New twist-”Shed” Hunting Contest!

Can’t get out of the house to go shed hunting? We are putting a new twist on “Shed Hunting”.  Each day you can try and locate our “Shed” .  (It is not the one on the front in the Sharp-Hill advertisement or the one in this post!).  It is somewhere within our site and will change daily. Send us an e-mail to shedhunt@campwildgirls.com with your name, date and location of the shed for that day and your name will be placed in the drawing for a monthly prize. You can enter once a day with the correct location of the shed.  The March prize is a choice between either of the “Camo is the new Pink” shirts or the “Camp Counselor” t-shirt. Happy Hunting!

Ladies Join us for a Hunt in Montana!

Ladies 3 day rifle buck hunt (Mule deer or Whitetail) with Camp Wild Girls.com and Bear Paw Outfitters in Montana, in late Oct. or early Nov. (to be announced)  We need to apply by March 15th for tags (these are guaranteed tags) and it is a high success guided hunt. We will be filming for future use on a video or show, so here’s your chance to shine!

3 day Montana Hunt for Mule Deer or Whitetail. $995.00 for the sponsored tag. Guide Fee is $2850.00 we also figured approx. $300.00 for lodging (Double occupancy) and meals.= $4145.00. I just wanted to give you an approx. price that included everything up front.

Please Contact me at hunt@campwildgirls.com a.s.a.p. if you are interested in going with us! Watch for other Camp Wild Girls hunts in the future!

Here is what Bear Paw Outfitters has to say about the hunt.

Montana Mule Deer Hunting

Mule Deer hunting in Eastern Montana is about as good as mule deer hunting can get. Montana is one of the only states with a general season rifle hunt during the mule deer rut in November. Rifle hunting for mule deer during the rut can offer you an excellent chance at bagging a trophy class mule deer. If you have never hunted mule deer during the rut, you’re missing out on an incredible deer hunt that most hunters do again and again.

Bearpaw Outfitters suggest you come and experience one of the best mule deer hunts available anywhere. Don’t miss out call today!!!

Trophy Quality

The Mule deer on our ranches sport impressive antlers with good mass, height, and great overall appearance. Mule Deer hunters usually bag mature mule deer bucks with 18″ to 28″ antlers and a few bucks taken have had extra cheater points.

Hunting Areas

We operate exclusively on private property in Central and Eastern Montana.  We currently have approximately 90,000 acres of private ranch land available to ensure quality hunting.  Our Mule Deer hunts take place near Lewistown and Forsyth, Montana.

Hunting Methods

Hunting methods often include spot & stalk hunting, glassing and spotting open hillsides and brush pockets,  or sitting and watching water holes and feeding areas.  Lots of good hunting country has good vehicle access, so we can accommodate hunters of any physical condition.

Montana Whitetail Deer Hunting

Whitetail deer hunting in Montana is the best kept deer hunting secret in the west. There are excellent numbers of whitetail bucks inhabiting Bearpaw Outfitters whitetail deer hunting ranches. What’s really impressive is how many whitetail bucks per day have been spotted while whitetail hunting on these hunting leases. Many whitetail deer hunters have seen 10 to 30 bucks in a day.

Montana’s reputation for trophy Mule Deer hunting has over shadowed it’s excellent whitetail deer hunting and most hunters are just learning about these under hunted whitetails in Montana.

Bearpaw Outfitters whitetail deer hunting leases have excellent whitetail habitat including timbered hillsides and brushy pockets for bedding and agricultural valley bottoms for excellent feeding areas.

Trophy Quality

Montana Whitetails have a reputation for getting big. Antlers on mature bucks are often 16″ to 22″ or more in width, many have good tine length, and mass.  The abundance of food produces large bodied northern bucks weighing up to 200+ pounds or more.

Shot Opportunity

Whitetails here are plentiful and bow hunting them during the dry September season over water holes and game trails leading into agricultural fields is very effective. Rifle hunting them during the November rut can also offer a prime opportunity of bagging yourself a trophy class animal. Quality whitetails are more abundant in Montana than in most states, hunters often see numerous mature bucks in a day.  Shots often range from 100 to 300 yards so sight rifles dead on at 200 yards.

Hunting Areas

We operate exclusively on private property in Central and Eastern Montana.  We currently have many thousands of acres of private ranch land leased to ensure quality hunting.

Hunting Methods

Hunting methods often include spot & stalk hunting, glassing and spotting open hillsides and brush pockets,  or sitting and watching water holes and feeding areas.  Lots of good hunting country has good vehicle access, so we can accommodate hunters of any physical condition.

For More information on the hunts or Bear Paw Outfitters check them out here!

Check Out Camp Wild Girls’ New Logo Wear!

Check out all the new additions to our Camp Store!

