Born to Hunt-by Melissa Shopes

Born to Hunt

By Melissa Shope

My first hunting experience was when I was a little girl and my dad decided to take my sister and I grouse hunting.  I, of course, being against killing helpless animals, had no intentions of letting him kill anything.  He told us before we left that we had to be very quiet.  We weren’t and that was the last time he took us hunting.  He loved to hunt grouse and turkey but was never much on deer hunting.   He loved the outdoors and in turn taught us to love nature also.  We didn’t have much money or a lot of extras but he always saved enough money to take us on a family vacation.  We learned not to be in a hurry to get to our destination because he always took the scenic route and made plenty of stops to enjoy the views.  I don’t really remember being upset about it.  It was just what we were used to.  He always tried to pick historical places so we could learn something from our experiences.

Growing up in eastern Kentucky gave me a love for being the mountains that I didn’t realize until I moved to North Carolina.  As a girl I loved being in the woods exploring or climbing a tree with my favorite book and reading for hours.  I moved to the foothills of North Carolina when I was eighteen and didn’t visit the mountains that often. My first husband did not hunt nor did he enjoy going to the mountains or visiting KY.

I went home to Kentucky as often as I could and looked forward to the climb up the winding roads to get to my parents house.  I found that I would get more homesick in the fall.  It has always been my favorite season and the mountains in Kentucky are beautiful in the fall.

At age thirty-six, after a failed marriage and two wonderful teenage daughters, I started dating a man that I worked with.  I had worked with him for five years so we knew each other well.  He had always been big on hunting and I used to tease him sometimes about killing helpless animals.  We fell in love and spent as much time together as we possibly could.  One day he asked me if I wanted to ride to South Carolina with him to his hunting land and I said that I would love to go.  I still remember how I felt the first time we walked into the swamp.  It was in the spring and it was breathtaking. I cried as I stood and took in the beauty of it all.  The way the sunlight broke through the tress spilling rays of light into the densely wooded swamp gave me goose bumps.  I fell in love instantly.  I could see how much he loved being there and that he felt the same way that I did. Seeing his love for the outdoors and how he took time to stop and show me things that I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise, made me love him even more.   I continued going with him to help him get ready for deer season.  It was a lot of work but I enjoyed every second of it.

One day he jokingly asked me if I wanted to go deer hunting with him and again I agreed to go.  He was very surprised but excited that I actually wanted to try it.  He found me some clothes and bundled me up as much as he could and warned me how cold it might be.  I made it through the day without complaining even though I couldn’t feel my feet as I walked back to the truck.  We didn’t see any deer that day but I continued to go with him every chance I got. It was a long time until I actually saw a deer and I was getting very impatient.  He tried to encourage me and continued to tell me that if I kept going I would see deer.  I finally did start seeing deer and it was so much fun being able to sit in the stand and watch them walk under you and never know you were there.    I loved being in the woods and listening to the sounds and seeing all of the wildlife. You feel so close to God during those times.  Seeing all that he created and experiencing it firsthand makes you appreciate things so much more.  It gives you time to examine your life and be thankful for the ones you love.

He took me to the range and I finally found something that I was good at.  I had never been athletic and failed at every sport I had tried but I could shoot a gun!  I loved it.  The more I went hunting the more I wanted to try it for myself.  I started sharing a stand with his son, Hunter.  We had so much fun.  We saw a lot of deer but we always seemed to get the giggles over the silliest thing.  Those were memories I will never forget.  Eventually I started hunting by myself but I just never saw a shooter.  I had no desire to shoot a doe.  If  I was going to kill something I wanted it to be a good one. With that said, I still haven’t got my chance to this day.  But I have patience and I know it will happen.

In the spring he took me turkey hunting and I my love for hunting doubled!  I was shocked at how much fun it was.  The first day we hunted he called in a big bird right to his decoy.  He shot and I jumped and yelled, “You got him!”  I guess I was surprised but he thought it was funny.  He is a very good hunter and a very good shot.  He easily killed his limit that year and I was disappointed when it was over so soon.

My dad was surprised and proud that I had taken to hunting the way I had.  After each hunt I would call him on the phone to give him every detail.   He would share his experiences with me and would tape things on TV to show me when I came home to visit.  We planned to go turkey hunting together in Kentucky during their fall season but he passed away before we got the chance.  I am so glad that I found my love for hunting before he passed away.  Being able to share our hunting experiences with each other made us closer than we had ever been.  My mother gave me his turkey gun and I will proudly carry it hunting with me the next time I go.

