Meet Erin Merrill

About the Author

Growing up, my Dad hunted each fall.  My sister and I would come home from school and if there were organs floating in a bowl of water in the refrigerator, then we knew Dad had gotten a deer.  I remember going out to the barn at night while he butchered it and I would watch him and talk to him about how and where he had shot it.

In 2002, my Dad let me tag along with him while he went hunting.  I was in charge of rattling the antlers.  He had me practice a couple of times so I would do it just long enough and with enough intensity to sound legit.  When I rattled in my first buck and Dad shot it, I was hooked.   In the years that followed, we have built three tree stands and I have two other portable tree seats that I hunt from.  I shot my very first deer from the first treehouse that we built.

Dad and I have hunted in every kind of weather (the most fun by far is hunting in the snow!) and have become good hunting partners.

After I was interviewed about what it is like to be a female hunter, I decided to start blogging about hunting and my experiences. I launched And a Strong Cup of Coffee in 2010 to document my hunting excursions with Dad. I write about and feature topics related to the deer and bear populations in Maine, what it is like to be a young female hunter and other adventures in the woods that I may encounter along the way.

I write a monthly column in the Northwoods Sporting Journal called “Women in the Woods” and am a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association and Outdoor Writers Association of America, serving on their National Affairs and Environment committee.  I am also the co-Founder and Chair of the board for Women of the Maine Outdoors, a nonprofit working to help women get the funding needed to attend outdoor educational opportunities.

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