings of hunting in Texas, every girl yielded at least one duck and most got several. Every girl includes first time hunters. Words like "empowered" and "accomplished" and "exhilarating" were used to describe the experience. These are feelings that don't come incidentally. They are formed when you bring a like-minded group together and give each one the tools they need to make them comfortable and successful. That is what Beretta and Shoot Like a Girl did for every girl on this trip.
I got back to Montana and one of the next mornings I was daydreaming about the hunt while mopping the floors at the shop. Some of my best thoughts come with that mop. I realized the extraordinary resources that are now accessible to women and how far we've come. We don't have to wear dresses into the duck blind; we were provided with waders sized for women. Women over a century before us fought for our rights to vote and we can vote to keep firearms in our hands and use those firearms for self-defense or sitting in a duck blind. We can harvest the meat and feathers off our ducks how we want and then enter the kitchen and cook those delicious duck breasts with ultimate joy and fulfillment. "Pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen" does not apply to this group of women. We shoot, we clean, and we cook and most of these women had kids at home too. Liberation at its finest.
As much as I try to deny and reject the technological aspects of progress in the 21st century, the advancements of gear and hunting opportunities for women are possibly better than they have ever been. Bringing together the equipment, the gear, and our own personal shooting skills into a hunting environment where we could call ourselves duck huntresses is a worthy mission and I am grateful to have been invited.
Stay tuned for more stories about our women hunters of Shedhorn…and maybe some stories from the guys too….
