MBA BOWHUNTER OF THE YEAR

BOWHUNTER OF THE YEAR

Mandy Garness is this year’s MBA Bowhunter of the year! I thought it would be cool to ask her a few questions about her bowhunting background and her thoughts on a few other topics. Enjoy!

Montana Bowhunters Association has done a great deal to help ensure opportunities for archery hunting including lengthy seasons, archery-only hunting districts, and education and promotion of archery to future generations. As you know from your involvement in MBA, Montana archery seasons are constantly challenged by bills introduced in Helena.

In your opinion, what is the biggest threat to Montana bow hunting as far as the introduction of new bills during Montana’s legislative sessions?

For years, the MBA has been instrumental in preserving and creating bowhunting opportunities. We have to find a way to be progressive and cooperative, but it’s so much more difficult to reverse a decision than to prevent a problem. Currently, our biggest threat is certainly crossbows. It’s important to keep our archery season fair chase. Even as MBA members, it seems most of us also rifle hunt and are open to other weapons, but there is a time and a place for each. We need to keep supporting the use of PTMAE for disabled hunters and promote the use of the proper weapon in the appropriate season.

Referring to how folks are introduced to archery it seems like bowhunters fall into a few different categories. Often times a family member inspired them (sort of born into it) or they started on their own and sought out guidance and advice.

Who, what, how, and when was your initial interest and introduction to archery?

My dad was an archery hunter and still teaches Bowhunter Education here in Montana. My parents were 4-H leaders in Cascade County and the 4-H program is where I began shooting. Cliff and I grew up in Great Falls and so attended the Great Falls Archery Club 3D shoots. Scrapbooks of our young family are filled with our kids and nieces and nephews flinging arrows at foam all over the state. We made lifelong friends there. Along with my husband and family, it’s their advice, encouragement, and support that emboldens me to continue hunting on the days when I mess up a stalk or don’t see a thing. Never a bad day in the woods!

Art Hayes had an awesome seminar on his shed antler collection and shed hunting techniques at this year’s Convention. It’s always refreshing to me to know there’s someone else that has an over-the-top antler fetish. Much like Art Hayes, I have a few sheds from my teenage years that I still admire often.

Do you deliberately seek out deer and elk sheds in the springtime? If so, do you ever sleep next to your favorites on occasion?

I love this! I can’t say I’ve slept with them, but my flower beds have more deadheads and sheds than blooms–when I can convince the black lab to leave them there!

Every bowhunter makes mistakes, no doubt. But if there was one arrow you released and could take back, which arrow would that be?

Before I hunted, I was subjected to HOURS of the hunting channels and videos playing at home. It seemed that no one ever missed or lost an animal. I have a skilled and honest group of peers and mentors in my life. They have always been open about mistakes happening and the ethical response. We all come together to crawl through the woods following a drop of blood at a time when there’s a call for help. We haven’t always been successful, but we’ve learned from each experience and have truly given all we could to recover an animal. I have spent sleepless nights replaying a shot. I have come to understand that you make the best choice you can, try not to rush a shot, and realize that once you release that arrow you can no longer control it and never the animal. My best advice is to be patient, persistent, and stay positive. Even after a missed or poor shot, learn from it and try again.

If you had one day of the year to hunt, one species to pursue, and one location to be, what and where would that be?

Only one? Am I being punished?? I can’t stand sitting still waiting for fish to bite, and I don’t know why it feels different, but I can spend days on end in a tree stand for bears, deer or elk. Given just one day though - I LOVE ELK! It’s probably the bugle that gets my heart racing and my brain spinning trying to figure out a strategy to close the distance.

Success is defined differently from one hunter to the next but obviously you had an epic successful 2021 hunting season. Was 2021 your best or can you recall a better season?

This was it! I’m not giving up hope for a repeat. In fact, the confidence boosts it’s given me has been a push to hone my skills further, but I know in my heart how fortunate I have been. Due to Covid, we had to reschedule Africa and so traveling for two hunts in one year was not in our original plan, but after being locked down, we were not willing to give up either opportunity. In June, we packed our bows and headed to Hawaii. I wrote about it in a prior newsletter, but long story short, I misjudged where an Axis buck would step out and missed clean. A few hours later I was able to connect with a doe. Africa a few months later was amazing! We all had wish lists prepared ahead of time and I soon realized that my list was useless. It was a little like heading to the grocery store hungry, without a list. –Ooh, that looks good, I’ll take two of those, and hey, it’s on sale!! I passed a kudu on the first day, but on the second day he was not so lucky. A sable was not on my list, but a beauty came in and who can pass up a sale on those? I also had an opportunity at a duiker, a warthog, and an impala. We did a little rifle hunting too, but I’d much rather watch an animal walk away after a close encounter with a bow than take a long shot with a rifle.

Montana Archery season rolled around and hunting with the Badass Babes. We did a little bugling and played the wind to sneak between some screaming bulls. We hadn’t laid eyes on anything yet but set up in a meadow and started cow calling. It didn’t take long before my bull showed up. After my shot but before we started looking, a couple more bulls came in to check out the commotion. I’m not a trophy hunter but am extremely lucky – the only elk to walk within range that weekend was a 356” bull! It’s easy to find a couple of friends to go shopping or grab dinner, but I’ve got a group of ladies that will cape and quarter a bull without calling the guys for assistance!

If you could be transported to another time, place, and in another bowhunter’s shoes for one day, what would that look like?

I’m always watching my GPS pretty carefully for land borders. It would be nice to be hunting before there were fences to stop a stalk.

What was your first real bowhunt on your own?

Maybe not the first, but one of my favorite memories…I was sitting in an antelope blind with my youngest son. A buck came in and he was no giant, but this was just about me and Kadin hanging out for the day and doing it on our own. Kade had been a trooper, getting up early to go, napping and snacking for hours in a 90-degree blind most of the day. Finally, the antelope headed our way to the water tank. I tried with everything I had to draw and couldn’t budge the string. We were looking to see if there was somehow a stick in my cam and finally realized adrenaline had been my kryptonite! After the buck had walked away, I could draw no problem. We had a good laugh and were a little calmer the next weekend to try again. When my heart doesn’t race and my leg doesn’t shake as an animal comes in, I’ll know it’s time to hang up my bow.

We are truly blessed here in Montana as bowhunters.

What is your Montana dream hunt?

I keep putting in for the Big Three. Members of our family have drawn bighorn and goat tags. Someday it’ll be my turn!

A while back the Hunger Games movies inspired many young women to pick up a bow. Any words of advice for the female Bowhunter?

I started bowhunting to spend time with my husband and sons. If you can’t beat them, join them, right? I was content for a long time to let Cliff decide how to play the wind, which ridge to hike and choose a setup. I was happy just to be spending time together. Then came Amy LePage. She suggested Girl Weekend. We had a safe place to go, a pocket full of tags, help a phone call away but were on our own to make the decisions. Steve and Cliff helped us pack up the truck and were still calling out advice as we pulled out of the driveway. We did come home, but we’ve never looked back! Girl Weekend has grown over the years, expanded by generations, and even took us to Florida for alligators with our bows. We work hard and we’re strong; not body-builders, but smart and methodical. You don’t have to be a professional caller. You have to be positive and persistent. Keep shooting!

Badass women like Mandy consistently prove that bowhunting success doesn’t require machismo, you don’t need a burly beard or an 80 lb. bow. Mandy is an inspiration not only for women and young girls but for all hunters. Her accomplishments as a bowhunter and the volunteer work with the MBA are something to be proud of.