I have been hunting for as long as I can remember. My dad started taking me when I was about 4, and I have loved it ever since. As a youngster I started out hunting squirrels, doves, frogs, and any other small game I could find to shoot with my .22 or 20 gauge. When I was 9 I took my hunter safety course, enabling me to hunt big game and actually go on hunting trips with my Dad. My dad, Wayne Gendron, works for Quaker Boy game calls and guides for elk and turkey. Living in Missouri provided many different types of game to hunt, but having a father in the outdoor industry gave me the opportunity to travel to and hunt in different places. I have had the privilege to hunt deer, turkey, wild boar, elk, ducks, geese, pheasants, quail, and a few exotic sheep. I have hunted in Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho, New Mexico, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, and Florida. My senior year of high school I got a lab for Christmas from my parents because I wanted a bird dog. I trained him myself and love taking him out, whether it is waterfowl or upland game. I was also very fortunate to be a part of the National Wild Turkey Federation Jakes program, our local chapter, of which I was president, set examples for other chapters with our many activities for youth. We started the Missouri Hunter Apprentice School, a hunting school for kids which allowed them to learn many aspects of hunting and hunting equipment, and actually go out and bag an animal. Another opportunity I have had came from game calling. Not only did my dad take me hunting but he ensured that I knew how to call the animals I was attempting to bag. I began winning youth turkey calling contests all over Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa, and won a state title in each of them. I also placed in and won elk and owl competitions. My calling skills lead to some recognition and I was able to call on Quaker Boy's calling team, on which I was caller of the year in 1995 when I was 15 years old. I was also privileged to hunt on video for Quaker Boy and Realtree, and able to meet and hunt with many of the top men in the industry. In 2001 I won the first Women’s World Goose Calling Championship calling for Foiles Migrators and placed third in the NRA All Game Calling Challenge. In 2001 and 2002 I won the Bass Pro Shops RMEF Elk calling challenge.

I worked at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in the hunting department for a year while going to college. There I was able to experience the outdoor industry from the retail angle. I was also able to meet my future husband who worked there with me. Working at Bass Pro rekindled a passion for archery that I had lost time for in high school. I began to shoot competitively and bow hunt. It was not long until I was married and moved to a small town in southern Missouri. Living on a farm I was able to hunt much more and learn much more about deer and turkey habits. Since then I have been lucky enough to harvest two pope and young bucks and 5 turkeys with my bow. I have been able to bag a Grand Slam of turkeys with my gun and am one away from a Grand Slam with my bow. I was also able to shoot my bow more and was the 2003 Missouri State ASA Women’s Champion and the runner up at Arkansas. I have been writing for WomenHunters since 2001.

Currently I am teaching Special Education and coaching High School track. I am on the Pro Staff for Ben Pearson Archery and WomenHunters and on the Field Staff’s for Ameristep Blinds and Bodoodle. I am 24 years old, I have been hunting for almost 20 years, and I am pregnant with our first child. I cannot wait to get this little one out into the woods and teach him or her what I was taught as a small child. As far as I am concerned, my adventures in the hunting woods have just begun.