Sydney mum Kadeja Assaad shares passion for shooting, hunting ethically
A self-proclaimed huntress, western Sydney mother-of-four Kadeja Assaad says she is proud to provide “clean” meat for her family and friends, and wants to empower more women.
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An ethical hunter and western Sydney single mother-of-four says she has been inundated with women eager to give shooting a shot after compiling a program and putting the call out online.
The upcoming quarterly course, hosted by the Sydney branch of the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia (SSAA), already has 300 women on the waiting list.
Self-proclaimed huntress Kadeja Assaad, 38, said she could not believe the program — which she put together to share her message and passion for hunting far and wide — would attract so much interest.
The course will raise money for Epilepsy Action Australia and, as part of it, participants will shoot at targets from a safe range under the supervision of registered range officers on the day.
“It’s very empowering in a way knowing women are taking the path of things men did, and we didn’t think we could do,” Ms Assaad, a Muslim, said.
“I’ve met a lot of females that do hunt in Australia. They’re amazing, wonderful women.”
The Australian-born Lebanese woman, who works full-time as an assistant manager at an automotive retailer, took up hunting about five years ago following a divorce.
Living in Liverpool at the time with her children, Ms Assaad wanted to give it a go after watching her vegetable farmer father hunt for meat during her childhood on the family’s farm at Leppington.
“It runs in the family. Back in his home country, his family hunted as well. It just kept on going through generations,” she said.
Ms Assaad’s father moved to Australia after falling in love with her mother while she was in Lebanon visiting relatives. Her mother’s family had already relocated to Australia from Lebanon in the 1970s to escape the civil war.
“He would bring back fresh meat and we always ate organic. My mum would milk and make her own cheese and yoghurts. We grew up eating fresh,” she said.
Ms Assaad has fond memories of fishing, hiking and being outdoors with her father and siblings. She is the eldest of seven children and the only daughter to take up hunting.
It is that connection with nature she wants her own children, aged between 12 and 18, to have.
“He also taught me bush survival skills … because we were always outdoors when we were kids,” she said.
“After I had my children I just really wanted them to enjoy the outdoors and especially with this generation, always on their electronics and iPads and whatnot.
“I just want them to be active and see what’s out there.”
While Ms Assaad said she would “never force them to hunt”, they have helped her recover her prey — watching on as their mother cries and says a prayer over the dead animal.
Dressed in camouflage gear and a hijab, Ms Assaad hunts for deer or wild goats on her own property in upper north NSW or on land belonging to friends and relatives.
Ms Assaad said the experience was always “emotional”.
She said it was about “making sure the animal is given to us with minimal pain” and ensuring everything is done “ethically”.
“I get really emotional when I hunt. My kids ask ‘why do you cry all of the time?’ I cry because it’s a blessing and it’s beautiful. It’s something that I love to do and I’m proud of myself to bring clean meat for my children to eat and my friends as well,” she said.
“I consider myself more of a harvester than a hunter.
“What we buy from the stores is not fresh, unfortunately.”
It was that desire to replicate her own upbringing for her children that ultimately motivated the Camden mother to “go and get the right credentials”, a process that was lengthy, involving background checks and training — but one she fully supports.
“I really respect that, especially with mental health issues. I always talk about it because I’m on the committee of SSAA (Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia) Sydney branch,” she said.
“We always talk about mental health issues and we need that to be focused on, not just a background check, to make sure everything’s correctly done.”
Ms Assaad said she considered a firearm “a tool, not a weapon” and does not recommend hunting “unless you’ve got the knowledge”.
“If I’m doing the right thing and put it out there, hopefully people will follow on. There’s a lot of people that make it look bad and I try my best to show people to do the right thing,” she said.
Ms Assaad runs her ladies’ shooting program, with the next one held at Silverdale on September 29.
While donations will this time go towards Epilepsy Action Australia, the event aims to fundraise for a different charity each time.
She hopes to show women “they are capable of doing everything they love in life”.
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