Senior Spotlight: Dougie McCaulley
March 31, 2009
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Kansas softball player Dougie McCaulley grew up in a big city in southern California where she was always surrounded by a lot of people. When her teammates tell her they want to come visit her, she really doesn’t see the appeal.
“A lot of people say they want to go there,” McCaulley said. “I don’t understand why. It’s really overrated.”
Instead, she would prefer to be outside, and if the season is right, hunting.
Although she grew up in a city, her family has taken many hunting trips to the Eastern Sierras in central California. When McCaulley was nine years old, she decided she wanted to be a part of it. She started out target shooting and finally got her chance to hunt with the family when she was 12.
To McCaulley, hunting is about spending time with family, enjoying the outdoors and strategizing.
“I love the sport of it,” McCaulley said of hunting. “It is fun and it takes a lot of strategy all the way down to how you dress. You have to be really quiet and you have to know where to go. A lot of times you will go out and not see a thing. It kind of seems like a waste, but most places where we hunt its really pretty and we do a lot of hiking.”
McCaulley’s hunting strategies have proven to be successful.
“Just this last fall I was duck hunting with my family and a friend,” said McCaulley. “We found a spot and I hiked over to it. We kicked up some ducks and I shot two ducks with one shot; a mallard drake and a mallard hen. It was a pretty big deal to shoot two ducks with one shot.”
Despite living far away from home, McCaulley still finds places to hunt in Kansas. She has taken some friends out to Clinton Lake and done some target shooting in Baldwin. She has also been trying to recruit some teammates to join her.
“I’ve talked to a few girls on my team,” McCaulley said. “I always try and talk them into going target shooting with me. They seem interested, but we will have to wait for the weather to warm up.”
In looking towards upcoming graduation and her future, McCaulley is interested in pursuing graduate school and then rekindling her love for the outdoors.
“One day I would like to own my own cattle ranch or horse ranch,” McCaulley said. “It would be nice to have waterfront property so I could go hunting on my own land. I love being outdoors. I don’t want a neighbor within a mile of me.”
– Written by KU media relations student assistant Susie Epp.
