Friends of Camp Wild Girls help out Drury’s Outdoor Catch a Dream Hunt

Friend’s of Camp Wild Girls  help out at Drury’s Outdoor Catch a Dream Hunt. This hunt is for terminally ill children.

Mary, Tanya and Amber Poppe along with Missy Benik cooked the Celebration dinner for the participants and their families. “We have now been invited back yearly as part of the Catch a Dream Hunt team and looking forward to next year already!” states Mary.

Thanks so all who help with the event this year. I have had the pleasure of participating last year and loved it!

THE CALL OF THE WILD BOAR…GIGGLING By: Tracey Splechter

Some hunters would say you can’t “call” in wild boar, however my sister and I would disagree.

Our first boar hunting adventure to Oklahoma had been planned for many months.  This would be the first time my twin sister, Stacey would venture into the great outdoors on a hunting trip.  It took many hours of convincing her she would love it if she only gave it a shot!  She took her hunter’s safety course earlier this summer so she was ready and prepared to handle her rifle.  We also spent a few weekends practicing at our homemade rifle range at my home.

The weekend in September finally arrived for us to make the 4.5 hour drive to Oklahoma.  We planned to arrive at the lodge by 4:30 so we could get settled and ready for the next day’s hunt.  Little did we know that once we arrived, we would be in our hunting stand within 30 minutes of unpacking our bags.  We were stoked!  So, it was now 5:15 and we were settled in our stand with our gear and were getting familiar with our new surroundings.  As we sat there, trying to be quiet and watch for game, we couldn’t help the urge to giggle about everything.  Every small noise we made, her breaking her visor, my chair creaking, her cell phone ringing (because she forgot to put it to vibrate) and even the thought of who was going to shoot first, had us rolling.  Well it seemed to work because within 30 minutes of being in our stand, the first pig walks out.  We judged his size and determined he was a shooter but I told her “No way am I shooting the very first thing that walks by us, the very first day and in the first few minutes of hunting.”  She agreed and we watched the boar as he made his way around the feeder and then off into the woods.  Again more giggling and again another boar.  The second pig was quite a bit smaller than the first so we decided we would let this one go as well.  About 30 more minutes passed, several more bouts of laughter and one more hog!  It never failed just as we were at the peak of our giggles, a hog would appear out of the woods.  Was this coincidence or was our giggling working?  We decided we were not letting this one get away, so I readied myself for the shot and she grabbed the video camera.  He made a few passes behind the feeder and then came around to the right and left himself wide open!  KABOOM went my rifle and off ran the pig.  Stacey said, “You missed him, he ran off!”

I told her, “I didn’t miss him, I had a good shot and he is probably just a few yards off in the trees.”  We tried calling the guides to let them know we had a pig down but, in southern Oklahoma our cell phones did not want to cooperate.  However, we did get a text message out to them to let them know to head our direction.  I had made the shot just about 7pm so we had about one hour before dark.  It took the guides a while to arrive and by the time they did it was pitch black outside.  Stacey, being a city girl and all, didn’t want to get out of the truck to help the guides track the pig, but I talked her into it.  We showed the guides the location of where the pig was when I shot and told them the direction in which it ran.  Aaron, a newbie to the outfit, instantly found a trace of blood and was hot on the trail.  It didn’t take him long to find it; my first wild boar!  I was shaking hands and there were high five’s all around.  We loaded the pig in the back of a truck to get him back to the lodge for pictures and processing.  The outfitter has a great set up where you can have the guides processing your animal or you can choose to do so yourself.  While the guides were hard at work, Stacey and I went in to get cleaned up for dinner.  The meals ranged from hamburgers and steaks in the evenings to biscuits and gravy for brunch.  Don, the cook, was amazing!  I would definitely recommend to all hunters to pay the little extra to have your meals prepared for you while hunting.

The next day and a half of hunting proved to be uneventful as the weather was either extremely hot or raining.  It turns out that we shouldn’t have passed up those first two pigs as Stacey never had her chance at taking her first boar.  We still had a great time enjoying nature while relaxing in the comfort of our custom built, elevated stands.  We are planning a trip to go back in late winter of 2011!  This time frame should give her the opportunity for her first kill as well as additional opportunities for myself.