I had my first exciting chance to shoot at a turkey this past spring.  It was a lot of fun but a big miss for me.  I was so upset and disappointed.  I will try again next year.  I have been teased many times by my co-workers about hunting but it doesn’t bother me.  They have no clue what they are missing and I can’t explain it to them.  I owe so much to my wonderful husband for taking me with him and letting me fall in love with the many joys of hunting.  I have no doubt that it will be a part of my life for many years to come.   I look back and laugh at how I used to be and how I am now.  I went from a little girl who hated the thoughts of hunting, in to a woman who, I now know, was born to hunt.

My first buck-by Deborah Fox

After multiple weekends of whining and feeling sorry for myself; my many years in the woods finally paid off.  I hate to admit it, but I’d been whining. I was sick of hearing myself, and I know my husband would agree. It seemed that no matter what I did to hide my scent, be quiet, and make as few movements as possible, my cover would be blown!

We’d been hunting in Georgia for a few years with some “good ole’ boys” who had some “freezer” success but no real bragging rights. As the only female hunting on the property I didn’t really get a warm & fuzzy welcome from the other male hunters. At one point they even asked my husband, “Do you bring her every weekend?” He smartly replied, “I wouldn’t think of leaving her at home, she’s a better shot than me!”

The moon had been full or close to it for several nights so the deer had been doing most of their feeding then. There had been signs of rutting activity for a few days, and my husband witnessed several bucks chasing a doe.  As they raced past him, he spun around so quickly that he broke the chair he was sitting in. But that’s for another story.

We made the decision to sleep in the next morning.  We ate a big breakfast and head to the stands around 9:00am. We had plans to stay all day instead of breaking at noon for lunch and maybe catch some bucks wondering mid-day.

I had been in my ladder stand five minutes when I heard the fateful blow of an alerted deer behind me. I was so close to climbing down and going back to bed! But not wanting to mess up my husband’s hunt, I stuck it out.  I’m really glad I did.

Ten minutes later I noticed some movement inside the wood line about 85 yards in front of me.  I picked up my binoculars and scanned the edge to find out if it was a “shooter”. I caught the glimpse of an antler and my heart started to pound. I carefully raised my gun and tried to locate the buck in my scope. Where was he? Every time I looked in the scope I couldn’t locate him through the saplings and briars. I could only see him with the naked eye. I was really getting nervous! I thought back to the past few weeks and all the blown opportunities. I was sure if I didn’t get it together soon this would be added to the list. I took a deep breath and looked back in the scope one more time and found his front legs. Eureka! Just above that is his chest! I slowly moved my gun up until I found his front right shoulder and pulled the trigger on my 30-06. All four legs went in the air in the classic bucking motion. I had made contact! He broke into the field and headed straight for me. This is when I realized he wasn’t just a buck he was the biggest buck I’d seen in the woods, and the first one I’d shot at! I rapidly pumped my gun and fired off four more shots. He came to rest about fifteen feet behind my stand. I quickly grabbed another clip and slammed it into the gun. I wasn’t going to take a chance that he might get back up. He wiggled a little and I shot him again. Once I was confident he wasn’t going anywhere the celebrating began. Later I was told that I was heard on the other side of the property hoopin’ and hollerin’! My husband keyed up his two-way radio and asked if I was ok, and if I had one down. I confirmed that it was big but he should continue to hunt. I still had no idea the magnitude of what I had just accomplished. He waited about ten minutes but couldn’t stand the anticipation and headed my way.  By then I had finally stopped shaking and felt confident enough to safely climb down out of the stand.  I stood there for what seemed an eternity just staring at the magnificent animal in front of me. When my husband arrived he congratulated me with a hug and a tear. I then said to him, “Don’t even think about telling me I’m not getting it mounted!”

I’m very blessed to have found someone who enjoys the sport as much as I do and that we were able to share this moment together. The only thing that would have made it greater was if my Dad, who introduced me to hunting could have been there too.

As we started to drag the deer out of the woods my husband noticed there were only two shots in the deer. The first shot and the last shot. The first being the fatal one and the last was my nervous one….right into tenderloin, which to this day my husband won’t let me forget!

When we returned to camp we discovered there had been multiple deer shot that morning including an 8 point, a 6 point, and several does.  But nothing came close to my 11 point. Those “good ole’ boys ”  were in awe of what the “girl” had harvested. The president of the club said it was the largest buck shot on the property in 20 years. The guy who shot the 8 point couldn’t stop rubbing the antlers of my deer. He said he was really happy with his deer until he saw mine.

After all the congratulating my husband and I took my deer to a local “stop n shop” that had a scale to get it weighed. As they began to hoist it up the last number I read was 185 lbs before the scale blew apart. It might have weighed more than that but I’ll never know.

He now proudly hangs in our home on what I like to call my “Wall of Fame” along with two of the biggest fish I’ve ever caught.

I’ve always looked forward to deer season beginning, but since that October morning in 2005 things have been a lot different.

