"44" More Opening Days: A Lifetime of Fall’s First Flights
Emily (left) and Brett (right) show off a portion of their bounty from the first day of dove season at Owens Crossroads. Nacho, Emily’s 18-month-old Boykin Spaniel, stands proudly between them. (Image provided by Brett Anderson)
The opening day of dove season in North Alabama has always been a cherished event for Ashton-Brett Anderson. This year, the morning was no exception, though her hunting group got a late start once the heavy downpour and thunder finally stopped. As the weather cleared, it almost seemed as if the rain had cleared the air, polished the leaves, and given the tall grass a little shimmer.
Exhilarated, Brett’s face was flushed, her big, dark eyes sparkling in the dim light of the day that began to clear just before noon. She had a drive ahead of her, heading from her home in Lawrence County to the hunting fields in Owens Crossroads, Madison County. The road was damp, and the weather was still uncertain. “You never know,” she cautioned herself.
"That was the most rainy day I’ve ever had hunting," Brett recalls, "but by the time I got there, the birds were all over the power lines."
This opening day stood out for another reason: the absence of familiar faces. With the exception of her friends, Emily and Ethan, Brett was surrounded by strangers. For her, however, it was of no concern. Some women might be intimidated to be thrown into the mix with armed strangers in the Great Outdoors, but Brett isn't one of them. She attributes her confidence to the encouragement of her beloved grandfather, who first introduced her to the world of hunting.
“My Papa Don always told me, ‘It’s a man’s world, Brett, and you’re gonna have to work twice as hard to keep up, but you can do anything and be anything you want—don’t let a man tell you otherwise,’” Anderson recalls. He also ingrained a wealth of plain old common sense into her head. One piece of that advice rings particularly true for her: “Hunting is gonna be a male dominated field as long as we let it be. Invest in these young girls and young women, and get them into the woods, if they show interest.”
Thanks to that encouragement, Brett walks onto any North Alabama hunting field with confidence, whether it’s along the Elk River or near the Southern Tennessee line. She isn't shy about accepting invites from folks she connects with on social media, where she remains highly active, particularly on Facebook and TikTok. In fact, many of her upcoming hunts are found through those channels, along with good-ole word of mouth.
“To my knowledge, there aren’t a bunch of other girls posting as much or engaging in hunting around here,” Brett notes. “That’s why I try to share my experiences.”
Recently, Brett has been hunting on the river, sometimes with others, occasionally alone. Like all good hunters, though, she keeps her favorite spots secret. She takes advantage of these quiet times to enjoy being away from traffic, ringing phones, and the stressful pace of civilian life. “I love being in God’s creation, just being in awe of what He has made,” Brett says.
But while being alone is sometimes what the soul needs, it's not always what makes us laugh and cry. We need friends for those moments—the kind who know the punchlines to your life story and the ones you can call crying at 3 a.m. It's a miracle when friends find one another, and so is the case with Brett and her "BFF," Emily.
The two share a passion for hunting, fishing, cooking, and long, lazy days at the beach. Unlike Brett, however, Emily didn’t grow up hunting.
“Sure, I had family members that were heavily into hunting, and I would tag along given the chance,” Emily explains. “But it wasn’t until I met my husband Ethan—who was big into hunting—that I started getting into it myself. After going with him, I realized how addictive it was and how it seemed to bring me a sense of peace and calmness. Now, I can’t imagine it not being a staple in my life.”
Brett and Emily first met working the night shift.
“Once we started working more together and talking, a true friendship just kind of fell into place,” Emily recalls. “We became each other’s safe space at work. Eventually, that blossomed outside of work as well—now we talk daily, go on trips together, and have a bond that’s impenetrable.”
Emily stroked Nacho, the 18-month-old Boykin Spaniel that she and Ethan are in the process of training.
As she spoke quietly, Emily smiled and shared her perspective on the friendship: “When Brett and I are together, it’s always a good time. Like a knee-slapping, hollering, whooping, laughing, good time! There’s never a dull moment with the two of us around! Chances are if we’re laughing, everyone around is too, with whatever we’ve been talking about.”
Brett, Emily, and Ethan joined the group of avid dove hunters the other weekend, making the most of opening day. As the dogs worked the field, the air was filled with laughter and the satisfying sight of Nacho—the 18-month-old Boykin Spaniel—performing perfectly. He followed every command to the letter, returning time after time with a dove for the growing pile.
All told, the group collected between 100 and 125 doves. This time they will be prepared for the freezer, but the next time they hunt together the ones in the freezer will be added to the day's cache and cooked in the field. Somehow, food just tastes better outside.
While recalling the day, Brett and Emily began laughing until their sides hurt.
“I am literally a foot taller than Emily, so we were laughing about how she had to literally jump onto the back of the side-by-side,” Brett said, still chuckling. “I’m 6’3, so I just asked her to hold the shotgun while I just glided onto the back of it. We are never not laughing, though—there is always something crazy being said.”
The ladies love the wide variety of wild game available around Owen’s Crossroads. "That area is flooded with game," Brett says, gently fixing a long, perfectly manicured nail. Her hands, always pristine, must look strange in comparison to her male counterparts in the fields. “There are doves, deer, turkeys—you name it. Also, Emily and Ethan live there, so it’s an opener tradition for them to hunt that land.”
The weekend had turned out so perfectly that Brett simply didn’t want it to end, leading her to a moment of quiet reflection.
“I was sitting there alone in a lawn chair, just thinking about how great this Opening Day has been,” she mused softly. “I’m 25, and I’ve hunted at least half the opening days. If I live a normal lifespan, God might give me 44 more Opening Days, and if He does, I hope they are all like this one!”
For Brett, this day was only the beginning of a long hunting season. For deer and turkey season, her calendar is already packed with trips across state lines: North East Tennessee; East Tennessee; West Georgia; Southern Tennessee; and West, North West, East, and Southern Alabama.
Brett is not only a skilled hunter but also a wordsmith, with her personal blog reaching people all over the US, Canada, the UK, and even Southern Leyte, Philippines, where she made friends she still talks to today.
“I’ve always loved to write,” Brett explains. “I took honors English in high school and started college as a secondary education major wanting to teach high school English. Obviously, that didn’t go as planned, but that’s where my passion started. I love classic literature, and I’m a big Jane Austen fan.”
Her blog originated during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. After being laid off and with churches shut down, she suddenly found herself with an abundance of free time.
“Work being long and hard was no longer an excuse to not open my Bible or write in my journal,” she says. “I really dug deep into my relationship with Christ, and He laid it on my heart to share everything with those around me. It was such a hard time—I needed to be spiritually fed, and the world was so uncertain and in a panic.”
Listening to her conviction, Brett designed and launched her first website in mid-2020. She has since redesigned the site to reflect her new chapter in life.
“A lot of things have changed, and I think that’s okay,” she concludes. “And with my life changing, the things I put out change too.”
Brett's passion for writing and for sharing her faith is a true extension of her life in the field. To read more of Brett’s work and follow her journey, visit her blog at https://beyondbrett.wordpress.com/.
