Editor’s Note: Jim Shockey has two TV shows on the Outdoor Channel - “Jim Shockey’s Hunting Adventures” that has been running for 13 years, and his new show “Uncharted.” Also, he’s been an outfitter in Canada, Saskatchewan, the Yukon and British Columbia for 25 years.
Eva Shockey is one of the most-recognized women in the outdoors. In the last 4 or 5 years, her life has made a dramatic turn around, since before this Eva always has been a momma’s girl. Her mother, Louise, is the epitome of femininity, a professional model, a prima ballerina and a dancing instructor. This path is the one that Eva followed from the time she first could walk until she was about 21 years old.
Eva did love going hunting with her dad before that time, but like many young ladies, the reason for going hunting with her dad, Jim Shockey, was more to have that one-on-one time with her dad than it was about hunting and taking game. She was by his side, she understood why he hunted, and she enjoyed being outdoors. However, Eva’s life path was dance - competitive salsa dancing and owning and operating her own dance studio. Then one day, Eva walked into her dad’s office and announced, “I want to hunt. I want to take animals like you do, and I think I can be a better hunter than you are.” I'm sure that was one of the biggest surprises Jim Shockey ever had in his life - not taking a wild, charging, dangerous game animal with his bow and arrow. Jim says, “I couldn’t believe my ears. Here was feminine Evie telling me that she not only wanted to hunt and take game with both a bow and a rifle, but that her goal in life was to prove she could be better at hunting than me. I was surprised, happy and excited. I was trying to understand how this had happened. I never had imagined in my mind Evie being a hunter. But if that’s what she wanted to do, I knew I’d do all in my power to help her succeed.”
So, Eva Shockey began being taught and tutored by one of the world’s best hunters and adventurers - her daddy, Jim Shockey. Today, with a smile of pride, he says, “Evie is fast on the way to becoming better than me in the outdoors.”
Eva explains, “I really love being on a hunt with my dad. Whether I'm running the camera and filming him hunting or he's running the camera and filming me, the feeling I get when I'm with him in the outdoors hunting is one of the greatest experiences of my life. This year Dad required me to hunt on my own and learn how to do many of the things he's always done for me. To be honest, my hunt this year at our family ranch felt really strained, because Dad wasn’t with me.”
Eva Shockey is one of the few women hunters who have graced the cover of a major outdoor magazine. She has a tremendous social media following at www.facebook.com/evashockeyfanpage. She has become a spokesperson for the outdoors, especially for hunting. Eva is the little bird that Jim Shockey has turned loose and allowed her to fly. You can click here to see and hear Eva Shockey answer the question, why would someone like me get involved in the outdoors and in hunting?
Day 3: Jim Shockey Considers His Son Branlin the Amadeus Mozart of the Shockeys
Tomorrow: Eva Shockey: What She Does, Why She Does it, and What’s in Her Future?
