Kourtney Holten
Written by Christian Rutten, Former Student on Tuesday, January 27, 2015
As November sprung upon the school, most kids were looking forward to the time spent with family and the turkey dinner to come, however that was not the case for Senior Kourtney Holten. Although Holten saw November and Thanksgiving break as a time spent with family, she saw it in a different way. As students sat in classes during the short week before Thanksgiving, Holten was in Idaho hunting for nine days with her family.
Holten is proud to be a hunter. “I think it is pretty awesome to say I hunt and to see the people’s faces. I have always dreamed of hunting because growing up it was just something my family did, but I wasn’t able to do my first hunt until last year where I shot my first deer.”
Holten reminisces on her first doe she shot. “It was two hours before we left camp. I shot it through and through, gutted and skinned it almost all on my own. My dad got a buck too that week, a three by four and I was with him, I couldn’t find it in my scope so he took the shot,” says Holten.
This was Holten's second time attending, it's truly a family affair.
"This year 13 of my family members hunted and we got a total of seven bucks. We bring in camping trailers and trucks and we live in Three Bear, Idaho for nine days. You almost forget about the outside world and the drama you have at home goes away and you are only connected to the outdoors. Yes, we have to go to the bathroom in a completely open outhouse, but it’s you and the outdoors. Nothing can beat that.”
Although Holten plans on attending the University of Montana to eventually become an educator for special needs children, hunting is still going to be a part of her life. “Going to school in Montana will allow me to spend time with family I don’t usually get to see and allow me to hunt!”
You see a lot of “Pretty girl shots…” headlines, Holten says, “I am proud to be one of those girls, if a guy does it it’s no big deal, but when a girl shoots something it’s a big deal. We are no different and we can hunt too, although I don’t plan to hunt anything more exotic than maybe a big Elk buck. I don’t want my rights to be taken away because I’m a girl who hunts.”
Holten’s good friend, Senior Makenna Wheeler said, “It’s cool that she does such a manly thing and she likes to do it. I totally support her and I would love to go with her sometime! Even when we were young she had an interest in it, but not until recently has she actually pursued it.”
Holten is proud to know where her food comes from, a problem she believes “is bigger than people realize. I see my food from start to finish, it is healthier and a certain kind of thrill comes with the whole process. Hunting is a part of who I am, I’m never going to forget that.”