Women’s Snow Goose Hunt in Southern Illinois with Jagermister Outfitters, LLC

Women’s Snow Goose hunt in Southern Illinois:
This is a guided two-day hunt with Jagermister Outfitters, LLC in Southern Illinois; just outside of Carlyle. Whether you are a new or polished goose hunter, you are invited. This hunt is limited to 8 women hunters. Please see the information below for details.

Date:
February 12th & 13th, 2011
Plan to arrive at the lodge on Friday, February 11th after 2:00 p.m. Hunting will take place all day Saturday and the majority of the day on Sunday, breaking both days for a warm lunch.

Guide:
Lynn Buswell, Jagermister Outfitters, LLC
Website: http://www.jagermisteroutfitters.com/location.html
Email: goosehunter67@hotmail.com
Cell: 319-213-0991

Location:
The hunt will take place on privately leased property just outside of Carlyle, Illinois. The hunt will be in crop fields hunting from layout blinds. You do not have to have your own layout blind.

Cost:
The fee for this hunt is $350.00 which includes lodging. Meals can be as a group at restaurants in the local town or cooked in the full kitchen at the lodge. Hunters will be responsible for the cost of their meals.

Limit:
NO LIMIT per day on Snow Geese

License & Stamps:
The required license and stamps:
102 Non-resident Hunting License-5-Day License $35.75
600 State Electronic Migratory Waterfowl Stamp $15.50
970 Electronic State Habitat Stamp $5.50
License and Stamps can be purchased online at:http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Pages/WaterfowlDove.aspx

Equipment needed:
For those of you who have hunted goose, bring what combination of gear and equipment that works well for you.
Shotgun
Shotgun case-all guns must be in a case when in a moving vehicle or utility vehicle. Soft-sided cases work well for this.
Several boxes of high brass BB steel shot or tungsten shot (no lead shot)
Modified choke
Camo clothing, preferably water repelling or water resistant in case of rain
Plenty of layers…it is usually still pretty cold in February.
Rubber boots
Hand warmers
Neck gaiter
Wool cap
Gloves

To reserve and confirm your hunt, you will need to forward a 50% deposit of $175. If you are mailing a check, it will be cashed upon receipt and the funds held until the day prior to the event. Please email or call Lynn for the mailing address and/or if you should have any questions.

Prois Pro-Edition Jacket~Simply a must have!

This Prois camo jacket is the one constant in my hunting attire. I may add vests over or under to gain warm or layer it with the sherpa jacket underneath but by far it is my favorite piece. It has that scapular pocket behind my neck where I simply place an activated hand warmer for added comfort. I also place one on each outer pocket on the sleeve to keep the chill away.

Last year while filming I had to loan one of my warmers to my partner who was shaking uncontrollably in the tree. I couldn’t believe the difference in the warmth of my arms. The one with the warmer never got cold. The thumb hole sleeves are a very nice touch also.

I love the large pocket in the back and often use it to carry my range finder and other necessities while climbing into the tree. The extra little round cut on the bottom keeps my bottom a bit dryer and warmer, and the way it sheds water is a life saver. Now add to that that the detachable hood with full face coverage for those windy days and I am in buck heaven (or hog heaven if I ever get down south). The only thing that could make this incredible camo jacket just a wee bit better? I still look like a woman when I wear it because of the feminine cut of the jacket. You can bet I won’t be leaving home without it!

Check out our Camp Store for all of you Prois Clothing needs.

August’s Woman of the Wild-Darla Kaarre

I grew up a native Montanan…fourth generation in a family line of outdoor people…forest service packers, ranchers, homesteaders, outfitters etc.  My mom and dad are outfitters and I spent alot of time growing up in that business.  The family all hunted…I took hunter’s safety as a kid and back in those days you could take a pocket knife to school in your pocket.

I had mine in my pocket so could take it to hunter’s safety class at night (I was in sixth grade) and show it off and let everyone know that since I owned a knife I could survive in the woods.  Well I lost it that day somewhere on the playground and never had another pocket knife till I was well into my thirties.  So even though I grew up with hunters all around me and worked in the outfitting business cooking for hunting camps and even helping drag game out of the field, I never hunted.

I went off to college, got a bachelor’s and masters degree in education, found this wonderful man to marry, had children and when the only boy got his first hunting license in Wisconsin (lived in the mid west for about 20 years) then my husband Marty really got into hunting.  So Randy (son) and Marty would hunt every year and get deer for me. I love venison!  I loved ‘cutting up meat’ and putting it in the freezer…but still never hunted.

About nine years ago my family and I moved back out to Montana…the northwest corner…back to my home stomping grounds.  I finally decided after the first year back that I would like to try my hand at this hunting business!  So I borrowed a gun that was given to my mom by my great uncle ( a nice wood stock pretty looking 308).  I didn’t know one gun from another at that point and still don’t know much, but am learning as I get more into hunting.  So eight falls ago I borrowed that gun and haven’t yet returned it and have now carried it many many miles up and down mountains and through woods.  The first year that I picked up the gun from my mom and dad’s house, I asked dad if I could hunt along the creek on his property back down to my house.  He said sure.  About 15 minutes later, down off the hill came a nice doe…it was early doe season so I took my first shot.