The camp is located near Mill Creek, Oklahoma.  It is a rustic, but very comfortable cabin that can accommodate up to six hunters.  Enjoy satellite TV in the living room or hanging out in the outdoor pavilion, discussing the day’s hunt.  There is a large, fully equipped kitchen for those who choose to cook their own meals.  Hunters can choose from many stand locations dispersed on 8,500 acres of a working cattle ranch.  In the afternoon, you can choose to fish in Pennington Creek for smallmouth bass or jump in the trucks with the guides for a tour of the ranch.  Processing facilities as well as a walk-in cooler are available to store your animal until your hunt is over.  The guides will process your animal for you for a small fee and help pack it for the drive home.  The guides are all very knowledgeable about the land and the game as well as very friendly.  I would recommend this destination to anyone looking for a quality hog, deer or turkey hunt!

Just remember the next time you are sitting in your stand and not having any luck, try it…giggle.

September’s Woman of the Wild~Jana Waller

I grew up fishing and hunting pheasants and waterfowl with my Father in Wisconsin.  During my teen years several road trips were made to South Dakota where we enjoyed cornfields bursting with pheasants.   It wasn’t until 1993, when I was a Senior in college, that I picked up my first bow.  My Dad had started bowhunting that same year and after successfully helping him track his first whitetail buck through a muddy cornfield,  I knew I wanted a taste of that exhilaration.  Addicted to bowhunting ever since,  my obsession has only been fueled by the success I’ve found in the past decade.  I’ve been blessed to arrow  6 whitetail bucks in the past 8 years and have recently expanded my hunting horizons to include bowhunting Africa, Canada and the Western states.

In terms of passions, fishing comes in at a close second.  Growing up with dozens of lakes within an hour’s drive,  a weekend often included some type of fishing.  From panfish to pike, I love it all and have been blessed to fish all over the world.  Whether it’s reef fishing in Bermuda to trolling the Canadian shores for Northern Pike, I love the anticipation and excitement, but also the relaxation, that come with spending time on the water.  Fly fishing is a new found love of mine as well and look forward to fly fishing adventures in Argentina and Brazil.

After graduating college in 1993 from UW-Whitewater with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, I spent many years working in outside sales and as a marketing associate in an Investment Firm.  In 2008 I embarked on a new career and launched  www.paintedskulls.com where I custom paint, stone and feather European mounts for customers.  That same year I started free lance writing for hunting websites and publications.  Many of my articles, product reviews and photographs can be seen regularly on womenhunters.com and bowhunting.net as well as in publications such as Bowhunter Magazine, Iowa’s Family Fish and Game Magazine and the 2010 Prois Hunting Apparel catalog.  I also am on staff   with a variety of hunting companies including Prois, Commando Hunting Products and Honey Creek Outdoors.  Luck was in my corner this year when I was casted to be a participant on the award-winning show ‘Ammo&Attitude’ which airs on the Versus channel.   I’m also currently filming a pilot show with a major network  featuring my skull business and my passion for hunting and conservation.

Everyday I’m  appreciative of the challenge, beauty, diversity and comraderee that hunting and fishing have  brought to my life.  From the South Dakota road trips as a kid, to float plane adventures into the Canadian wilderness, I can thank my Dad for my passion towards the Great Outdoors and my Mom for encouraging me to follow my dreams.

PRÓIS HUNTING AND FIELD APPAREL ADDS SIX ACCOMPLISHED WOMEN TO ITS IMPRESSIVE ROSTER OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE PRO AND FIELD STAFF

