By Chris Avena
Paynesville Minnisota, population 2500. There was a five year old girl tagging along with her Mom and Dad on their morning hunts. Not yet old enough to hunt, she studied their every move, learning, fanning her Deadly Passion. Growing up in the outdoors, developing her skills, Melissa Bachman was destined for a career in the outdoor. She majored in broadcast journalism in college and today, she not only owns her own production company but she is the host of Winchester Deadly Passion that airs on the Sportsman Channel and Wild TV.
Chris: We are here today with Melissa Bachman. Thanks for taking the time, Melissa.
Melissa: Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.
Chris: First of all, congratulations. You are a new mother!
Melissa: Yes, thank you very much. It has been a lot of fun.
Chris: I did not know that you were pregnant. I saw you at the shows last season & you looked fabulous as usual. Were there a lot of people who even knew that you were pregnant?
Melissa: You see, I'm a big fan of having a private life. A lot of people believe everything goes on social media, not a problem. I prefer to have all the people that are close to me know about the pregnancy and after I had the baby, I decided to tell everybody that we had Jacks. It has been a wonderful experience. We will post post some pictures once in a while. But I'm a hunter and that's what I have on my social media. That is what my TV show is about. I have always been an advocate to get kids into the outdoors and now more than ever. But I just thought that is the best way for me. I think everyone should have a private life. I think people sometimes should step back and say, you know what, that's right, you can't eat a meal without putting it on social media. You can have a baby without anybody knowing ahead of time. I hunted all the way up until I had the baby and I started hunting again right after. I would like to show people that you can keep going with your career, you can keep going with whatever you are doing. It's not a huge holdup and you can still be active and do great things.
Chris: I know your parents took you out into the woods at a very young age, even arranged your school schedule around your hunting. At what age are you going to take your son into the woods?
Melissa: We are going to take him right away. I would have taken him already this year, had it been a little bit better weather but you have to be careful and make sure that it's a good time to be out. But as soon as he's old enough, he will be coming along with us. He did come with us, he just didn't get to experience it all the way. He stays in his car seat and one of us stay back with him. But I'd like to get him involved as soon as possible and I think it's really important to get kids involved not only in the hunt but seeing the processing, eating the meat and going all the way through. So I think it's really important to understand that whole thing for anybody regardless of their age.
Chris: I see you have another addition to the family as well.
Melissa: Yes, Porkchop got a sister and she is not happy about it. We adopted a new little French bulldog. We call her Ribeye or Ribs for short. So Porkchop has a new friend. I thought it would be a great idea. Jackson, our little boy and this dog are best friends. They sleep together, they love each other. Porkchop however had a very long list of things she wanted for Christmas, this was not it. This puppy was not on the list. They're coming around, they're becoming friends but Porkchop was not happy with me, that is for sure.
Chris: I know you work extremely hard in the industry. You're on the road, 300 plus days a year. How does that factor into the new family life?
Melissa: Well, I've tried to cut things back a little bit. I don't want to be gone 320 days a year, my son wouldn't even know who I am. But what I've done is, I have gone through my list and picked some of my topnotch hunts, the highest quality hunts. I'm trying to do quality over quantity. I used to just hunt down stuff because that's what I love. Now, I have other obligations as well so I'll still hunt, I still produce 26 episodes a year, that's a lot.
So now I'm just being a little more efficient with my time, making sure that I'm getting things done. I am doing hunts back to back so I'm not going back and forth to the airport. There's a lot of efficiencies that I've learned along the way that has helped.
Chris: But you have other businesses as well, such as a jewelry line, clothing line.
Melissa: Yes, I do other things. I run a production company. That is my main other thing that I do. So I'm keeping busy all the time. There is no downtime but I really am trying to keep the amount of time that I am on the road to as much of a minimum as possible, I am still gone a lot but hopefully not too much.
Chris: You have traveled all over the world and you are so generous with your time. What have you learned in your travels?
Melissa: I met some of the best people that you could ever meet. I really have. It has been amazing. You meet such wonderful people on the road. You learn things everywhere you go and no two places are the same. I've just met such wonderful people and I love it very, very much.
Chris: On any of your hunts, have ever been a dangerous or compromising position?
Melissa: You know, I try to be pretty careful. I try to really look at things and go with the highest level of service and guides and outfitters so you don't get yourself in those situations. I understand it can happen but I've been very lucky over the years. I really do my homework and try to ask around and get good info before I go to a place.
Chris: What species or what type of hunt really gets your blood pumping?
Melissa: I love going up to Alaska and calling Black Bear. I call them in using predator calls. They come charging in and I shoot them with a bow. That is absolutely my favorite thing to do.
Chris: A while back you posted a picture of yourself with a lion and you were viciously attacked by these anti-hunters, and it still continues today. We saw it with Kendall Jones, Larysa Switlyk, Rebecca Francis and it keeps going on and on. Why do you think they only target women?
Melissa: Well, I think it goes against their narrative. PETA has always used people like Pamela Anderson. They have used women to showcase that all hunters are awful people. They are about an inch from dragging their knuckles on the ground. Now, that's all changing. Now, women are hunting, families are hunting, people are doing it together and that's not supposed to happen. They don't like that because it goes against with what they have been trying to portray. So they think that maybe these women are weak. We will just attack them and they will just disappear. Well, they don't know hunting women very well. That is probably never going to happen. But I think that is a part of it. Women are very powerful. A lot of them are in households. If the women hunts and the guy is hunting and the kids are hunting, you are getting so many more people involved. So I think it shows that we are doing a really good job.
Chris: That's a fast-growing demographic in the industry. I love to see women in the outdoors and I know they're fantastic hunters.
Melissa: Absolutely. I think guys, girls, kids, anybody can be a hunter as long as they just listen and do what they are told.
Chris: Well, that's the thing. Guys have an ego, women are disciplined.
Melissa: That's not all true. There are lots of wonderful guys out there that don't have egos as well. It goes all ways but I think as a rule, I think women are just as capable as men and men are great hunters and women are great hunters. I don't think there is any differences in that. I just love seeing everybody out there together. And the more that you can get together, the more families you have as well.
Chris: Any advice to young girls or young women that are looking to get into the industry or just looking to get outdoors?
Melissa: I think the most important thing is to find a mentor. Find someone that you can look up to that you can ask questions and just stay true to yourself and do what you love and do it for the right reasons and get out there and enjoy nature.
Chris: That's great. I appreciate your time.
Melissa: Thank you very much.