I hit her and watched where she ran and waited the allotted time and then went to find her. Followed the tracks and blood trails.  Retraced and started over and turned over every scenario in my mind.  Never did find her…went up to dad’s since it was dark. He said he would go with me first thing in the morning.  He did and we found her a few hours later…about a mile and a half away on a circuitous route.  I learned so much from my dad that day.  I had such a valuable resource around me, all those years of growing up and no interest back then.

That day turned out to be an education about being in the woods.  The doe was great food for scavengers that year but not so good for my freezer.  Dad encouraged me and told me similar stories from his lifetime hunting experiences.  I hunted the rest of the season and got nothing.  So I kept trying through the years and learning more each year.

I missed a nice buck at about 40 yards…even after a smart hunting strategy and waiting patiently for him to get close enough and not see or smell me.  Sat in the snow and cried about that one and was never going to hunt again.  My husband, son and Dad kept encouraging me.  Spent more seasons loving the ‘hunt’ and the whole being in the woods and observing animals and their behavior scene.

Each year I would learn some valuable lesson to apply the next year.  I could sit still enough that a coyote sniffing out something got within seven feet of me and finally I said ‘well hello there’ as that close was beginning to feel just a bit close. There was the time my son took me hunting in the early years of my new passion and we had a buck standing looking at us for ‘hours’ and any one other than the inexperienced mom would have gotten off a good clean shot.  I couldn’t find the deer in the rifle scope so couldn’t shoot.  The deer got tired of waiting for me to shoot it so finally it wandered away much to the incredulity of my son.  “Mom you could have just pointed and shot and not missed that one it was so close.”

I’ve provided many funny mom hunting stories.  I have my favorite ‘angel deer’ that flew through the thick woods miraculously because it was so thick and dark and his rack was so huge there was no way he could leap as far and as long as he did through the woods and find a path out without getting entangled…but he did of course!   There was the doe I shot and stunned and who laid on the ground for most of the waiting time and just before I was to approach to make sure she was meat for the freezer jumped up and ran off like nothing had ever happened.  My dad and I again spent a day looking for her.  Never found her nor any blood trail expect two spots right where she dropped when I stunned her.

My ‘failures’ to put meat in my freezer were disappointing but kept me motivated also to keep learning and trying.  So finally after six or so ‘unsuccessful’ seasons of hunting I shot my first deer last fall…a nice muley that I hiked miles and miles up in the mountains to get.  He was so big  we couldn’t drag him off the mountain. We had to field dress him and back pack him out of the woods.  Good thing we did…a grizzly was eating his rib cage when we went back the next day to check out if the rest of the deer were still in the same area.

We had more tags to fill!  My husband was with me the day of my first hunting success….he did all the cutting up for packing out and all that.  I helped where needed.  It was all a spiritual experience for me…the hunt, the shooting, the waiting, the butchering, the gratitude for it all.  But even more exciting for me was that four days later while hunting completely on my own, I successfully filled my doe tag after doing things ‘right’ and figured out how to gut her out and all that.  I had to get my dad to come with his truck to haul her home and he said to me in his quiet voice…”You’re getting to be quite the huntress!’  For my 76 year old dad, my getting deer and carrying on his life joys was one of the coolest things for him.  So, having spent years learning some about hunting, I finally had a ’successful’ season last fall.  I was able to put my first package of meat in the freezer that was identified as “Darla’s muley backstraps–nov ‘09″.  We mark all our meat by who gets it, where and when.  It makes for great meal time stories and we are reminded of where our food comes from and for what cost.  One of the funnest moments of last year’s hunt was taking a picture of the first package of meat to go in the freezer with my name on it!

I’m looking forward to this fall and hunting season and have been checking out the deer habits in the area and have my licenses all ready…my son in law got me a new scope…my son got me a real hunting knife after learning that I gutted my doe with a Finnish fillet knife.  I will still use the same family rifle but I may need to get my own hunting clothes…I’ve been borrowing my son’s while he has been four years in the Marines.  He returns this September 13…in time for early season wilderness hunting!  So Camp Wild Girl’s show me your stuff for women’s wear!!

