A deer camp a the woman?s touch

The day after Thanksgiving two intrepid hunters made their way through the thick undergrowth on a marshy piece of land near Grand Lake. The recent snowfall was a good omen in case there was any tracking to be done. The crisp morning air was filled with the sound of chickadees and blue jays arguing about territory. These two hunters have been spending the latter part of every November stalking the big buck for the last five years. Before that, they were the loyal companions of their men folk: fathers, brothers, and husbands. Both ladies have hunted since their teens.

Now the two women are on their own and are making the best of it. One of them said over her shoulder as they marched along, “It’s girl power in the woods!” Virginia Tatro said, “We go hunting together, we go fishing together, we go to the casino together.” “WHOA,” said her friend Kate Grohowski. “I thought you weren’t going to tell that one.” They both laughed and Virginia added that Kate is the best friend anyone could have. “She is always there for me whenever I need anything,” Virginia said, still smarting from the knee surgery she had last month. Kate is right there to lend a hand as the two orange-clad doyennes of deer hunting step into the camp.

“We’ve known each other since we were kids. I was related to her husband, Gerald, we were first cousins,” Virginia added. Virginia’s husband Beverley Tatro was known to everyone as “Beaver.” They moved out to Grand Lake after he retired from Calcite where he worked in the mill department. Beaver enjoyed snowmobiling with his buddies and playing cards on cold nights. After he passed away she moved back into town and now resides at Harbor House Apartments.

THE CAMP is a low profile, one-room cabin with a number of creature comforts like a wood stove and a divan that folds out into a bed. Tiny windows dot the wall space, each about four feet off the floor. Kate and her husband, Gerry, bought the property from a very short man about 15 years ago. “He was glad to sell to us because I don’t think he ever got a deer out here,” she said. Since then, she has made regular improvements, adding a proper door and some counter space. Women know the value of counter space.

Gerry also worked at Calcite, first in the track department and later in the yard. His friends there remember him as a happy-go-lucky guy who greatly enjoyed his family outings at Grand Lake. There are lots of family mementoes and pictures on the wall at the camp. Also, a well-shuffled deck of cards is always on the counter top and a thick shag carpet covers the floor, no doubt the remnant of a previous do-it-yourself project at home in the basement. There is a camaraderie among hunters that transcends the boundaries of age or gender. These women have made that transition from housewife to deerslayer.

VIRGINIA IS the rifle slinger and Kate is the spotter. Virginia hunts with a Remington 30-06 that her father gave her one Thanksgiving more than four decades ago. “I missed a couple of good bucks with the old WWII carbine I was using back then, so dad went out and bought me this beauty and I’ve been a happy camper ever since,” she said. Kate and Virginia work well as a team but keep up a friendly banter back and forth of little gripes and needling just to stay abreast of each other. “I don’t mind hunting at all but I haven’t shot a rifle since before my youngest boy, Robert, died,” Kate said. “He had cancer and was doing okay with

the treatments but then he got an infection and, with his immune system all down like that, it just took him away,” she said quietly.

“THE NEXT season I was out here hunting when a beautiful young buck walked right out into the clearing and I had a clean shot at him,” she continued. “I watched him standing right out there,” she said, looking out of the small plexiglass window. She cleared her throat a little to talk. “After a couple minutes, I just laid my rifle down and said, ‘You go on now,’ and that was the last time I had a rifle in my hands,” she said.

The hunting has been slow this year. Virginia did get one shot off at a buck but he leapt up after a few seconds and bounded into the thickets. Relatives tracked it for some distance before the trail disappeared in the marsh. In previous years they had better luck and, already, they are looking forward to next season at the best little deer camp boutique in the county.