I was born Stacie Bressler and raised in Norfolk, Nebraska. I was not born into a home of hunters, as some of my fellow W.H. members were. My first experience hunting was a ‘tag along’ pheasant hunt I went on with a friend from my church and her father. My parents kept telling me, “You won’t like it- he’s going to shoot pheasants.” Boy, were they wrong! That’s how I knew there was an inner hunter in me. My first gun experience was with my grandfather, Edwin Gernhardt who taught me the art of shooting a .22 rifle with a scope and a .22 revolver.

I had a hard time getting into hunting, as I knew nothing of the sport, nor how to go about getting into it, until I was in high school. I was 16 years old and I had started dating a wonderful outdoorsman named Justin Schmidt. I told him I was interested in hunting, and I think he just thought I was trying to make him like me more than he already did. He and his father, Todd Schmidt took me out for some clay pigeon shooting, which I failed miserably! They didn’t laugh and were nothing but encouraging. I was determined to get better. Becky Mutschelknaus one of my best friends invited me out to shoot some clays at her parents’ farm. I needed the practice, so I agreed. Her father pulled the trap while we shot. He gave me some pointers and the very next clay to go fly was nothing but dust. I was so proud of myself. I wanted to upgrade from clays to the real deal- birds.

A hunter’s safety course was the next step and Todd agreed to run me through the course work. Not only did I ace the test, but Todd, Kenneth and Justin Schmidt took me along on too many hunts to count. I am grateful for all of their help in teaching me throughout the past four years. Now they are family, as I married Justin on July 1, 2006. (I almost went with blaze orange bridesmaids’ dresses and camouflage tuxes).

Today I am a full time college student majoring in Animal Sciences and working on a minor in Equine Management. Ultimately, I would like to own and operate my own horse boarding stable. I would also like to minor in Wildlife Biology. I work full time at a Wal-Mart store in the sporting goods department where I get paid to play with guns and talk to customers about hunting. If I am not in class or out riding my horse, you can bet I’m in a field with a firearm in tow hunting with my husband and his hunting buddies or my newfound female hunting companion and fellow W.H. member, Heather Reddemann. My specialty is waterfowl. I find it is more of my cup of tea. Hopefully I will get a deer tag next season and work on getting my first deer with my rifle. I plan to get into archery and with a few years practice, who knows? I would love to meet more women who enjoy hunting as much as I do, which is why I joined W.H.