Making Connections, Learning New Skills, Restoring the Landscape
An Update on the Artemis Tennessee Hunt Lease
By: Mary Lynn
The Artemis Tennessee Hunting Lease started with a hope and a dream… and three years later, I’m proud to say we are thriving and growing more than I could have imagined. Here are a few details and stories of the latest happenings in the Cumberland mountains of Tennessee.
Going into this year, we knew we needed to get some more help on the property so we grew from 12 lease members to 20. In July, we took on our new members and they hit the ground running. Four shooting towers were built, four ladder stands erected, and several new trails were cut and opened up on the property. A lot of blood, sweat, tears and laughs were shared as the women got ready for the upcoming hunting season. They cleared land with chain saws, hand tools, and a walk behind brushcutter up until archery season.
Robyn Macdonald and her husband Jody brought out a skid steer with a brushcutter and opened up some more shooting areas for the women and made some short work of the thick new growth that dominates the property.
Our biggest battle on this property is access. This property is dense and thick with a lot of new growth which has its advantages and disadvantages. It holds game well providing shelter, food sources, and protected travel corridors for deer and other game. It helps our deer grow big due to the lack of threats and pressure. But it can make the hunting and adventuring a little tough through the briars and the brambles. After many hunts, our sportswomen come back with scrapes and scratches when they try to adventure deep. Our hope for the coming years is to do more clearing for better roads and access.
The end of August was our annual Bushy Tail Bash! We lit up the night with headlamps in search of raccoons with our four-legged friends Coal and Shadow. These dogs were handled and showcased by Mary Sigmon and her daughter Charlie Craig from Hickory, North Carolina. Six attendees joined them for adventurous walks throughout the creeks and the mountain side waiting to hear Coal chop the trees down letting us know he had found his quarry with his booming voice. When the trail was cold and no raccoon could be found, the creeks ended up being scavenged, with a bullfrog and a turtle as prize catches of the night.
In the daytime, Shadow took the women out to find squirrels and showcase his skills throughout the thick canopy of the hickory trees. Memories were made under starlight and blue skies that weekend. We hope to hold another bushy tail bash in Kentucky or at the lease again before the end of this hunting season. If you love the idea of hunting with hounds, be on the lookout for our next bushy tail registration!
This fall, we have had the best archery season yet! We have had four antlerless deer harvested so far to fill the freezers. Tammy Smith got her first deer ever and she got it with her crossbow. Her success was followed by Tonya Brown, Mindy Jaggers, and Charity Doane who bagged archery antlerless deer as well.
It is a humbling and joyful experience watching these women face different challenges and trials–some personally and some as a group–as they continue to grow and succeed as a sportswoman. This hunting community is close and they all know that there is a group standing tall behind them to help them find their successes and help them climb their mountains in their journey in being an outdoorswoman. No harvest is too small, no objective too hard, no question goes unheard or answered. They are there to support you and cheer you on. Whether you catch a bullfrog or kill a 10 point buck, the love and encouragement is always there.
Brittany Stone is gearing up for deer season with her Broadhead Bash in October and Tennessee Whitetail Weekend Dec 12-14th. In January we will be putting the beagles on the ground to burn up the rabbit tracks! Date TBD. Feel free to reach out to the Artemis Hunt Lease leadership team if you have any questions! You can reach Mary Lynn at marlynnartermis@gmail.com and Brittany Stone at bstone.artemis@gmail.com
That’s what makes places like these mountains in Tennessee important, and groups like Artemis Sportswomen necessary. We are building a community of confident sportswomen and conservation leaders who can meet the challenges of the future while also taking time to connect with the simple pleasures of nature.
