Carola is the first woman in her family to get a hunting license and she is one of the very few woman hunters in the Valle d’Aosta region, where only 2% of hunters are represented by women. Today hunting has profoundly changed compared to the past. In ordert to protect biodiversity, there is selective hunting now, which is monitored and managed by the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, by the Wildlife Management Committee and by the Forest Rangers.
Carola thinks that hunting is one of the possible natural closing of the circle of life. This choice makes her an active part of the food chain, defining her role as a predator. She decided to exclusively consume the meat of the animals she hunts: deer and roe deer.
This is an ethical choice, which includes an ecological aspect: reducing the pollution caused by the consumption of meat. In order to be able to support oneself through hunting, knowledge of the territory is crucial for assessing the risks both in the moment of the shot, but also in the choice of the path to take in order to recover the killed animal.
Mistakes could take a huge toll on the prey and the hunter. The management of a killed animal requires preparation and knowledge that derives from studies and advice handed down from father to son. Good knowledge means less waste and better preparation of meat and skins. In Carola’s views being a hunter is the natural role of each human being, linked to habits, precise rituals and to the cyclical passage of the seasons, as happens for life in the woods: man is also an animal and for this reason he also depends on nature.

Photo copyright: © Erika Pezzoli.