COURTESY OF LAUREN VRANY ( 3 ) |
Igrew up in a suburb of Milwaukee that was a very ‘ keeping up with the Joneses ,’ soccer mom , manicured lawn type of place . I was always into nature — I was called “ Nature Girl ”— and collected bird nests , bones and leaves , which I ’ d bring to show-andtell . I came from a non-hunting family , but not anti-hunting . My grandpa taught me how to shoot when I was 15 . After college , I purchased my first home in Milwaukee proper and thought I needed to buy my first gun . Next , I wanted a dog . I had a beagle mix as a kid and maybe that was a catalyst to this whole thing . She ’ d get loose in the neighborhood and chase rabbits and bring them home to us ... dead . Perhaps even back then hunting with dogs piqued my interest .
It took me about a year to find a bluetick coonhound named Maggie , a rescue from the local pound . I took Maggie to the dog park , and she would tree squirrels . There was a huge , old oak tree in my yard with a raccoon family around . It was fun
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to watch Maggie sniff and tree . I didn ’ t get any complaints , but I ’ m pretty sure I was known as the “ Crazy Coonhound Lady ” by the neighbors .
I had an idea what coonhounds were used for , but never really knew how they were used . One night , I went down a rabbit hole on YouTube watching water races , field trials , people taking their dogs out at night coon hunting . I thought to myself : One , this is really cool . And two , Maggie can do this .
I looked online trying to find a club that I could take her to because I didn ’ t know anybody . This is a lifestyle that ’ s so underground and just not well-known . Finally , I found a club about an hour away , but they were hesitant to give me information or allow me to come thinking that I was an anti-hunter from the city . Once I finally convinced them — a year later — I took Maggie out , and she was a natural . I met some of my now good friends and mentors who started me on the path to what is my entire life .
Later , I moved out of the city to an old farmhouse on 80 acres . At that point I had two dogs ; Piper , who is still my best dog , was one of them . I ended up getting two puppies a week later . It escalated quickly ; I now have six and will be adding more soon .
There ’ s just not a lot of us houndswomen . It ’ s rare to have a woman that gets into it all
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on her own ( no boyfriend , family or friends to spark interest ), but I ’ ve met a few . A young hunter named Andrea came to a learn-to-hunt-raccoon program I mentored and was hooked on the first night . We hunted a lot together with Piper before she got her own treeing Walker coonhound . We have a bond , and it ’ s just nice to have a community inside the community that already exists .
I travel across the country with my hounds . We just be-bop around the country from the Midwest to Colorado in an 11-foot camper . Last winter , we spent two and a half months in New Mexico . It ’ s a lifestyle . It ’ s a heritage . It ’ s my passion . It consumes my life , my thoughts , time and finances . It ’ s 365 days a year and 24 / 7 . I help run the “ Houndsman XP Podcast ” that aims to preserve , promote and protect the lifestyle . It ’ s important to have the right people as spokespeople because our passion is getting squashed by the antihunting community for no other reason than emotion . But it ’ s emotional for me , too . I ’ m emotional about my dogs . I love my dogs . If something happened to them or we couldn ’ t hunt together , it would be devastating .
What I appreciate about Sportsmen ’ s Alliance is that it supports houndsmen directly and publicly . Not all hunting organizations do that , or they do only when it benefits them . One issue comes along and it ’ s a brief story . Where ’ s the support the rest of the time ?
You can follow Lauren ’ s travel and adventures in hound hunting on Instagram at @ brew _ city _ blue _ hounds .
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SUMMER 2022 37 |