Outdoors Woman and Bowhunter Eva Shockey
Day 3: Bowhunter Eva Shockey Explains What Life’s Like Being a Part of a Family Outdoor Business
Editor’s Note: Eva Shockey, who recently was featured on the cover of “Field and Stream Magazine,” is 25-years old and has been hunting with her dad, well-known outdoorsman Jim Shockey, for as long as she can remember. But she didn’t start taking game until she was 20-years old. The story of Eva Shockey’s life is a classic example of what happens when two worlds collide. Louise Shockey, Eva’s mother, was a professional ballerina, a model and an actress. Eva’s dad, Jim Shockey, was and still is one of the most well-known hunters and outdoorsmen in the world (https://www.jimshockey.com/). Many people wondered which path Eva would take. Would she be a rough-and-tumble hunter like her dad, or would she demonstrate her more-feminine side like her mom? Eva fooled everyone. She didn’t just follow either route. Instead she’s combined the lifestyles of both her parents and is a girly girl and an avid bowhunter.
 When I was about 12 or 13, I started working trade shows and consumer shows with my family and became a part of our family business. I worked trade shows every single weekend for about 4 months. Even today, I work trade shows every weekend for about 4 months a year with my family. My dad has to go to many hunts all over the world, so I represent my family at some of the shows. I really enjoy working the shows. I love talking to people. When I’m hunting, everything around me is quiet, and I have to be quiet. So, when I have a chance to go to the outdoor shows, I get to talk and listen to other people. I really like interacting with people, hearing their hunting stories and talking with them about what I do. I feel fortunate I can be part of my family’s business in the hunting and archery industries. I think I have the perfect life.
 Too, I really like the fact that my brother, Branlin, is part of our family business. He produces one of our TV shows, “Jim Shockey’s The Professionals.” He really has done a great job of producing and helping make this show an award-winning television show. He’ll be producing a new show next year called “Unchartered.” Just like my mother and dad are opposites, Branlin and I are opposites. I love to chatter and talk with people. Branlin is more quiet and reserved. He loves to be in his editing suite and works hard to produce masterpiece TV shows. No one in our family really knows where Branlin’s art and talent for video production has come from, but we’re all glad he has it.
 I’ve started co-hosting “Jim Shockey’s Hunting Adventures.” I guess I always knew I wanted to be part of the hunting industry, because I really loved all the people I knew in the industry. When I started hunting with my dad for the TV show, I couldn’t really hold-down a job, because we often would be gone hunting for a month or more at a time. I gave-up my career as a dance instructor, but I still needed money. So, I started arranging hunts and doing other administrative tasks required to run a hunting business. From time to time, this included filming and hosting on my dad’s TV show. Once I began co-hosting with my dad, he decided I could host shows on my own. Then we could get twice as much work done and film twice as many hunts to help grow the business. Although I started co-hosting about 3-years ago, I’ve really picked up the pace in the last 2 years. When I’m not on a hunt or going to a hunt, I’m getting ready to hunt.
I shoot a Bowtech Heartbreaker (http://www.bowtecharchery.com). When I’m working the shows, I don’t have much time to practice. When I’m practicing, I turn the bow down to about 45 pounds, but when I’m getting ready for a hunt, I increase it to about 50 pounds. This past year, I took a huge black bear near Vancouver, Canada. Last year in Ohio, I took a nice whitetail with my bow.
 Because of hunting and shooting the bow with my dad, I’ve met some amazing hunting friends in the last 5 years. I have a totally-different set of friends that I’ve grown-up with who know me as Eva Shockey the dancer and dance teacher. Since none of them hunt, I never told them when I went on hunting trips with my dad. I wasn’t concerned about what they would say, but my hunting trips just weren’t relevant. I’m very active on social media, and many of my longtime friends follow me and know about my hunting adventures now. The friends I’ve grown up with are comfortable with who they are, and they tell me they think my hunting is really cool. I’ve had opportunities to explain to my friends why we hunt, why hunting is a conservation practice, and how we feed the hungry with the animals we take by taking that meat to food banks. I think seeing the friends I’ve grown up with beginning to understand that hunting really is cool, is interesting.
To learn more about Eva Shockey, visit her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/evashockeyfanpage
You can learn more about hunting deer in John E. Phillips’ Kindle eBooks by clicking on these: “How to Hunt Deer Like a Pro,” “How to Hunt Deer Up Close: With Bows, Rifles, Muzzleloaders and Crossbows,” and “PhD Whitetails: How to Hunt and Take the Smartest Deer on Any Property.”
About the Author
John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors. Click here for more information and a list of all the books available from John E. Phillips.
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