The outdoor industry is extremely fortunate to have a female role model like Gina Brunson, co-host of Addicted to the Outdoors and Hawke Sport Optics, passing on the traditions we so vehemently hold on to. After speaking with Gina in a recent phone interview, I hung up the phone feeling both challenged and revived. Challenged in the perspective of giving back to the industry even just a portion of the passion Gina has for the outdoors and her family. Revived in my quest to pass on our hunting and shooting traditions.
Camo Mom: How did you get involved with Hawke Sport Optics?
Gina: Hawke came on board as a sponsor of our show recently, so it’s a very new relationship. Optics are an integral part of your hunting gear; they’re your second set of eyes. Every Hawke product we’ve used or tried out, we absolutely love.
Camo Mom: We know you’ve been hunting since you were young, but did you and Jon ever go on hunting dates? If so, can you name a memorable one?
Gina: I was raised in a foster home with 8 to 10 other girls, so we were limited on what we could do on vacation, so our foster parents took us on a lot of camping and fishing trips. I met Jon when I was 17, and he is the one who introduced me to hunting. Every weekend for our first 10 years or so together, we spent fishing or hunting and/or camping. We continued these traditions even after our first 3 children were born, so I was learning along with them.
Gina has a gift for balancing her dream of hunting with a career and raising a family. The Brunson Bunch. (JBO Productions photo)
Camo Mom: What are some of the highlights that we’ll get to see in your upcoming shows?
We’ve got a lot of incredible hunts coming up this season. On one of them, I missed the buck of a lifetime. He came in and I made a perfect shot, but he was a big, mature, smart buck and he ducked my arrow, literally to the point his chest touched the ground. Of course, I was terribly disappointed, but I knew I had done everything like I should have.
We try to do hunts that the average person can afford, because that’s our demographic. Last year we did a couple’s show, selecting random couples and filming their hunts. For each couple, the entire episode was focused on their hunt. This has brought a lot of positive attention to the show, so we plan on continuing with these types of segments.
Camo Mom: We love to see couples who hunt together. What have you learned about Jon that you might not know about him if you hadn’t been out hunting together?
Gina: Jon is so knowledgeable about hunting and the outdoors, and I think if I wasn’t out with him doing what he loves, I would have missed seeing how passionate and insightful he is in the field. When we started hunting together, he didn’t cut me any slack because I was a girl. He told me if I was going to hunt, I was going to be like one of the guys and learn to do it all.
(JBO Productions photo)
Camo Mom: Why should a woman consider bowhunting, if she’s interested in hunting?
Gina: One of the main reasons is the challenge of shooting a bow, but also, it’s something you can do as a family event, even with age differences. The younger children can learn to shoot a bow at a very early age. In our family, it’s a great competition.
Camo Mom: Name the perfect weekend that has nothing to do with hunting!
Gina: I was born and raised in Florida, and when I wasn’t in the woods, I was in the water. So any time spent on the beach or fishing or spearfishing is the perfect weekend.
This season “Addicted to the Outdoors” features couples that hunt together. (JBO Productions photo)
Camo Mom: Do you have any other comments you would like to share with our readers?
Gina: I would like to reiterate that we are very different than 99% of the other hunting shows. We love what we do and are blessed to get to do it together. It’s also important for women to know that if they are a mother, they don’t have to give up their dreams. My dream has always been hunting and that’s what I want to show my kids — you can have it all. You can have a family, a career and you can live your dream, you’ve just got to learn to balance it all.
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The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