So that is my hunting story…my youngest daughter Elly (10 in a few days) enjoys joining me in the hungt and will be able to start hunting in two years if she so chooses.  She is a great outdoors girl.  She lead a hike of 18 people to the top of a mountain lookout yesterday here in our corner of God’s country.  In addition to hunting, I love being involved in passing on the wonders of the outdoor world by running an outdoor ministry.  So yesterday we finished off an outdoor retreat by hiking to the lookout and viewing the wonders of the mountains with a 360 degree view.  We are a non profit ministry that believes that we can live out and pass on spiritual principles in the outdoors.  We believe that challenge, growth and renewal happen through adventure in the world God provided for us to enjoy.  We do children, youth, family, women, and men’s adventure retreats.  We do hunting and fishing retreats.  We go hiking, rafting, horseback riding, rock climbing, study, site seeing, camping, backpacking, and other outdoor activities.  Each experience is used to teach spiritual principles.  Each retreat is custom designed to meet the needs of the group that joins us. Growing up in the outfitting business, getting into education and marrying a pastor, have all come together to create a ministry that brings growth and renewal to lots of people…whether they are participants or whether they find a job in which they come out to help at a retreat.  If you’d like to find out about our ministry go to athelasoutdoor.org.  You can also find us on facebook at Athelas Outdoor Ministry, Inc.

Women can’t catch muskies — right? Look for yourself

Women can’t catch muskies — right? Look for yourself.

‘Wine, women and fishing’ Charity Billfish Tournament in Chesapeake Bay in Aug.

‘Wine, women and fishing’ Charity Billfish Tournament in Chesapeake Bay in Aug..

Camp Wild Girls “Sticks” it out!

By popular demand we now have our new Camp Wild Girls decals. The first on sports a black border and the other surrounded with a camo border and our saying “Hunting and Fishing Resources for Women of the Wild”. Both are 8 inches wide from the back of the fletchings to the tip of the arrow. The camo version in 3.8″ high with the black border version coming in at 3.25 inches high. Check out the Camp Store to find all our logo items!

July’s Woman of the Wild-Katherine Browne

I didn’t grow up in hunting family but my family and I have always shared a passion for the outdoors.  As a child my parents would take us fishing for pumpkin seeds and small mouth bass on the lake across the street from our house.  We used bobbers and worms and I used to get so excited when my bobber starting dipping and would scream and laugh when I hooked a fish. I loved it.  I   have always really enjoyed fishing. I derive the same giddy pleasure from catching a fish now as I did when I was a little girl. However I’ve upgraded from bait fishing to flyfishing.   My fiancée Eric Grand taught me how to flyfish and along with falconry flyfishing is my greatest passion in life.  Currently I am the only female flyfishing guide at Willowfly Anglers in Almont CO.

I love flyfishing because it is incredibly dynamic. Every aspect is dynamic from movement of the line, to the timing of your cast, to the placement and presentation of your flys on a moving river. Everything is in motion, and timing is everything. The river is constantly moving, constantly changing. Fish move, their feeding habits change, the insect populations are constantly rotating through their lifecycles on different timetables. You are continually solving a puzzle and by the time you have solved it that puzzle has changed!  It’s the most natural form of fishing because you are showing the fish exactly what they want to eat naturally in the same way they want to eat it.  This past year I founded and became president of a women’s flyfishing club in the Gunnison Valley named the Fishin’ Chicks.  We are a chapter of Colorado Woman Flyfishers but since Gunnison Valley Chapter of Colorado Woman Flyfishers was a bit long winded we voted on a nickname.  I was pushing for the Damsel Flys but I was outvoted.

My other greatest passion in life is falconry.  Falconry is the art of hunting game with a trained raptor. It is one of the oldest sports known to man, originating in the Far East around 4000 B.C. Many falconers describe falconry as a life style rather than a hobby because of the daily time commitment and devotion this sport requires.  Many people ask me how I first got interested in falconry when we talk about the sport.  I have always been very interested in birds of prey. When I was a child I took classes at a nature center that often had talks on birds of prey. I was absolutely enthralled from the first time I got up close to one of these majestic animals. When I was working abroad in Costa Rica with a captive breeding program for macaws, one of my close friends and research partners had a friend that was a falconer back in England. I think this was the moment the seed to become a falconer was planted. Before that point, I was totally unaware that people were still practicing falconry. When I returned to the States, I was flipping through the channels one day and came across a program where two men were rabbit hawking with a red-tailed hawk and at that moment I thought, “If they can do it, I can do it.” After that, I began ravenously consuming all the literature I could find about falconry. It was still a couple years before I had a place to build a hawk house (AKA a mews) and had the time to commit to the sport. When I moved to Oregon, I was able to find a sponsor and become an apprentice falconer. As an apprentice falconer, you, are required to have a sponsor your first two years, take a test on falconry, falconry regulations and raptor biology, and have your facility inspected by the state. After passing my test, I trapped my first red-tailed hawk, Artemus.  Since then I have trapped and flown two red-tailed hawks and an American kestrel.  This year I hope to trap a goshawk or a prairie falcon so I can hunt ducks, grouse, pheasant, and quail, in addition to cottontails and jack rabbits.