Over the past few years, Próis Hunting and Field Apparel has become the clothing brand of choice for some of themost high-profile, successful female hunters and shooters in the industry based largely on the gearʼs incredible fit,technologically advanced fabrics and superior performance. This year, Próis is showing no signs of slowing down, asthe company has announced the addition of four new impressive female hunters/shooters to its roster of ʻhard coreʼPro Staffers: Julie Golob, Rebecca Francis and twin sisters Tracy and Lanny Barnes. Plus, the company has alsoadded two amazing women to its team of Field Staff: Stacey Huston and Terri Lee Pocernich.“Whether in the field or on the range, each of these ladies are successful because they demand the most fromthemselves and their equipment,” said Próis Hunting and Field Apparel President and CEO, Kirstie Pike. “Weʼreproud to be associated with each of these incredible female hunters/shooters and are honored that they depend onour gear even in the most extreme conditions.”As the winner of 14 World, 18 U.S. National, and over 80 Championship titles in state, regional and internationalcompetitions, Julie Golob has brought new meaning to ʻshooting like a girlʼ. And she doesnʼt trust her success to justany gear when on the range, with a US Army Female Athlete of the Year (1999) title under her belt, she can only relyon the best from Próis. To further add to her long list of accolades, Golob is captain of team Smith and Wesson, thefirst and only Five Division USPSA Ladies National Champion and the first woman to ever earn a USPSA NationalsTriple Crown.Mother of eight children, and winner of the 2009 “Extreme Huntress” nationwide contest, Rebecca Francis laughs atany challenge that crosses her path. Her long list of ʻextremeʼ trophies includes two Alaskan brown bears, an Africanlion, many plains game, dall sheep, bighorn sheep, moose, black bear, antelope, New Zealand red stag, and severaltrophy mule deer and elk. Since becoming the “Extreme Huntress” she has begun freelance writing for severaloutdoor magazines and is currently working on a TV show based on womenʼs extreme hunting.A love for fishing, hunting, shooting and just plain being in the great outdoors scored twin sisters Tracy andLanny Barnes spots on the U.S. Biathlon team (an Olympic sport that combines cross-country skiing with riflemarksmanship). And after a few years of perfecting their skills, they made their first World Jr. Championship team atthe young age of 18 and became the first women in the US to have medaled in the World Jr. Championships the nextyear at the age of 19. Since their junior career, theyʼve competed in World Cups and several World ChampionshipsContact: Jonina Costello / jcostello@full-throttlecom.comJason Bear / jbear@full-throttlecom.comPhone: (805) 529-3700as well as the 2006 Olympic games. Plus, Lanny represented the U.S. at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic games, whereshe posted the best U.S. finish in 16 years. They both are pushing to become the first women in the U.S. to medal inthe Olympics in 2014 held in Sochi, Russia.Stacey Huston has shared a passion for ʻall things outdoorsʼ since growing up in the mountains of north westMontana. That same passion has led her to a career as a wildlife photographer, with photos published in severalhigh-profile magazines, and catalog cover shots. She is also a licensed falconer and a Sub Permitee for IronsideBird Rescue — rehabilitating birds of prey to ensure they are strong enough to once again soar the open skies.Entrepreneur and writer Terri Lee Pocernich has chased whitetails since the early age of 10, having grown up in thequiet town of Hayward, Wisconsin. Aside from being an avid hunter, sheʼs a wife, a mother of four and owner of thepopular Camp Wild Girls website, and now the new Home Hunting Parties concept which has recently hit the groundrunning receiving tremendous interest within the industry. An experienced writer, she has her own blog atSkinnyMoose.com and writes regularly for the Womenʼs Outdoor News and the Womenʼs Outdoor Media Association.Plus, sheʼs also in the process of co-producing an online show in conjunction with AM:PM Outdoors and Sharp HillOutdoor Production to be called “Battle Scraps.”These accomplished ladies join an already impressive list of Pro and Field Staff that include the likes of Linda Powell,Senior Press Relations Manager and Conservation Sales Manager for Remington Firearms; freelance writer andpublic relations firm owner, Stephanie Mallory; and award-winning freelance writer Barbara Baird…to name a few.Próis was created for women, by women who refuse to settle for downsized menʼs gear or upsized childrenʼs gear.Each garment is created with the most technologically advanced fabrics available and a host of advanced features toprovide comfort, silence and durability. Their out-of-the-box thinking has resulted in amazing designs for serioushunters that have taken the industry by storm and raised the bar for womenʼs outdoor apparel.