The first time Millie Dunn saw a deer while she was hunting, it stopped her in her tracks.
“You just get this big rush of adrenaline,” the 14-year-old hunter told The Profile.
It was a moment where she had to think about what she’d do, and whether or not she would shoot it, she said.
“It’s just such a cool experience because you feel like you have this connection with the animal, after you shoot it as well.
“My dad always said that, if you don’t feel bad for the animal that you shoot, then you’re probably not a real hunter.”
But the big-game hunter, who was also a year-10 student at Paeroa College, said her family had a tradition.
“After we shoot any animal, [it] could be goat or pig or whatever, we usually sit with it and have a snack, just to be thankful for its life and that it gave us its life to be able to feed our family.”
Millie said she was around five years old when she went on her first hunting trip with her dad, Nick Dunn, but she was around nine years old when she shot her first deer with a Winchester Short Magnum. “We’re lucky enough to have access to private blocks that dad gets, but my first deer was on DOC land.”
But that’s not the only weapon Millie uses for her hunting trips.
Millie was swift with a bow and arrow as well, and said she liked to use that for smaller animals such as rabbits and goats.
The young tracker’s passion for being out in the wilderness came from a sense of belonging.
“This might sound a little bit weird, but I just feel like I belong in the bush. It’s just a nice feeling, being in the peace and quiet.”
Something she loves about being there is getting away from the light pollution. “When you’re out in the bush, what we do is we turn our lights off and then we just look up and the sky is full of stars and it’s just so cool. That’s one of my favourite parts.”
Some things Millie said people should know before they go deer hunting for the first time was to always be aware of their surroundings, be patient and also the importance of gun safety.
Millie said after a shot is taken, the next step depends on whether or not the animal got hit.
“If you hit it right, then you just go [and] retrieve it. Hopefully it’s not a long one where you have to walk ages, but if it’s not dead then we have to go chase it down and follow its blood.”
Blood and guts were things that came part and parcel with the adventure. “Our rule is that if you shoot it, you have to cut it up, and take it all back up to wherever you came from,” she said.
Even though the rule could sometimes be “annoying” and quite a struggle, especially when she had to carry the animal up a steep hill, Millie said it was a good life lesson.
But getting uncomfortable for the shot is something Millie isn’t afraid to do. “I had to shoot something [while lying] on a prickle bush. Sometimes you just have to do that.”
It was clear the skills of knowing how to hunt and gather were significant for Millie.
“I feel like a good lesson is to know how to do that and to know how to cut up a deer, or a pig, or whatever you’re getting,” she said.
She looked forward to a few upcoming hunting trips for pigs and deer and also some spearfishing trips, another sport she does with her dad and little brother Maz.
The young pathfinder said she always wanted to learn new things and improve her skills “so I know how to do it better”.
“I feel like I have so much that I still have to learn though, and I’m really excited to learn more.”