Falconry is different from conventional hunting because a rabbit can’t see a bullet coming, but has been hunted everyday for thousands of years by hawks and knows what to do when a hawk appears. That’s what makes it one of the most natural forms of hunting. Falconers are more observers of what goes on everyday in the wild than a gun hunter. It is like an advanced form of bird watching. As a falconer you get to see things most people will never see in a lifetime. Also unlike a weapon you have limited control of the bird.  Unlike a gun or a bow and arrow, a bird of prey has a mind of it’s own. Finally, falconry is more about the flight and the chase than the capture of the quarry. There is often cause to cheer the rabbit when it gets away and outsmarts the hawk.

So far I have only kept each bird until spring, trapping it in fall or winter then releasing it when the ground is clear of snow and small prey is readily available. Trapping a raptor and using it for a passage falconry bird dramatically increases its chances of survival. Seventy to eighty percent of wild red-tailed hawks die during their first year of life. A red-tailed hawk flown by a falconer has a mortality rate of less than 5%. This increased in survival applies to all birds used in falconry. Each subsequent year a bird of prey survives into adulthood their survival rate increases as do their chances of producing the next generation. Furthermore the falconer introduces the red-tail to larger prey such as rabbits and squirrels that are available during the winter when smaller prey is scarce. This is incredibly important to the bird’s future success in the wild during a time of year when the mortality rate of raptors and most animals is at its highest. I plan on keeping a bird for more than one season in the future because the longer you have a bird the better falconry bird it can become. However, I have never liked the idea of keeping a wild thing forever.

Beyond flyfishing and falconry I love doing pretty much anything in the outdoors. In the winter I enjoy, ice fishing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing.  Year round I hike, camp and hunt and in the summer I spend as much time on the river as possible, white water rafting, floating and fishing. In addition to guiding flyfishing I work for Prόis Hunting Apparel, a women’s hunting and field apparel company, as their Dealer Relations and Pro-Staff Coordinator.  I love working for Prόis.  Kirstie Pike is the best boss I have ever had and I am so passionate about the apparel we make.  Prόis makes the most technical woman’s hunting gear available with incredible fit and the most technical fabrics and technologies available.  It is so important to do something you love and I am very happy to say I have achieved that goal on all fronts.

Helping In Our Own Backyard

Helping in Our Own Backyard

In these times when media is constantly covering world news we sometimes overlook the people that need our help right here at home. This website is a directory of US charities and causes you can donate not only money to, but some of them just need your time, or used equipment. The listing is free to cause and the website doesn’t handle any of the donations that go to the causes. 100% of your donations go to who you want them to go to.

The website was a “brain storm from God”, say the owner of the site. “It’s his site not mine. I am just the tool he used to get it”. The site is working on getting non-profit status also, so people may donate to help defer the cost involved in having the site. In the meantime if you have a cause you would like listed contact help@helpinginourownbackyard.com

PROIS COMPETITOR SHOOTER’S SHIRTS NOW AVAILABLE!

Now Available in our Camp Store, Prois Competitor shooter’s shirt!

Hybrid flagship of the new Prois Competitor Line brings on the heat for competitve shooters and archers alike.  Today’s female handgun, shotgun and archery enthusiasts have given a whole new meaning to ’shooting like a girl’- and they’re looking for serious tools to give them an edge on the range.  So Prois Hunting Apparel has answered the call of these focused women athletes and have introduced the Prois Competitor Line of shooter shirts.

If you are competing in any style or type of shooting, you need a tightly integrated set of advantages- technical skill, control and practice- to consistently hit the mark.  The Prois Competitor line is tailored with the same kind of precision with which shooters train for competition. This line is crafted from sturdy 100% polyester wicking fabric and is carefully engineered with an athletic design for complete ease of comfort and movement.  All three styles include bilateral shoulder padding tailored to protect both sides- whichever is dominant for shotgunning.

The Competitor Sleeveless is perfect for the balmy days on the range.  It is comfortable, athletic and allows the shooter to move about unhindered.

The Competitor Short Sleeve provides an athletic and attractive cut.  Perfect for indoor or outdoor ranges!

The Competitor Longlseeve is the ultimate shirt for the female shooter who does it all!  It is complete with bilateral forearm slap pads and thumbholes in the cuffline for the archer- and bilateral shoulder protection for the shotgunner.

BlackHawk A.L.E.R.T. Bag

BlackHawk A.L.E.R.T. Bag

I have had this sweet bag for some time now and it was sent to me to “try” out. I have put it through some unbelievable paces.

