•Spring 2017

LAND / Sport
Even though Anne Kania is owner of the
new wingshooting retreat and shooting
academy for women called Joy of
Hunting, she may in fact be one of the
best relationship gurus for couples.
That’s because women hunt for different reasons
than men. Stacy Keogh, Ph.D., who teaches in the
Sociology Department of Whitworth University, has
found in a study that women’s primary motivator for
hunting is to nurture
and build relationships
with their families.
It’s also why Joy of
Hunting provides
a Couples Retreat
that includes “. . .
the other half.”
Ms. Kania and her
husband, Bruce,
recently started Joy of
Hunting as a means of
getting women safely
in the field through one
of the most accessible
forms of hunting—
game birds. She also
believes that developing
skilled female
wingshooters results
in a higher percentage
of ethical, humane
kills for table fare.
“I wanted to teach
ANDREA MAHORNEY
because I want people
to get there quicker
than I did, to get them more skilled more quickly so they
really enjoy it a lot more and encourage other people to
do it—to keep the hunting tradition going—and bring
the hunting tradition into their lives,” she said. “We can’t
teach people to do it in four days, but we can give them
the background and accelerate their development.”
As part of the wingshooting retreat and academy,
the Joy of Hunting’s 4,000-square-foot house
doubles as the comfortable lodge. It’s located
on 340 acres in the historic Yellowstone
Valley hamlet of Shepherd, Montana.
“The house was built to recreate a hunting lodge that
Bruce loved in Wisconsin,” Ms. Kania explained. “It has
gorgeous views of river and the farm. It has a lovely
warmth. There’s a huge fireplace, Douglas fir beams,
baby-grand piano,
gorgeous front door—
all of it gives this sense
of artistry to the house.”
Joy of Hunting is
embossed on the
West of Lewis &
Clark, General George
Armstrong Custer,
the wild horses of
Bighorn Canyon, the
Pryor Mountains and
Montana’s majestic
Absaroka Beartooth
Wilderness.
Here in Big Sky territory,
the Kanias have created
a luxurious yet informal
wingshooting adventure
for all ladies regardless
of hunting experience.
The environment is ripe
for success. The land
has been cultivated
to attract wild game
birds—flatlands with
draws and river bottom
managed for pheasants and wetland food lots and
annual rotation crops for doves, geese and snipe. At the
heart of the property is a preserve for wild pheasants.
“One of the key things for us later in the season is that
we have geese in the area all winter,” Ms. Kania said.
LAND.COM • LEGENDARY LIVING
95