It has rolled through snow in November to and from the deer shack. I have drug it through the gravel and spring mud on the way to expos and shows by its retractable handle. The push button on the handle makes it easy to extend partway or to full extension with one hand. It has been overloaded with Prois clothing and Camp Wild Girls logo wear until it is bulging at the seams. It is my bag of choice to take all the baby paraphernalia with, when spending a couple of days at Grandma’s. Sometimes I have to lay on it like a pair of tight jeans to get it zipped, but it keeps on taking a licking. It is a Blackhawk. Just the name alone reinforces that it is tough. Even more important than being tough, it is well planned out bag. There are 9 interior mesh pouches for gear storage. It sports an easy open lid and a cushioned compartment inside that is perfect for ammunition or other semi valuable items that need a bit more cushion (i.e. toys). It has loop handles on each end and the two side handle straps have Velcro to hold them together.

It does have on major downfall. I have to part ways with this bag, (sadly) when it comes to travel by air. It is oversized for airline industry standards. Ultimately, I have literally, drug this bag, through rain, sleet and snow and it delivers every time!

There’s a new “Kitchen” in Town

Not sure what to have for dinner tonight? Lots of wild game in the freezer and don’t really know what to do with it? Maybe you have a great recipe you are itching to share? Well now there is a place to not only share your recipes but try out others favorite recipes besides.

Wild Kitchen.net is a new recipe website focused on the “Wild” side of cooking. Their moto is “Become one with Nature…then marinade it!” This site is easy and free to use. Started by Jodi Smith in FL,  just in time for cooking and grilling your favorite wild game. They have everything from Ostrich and Tortellini soup to Gator poppers. Stop on over and check it out!

June’s Woman of the Wild-Christine Appleberg

By Christine Appleberg

How does someone who grew up in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago become an avid outdoorswoman, president of a bowfishing club and editor of a hunting website?

I credit my parents, particularly, my most understanding mom.   She started a lot of my interest by teaching me to fish and then how to fillet the fish that we caught.  This lit the fire in me that nature was not only wondrous and fun, but often downright tasty.  And despite her desire to see me wear cute frilly dresses and act like a proper little girl, she never attempted to quash my fascination with the outdoors and nature, even when I kept a live red bellied snake in my dancing ballerina jewelry box.

Gaining permission to hunt where I lived was difficult but finding a place to trap was far easier.  Even in the waning days of the fur boom there were plenty of raccoons, ‘possums and skunks on the edges of suburbia for a kid to catch.

When I checked my traps I often carried my Browning Nomad recurve bow and a mismatched assortment of arrows with me.

The bow was a gift from my older brother and the arrows were whatever Kmart had on sale.  I knew nothing of arrow spine, or bow ‘tuning’ concepts.  At 45lbs @ 28″ the bow was far too heavy for me. Yet, a surprising number of rabbits, squirrels and the occasional woodchuck became dinner and tanned hides due to my bow.   Deer were scarce in the area back then, so while I did buy a mail in permit a few times, I never actually went hunting for them.

After high school I went to college in Bottineau, North Dakota.  Going from the Chicago suburbs to ND was quite a culture shock.  If I remember correctly, there were about 7 million people within a 40 mile radius of where I grew up.  There was only a little over a half million people in the whole state of North Dakota at that time.  While this meant I had to accept that there were no real pizza places or sushi bars for couple hundred miles of my college, the upside was outstanding.

There were miles and miles of State Wildlife areas teaming with critters and hardly any people.  Creatures quite exotic to someone from Illinois, like moose, elk, pronghorn, mulies, snowshoe rabbits, jack rabbits, ruffed grouse and porcupines.  There was an unbelievable amount of waterfowl around too.  The college even had a bird cleaning area for the students. However, my only attempt at waterfowl hunting resulted in me shooting a single blue winged teal, which dropped into the middle of a slough.  I had to wade into the cold water and mud to retrieve it and this experience chilled me on water fowling. My other hunting adventures were more productive, and I kept myself busy with rabbits, ruffed grouse, furbearers and even took my first turkey in ND.

It was also in North Dakota that I started to get serious about archery.  A very entertaining and patient sporting goods shop owner and his wife helped me get set up with JVA Astro Stinger bow.  Even back then this was not a very high tech bow but I became enamored with it.  I shot it every day.  At my first outdoor tournament I won the women’s division but what really made me proud was that I would have been in fourth place had I been competing in the men’s division.  I also managed to win a moving target competition. I was officially hooked.

It was still a couple of years later, when I moved back to Illinois, that I finally started to make a real attempt at hunting deer.  Like most of my other outdoor pursuits, I am a self-taught deer hunter which means that I made a whole lot of dumb mistakes.  One of my first deer bowhunting  experiences I made the mistake of sitting down right in the deer trail and waited for a deer to show up. This was thinking like a trapper rather than a hunter.

Sure enough, a nice buck comes ambling down the trail and just about runs into me.  I was desperately trying to pull my bow back but was unable to because I was overcome with a serious bout of buck fever.  When the buck finally noticed the weird blob waving a bow around in front of him, his eyes bugged out and he simply bounced off the trail snorting (and I swear laughing) at me.

It only took once to learn that lesson but I plenty of learning to do after that.  Thankfully, I was fast learner (and lucky) and did tag my first deer that same year.  Like most hunters today, deer hunting makes up the majority of my hunting time afield.  However, these days I find myself referring to deer season as the ‘off-season’.   Don’t get me wrong, I love deer hunting. However, my latest outdoor obsession lets me pursue my quarry day or night, warm or cold weather, and I can do it, literally, with a boatload of friends.

Bowfishing.

Bowfishing combines the ‘thrill of the hunt’ with fast paced archery action and it’s only as serious as you want to make it.  I am blessed with a great circle of friends and truly some of my fondest memories are times we’ve had together bowfishing.  It’s a sport where on a good day or night you will shoot so many times you may simply become too tired to shoot anymore. Laughing, yelling, high fiving and plenty of ribbing is all part of the sport. After a good bowfishing outing, a new appreciation of the simple things like a hot shower and good soap are realized.

I have been bowfishing almost year round for several years now.  I’ve bowfished from Lake Guntersville in Georgia to Saginaw Bay in Michigan and many places in between.   My boyfriend Kendall has a tricked out pontoon boat that has a raised shooting deck, lights, generator and uses a pusher fan instead of a trolling motor to get into very shallow water.   It gets us some weird looks when we pull it down the road but it is an absolutely sweet bowfishing rig.  [If you're reading this Kendall, I do love you for more than your boat!]

I am currently President of the Illinois Bowfishers Club.  It’s a not for profit club that promotes bowfishing in Illinois through education events, outdoor shows and also host several tournaments and fun shoots.   We also work with state and federal fisheries biologists who study both native and invasive non-native species.  This makes the sport not only fun and entertaining but downright interesting too.

If you are someone who is interested in cutting back on your ‘down time’ between deer seasons, I urge you to look into bowfishing.  You might be surprised at just how much it will change your opinion of the ‘off season’.   I will be teaching a bowfishing class for women at an upcoming Women in the Outdoors class in July at Clinton Lake in Illinois.

For information about bowfishing, check out www.illinoisbowfishers.com

I am an editor and administrator on www.HuntingNet.com There’s a wealth of hunting information there that will help a new hunter avoid learning so many lessons by trial and error like I did.

What Do I do with the spurs? Make Jewelry of Course!

What do I do with the spurs? Make Jewelry of Course! by Irene Pawlisch

It has been 6 LONG years since my last Eastern turkey harvest.  Speculation of bad winters and predation have made it appear there are less birds on the property combined with bad luck of weather make a harvest that much more difficult to achieve.  This year, I got my bird!  Twenty-two pounds, 10 inch beard, and 1 inch spurs.  Beautiful matching spurs at that.  I have wanted to make a necklace for years and at last I had my chance.

It is a simple method to clean up the spurs.

1. Cut off the feet at the knee knuckle with your hunting knife when butchering the bird.
2. Get a hacksaw.  Hold the knee end on a firm surface and slowly as close to the spur cut off the foot end.
3. Still holding at the knee end cut off the other side of the spur with the saw.
4. Using a toothpick or wooden skewer poke out the insides of the bones.
5. Remove as much skin and soft tissue as possible with your knife.
6. Boil spur in water with a few drops of dish soap for a few minutes.
7. Spur will discolor temporarily.  Remove as much additional soft tissue as possible.  Reboil until clean.  The longer you wait to clean off the bone the yellower it will be in the end.
8. Let dry then use a fine sandpaper to smooth out the bone edges and clean up bone appearance.
9. Apply a coat of polyurethane or clear nail polish to the spurs for a glossy finish.
10. You can now treat your spurs like beads!

If you are not an experienced beader you can take your spurs to a bead store for assistance.  I have done this a couple times so I decided to dive in and purchased all my supplies for minimal cost at a big box store.  (I went to a store that starts with a W if you like the beads on my necklace.)  After searching the internet bead jewelry for design inspiration I decided on copying a necklace I tend to wear often.  I copied the lengths and everything from this necklace.

Some design tips I have found helpful.  Beads that look the same rectangular shape and color of the bone section of the spur help blend the spurs into the necklace design.  Patterns make the necklace more appealing to the eye.  Layout your pattern in full and experiment with different patterns before you commit.  Natural stones and wood seems the best match for spurs.

You could do the traditional leather strap with wooden beads but I like a little shine and sparkle.  I am still a girl at heart even if I have dirt under my nails 90% of the time.  I am the only hunter in my circle of girlfriends and I love that my spur necklace would stand up to their bling when we have girls night out.

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