Our March “Woman of the Wild”-Stacey Huston from “A Focus in the Wild”

By Stacey Huston from “A Focus in the Wild”

I grew up in the mountains of North West Montana. I was raised immersed in the outdoors.. So I spent a lot of time as a young girl watching and learning about wildlife. My parents raised me with a deep respect for the natural world.
I married young, a man who shares that passion for the outdoors, and together we have tried to foster in our children that same love for all things natural.
I was raised on wild game. My mother as well as my father was a hunter, . She enjoyed spending time in the outdoors and I am very grateful that they never hesitated to take us kids along.

When I was asked to be this months “Woman of the Wild” I thought back and tried to remember, when was the first time my parents took me hunting? I honestly can’t recall. For us, it was a different time, my parents hunted out of necessity to feed their family, not for sport, It was a way of life, like gathering the eggs and making sure the chickens were fed each morning. We were taught at a young age how to clean, and butcher anything that was harvested, rabbits, grouse, deer or elk.
I don’t remember the first fish I ever caught. I recall learning were to search for earth worms, how to bait my own hooks and how to clean and cook a fish. I remember learning to track animals, and tell by the bark and needles what trees were in the area.. How to tell what way is north, and how to find your way home if you ever got lost in the woods..
My family still eats primarily wild game. We hunt for meat, in a time when most people care more about the size of the antlers that they can hang on their wall, we still hunt for food.

I can’t really remember a time in my life when I was not learning something about nature, weather it was sitting on the shore line with my parents watching a family of beaver interact on a high mountain lake, or fully camouflaged, on an alpine ridge in September archery season, talking to the magnificent bull elk, flying a hawk after bunnies along the Absaroka Range or just taking photos of our children while we hunt for rabbits with self bows and home made arrows.

I am a licensed falconer and volunteer as a sub-permittee for a local bird rehab center. I have been flying birds of prey and hunting small game with them, off and on for over 10 years now and am in the process of applying for an education permit so that I can take birds of prey to schools and groups for educational seminars.

We live a simple life, and in this world of technology it is the simple, natural things that are the most important..

Aimee Pitts-My 8pt Buck

Have you ever had one of those years where you just want to give up especially when you feel like you have worked harder than everyone around you but they seem to be the ones with the success?  This is my story about my 2009 hunting season that was horrible but then better than all previous seasons and you wonder how that could possibly be.  Chris, my boyfriend/hunting partner, and I have three places where we hunt – one is in Bossier Parish near my mom’s house and is my favorite place to hunt, another is in Desoto Parish which is the closest to where I live and the other is in Natchitoches Parish about an hour drive from my house.   This year we decided to try something a little different by putting our trail cameras out early in Bossier Parish and Desoto Parish in hopes to get some pictures of bucks in velvet.  And that we did, in Desoto, we had pictures of a nice 8 point and a good 6 point which gave us high hopes long before the season started.  That wasn’t true for my favorite place because I went from having lots of deer on my camera last year to having a doe, a yearling, and more hogs than I cared to count, which was a first for this area.  Of course I wasn’t going to let some pesky hogs bring me down and keep me from hunting in that spot so I readied for opening day, clearing old and new shooting lanes.

Two weeks before the season opened we had a special youth hunt weekend and my 8 year old son, Mason, decided this summer that he wanted to start hunting with me this year so I bought him a new rifle.  Youth weekend he and I hunted the 8 point and 6 point that we had seen on camera.  We hunted all weekend long but only saw a doe with a yearling, not once but every time we were in the stand. Mason was tempted to shoot the doe but using his better judgment he decided against it since she had a baby and I was really proud of him for making that call.  Therefore, no first deer for him on youth weekend and he was ok with it.

When the season started I hunted every chance I could, every weekend going to Bossier and seeing nothing and then when I got the chance I would take off early and hunt the 8 and 6 point in Desoto since that stand was close to home.  I had made up my mind that if I saw the 6 point I would let him walk even though I had never killed a buck bigger than a 3 point – a very large bodied 3 point but nonetheless a 3 point.  I was going to save the 6 point for next year or if one of the kids were with me let them take it but I never saw the 6, the 8, or anything else and then sometime during November the gas well company came in and laid a saltwater line and really messed things up for the rest of the year.  Needless to say we were down one place to hunt but I continued to hunt hard in Bossier Parish in hopes that my luck or things there would change.  I couldn’t imagine where all the deer had gone especially since I had never shot anything off of that stand but all the deer had disappeared.  Still nothing and I was now getting very discouraged because it seemed that the harder I worked or the more I went the less I saw. But Chris, on the other hand, saw deer every time he went hunting and it seemed as though everyone I talked to had been seeing a lot of deer but not me.  My discouragement led to us making a week day afternoon trip to Natchitoches Parish.

We took off work earlier than normal and Chris and I headed to Natchitoches Parish and I was glad we made that trip because I finally saw a deer and it was a buck. Yipee!  A very small 8 point came out just before dark and hung out in my shooting lane for a good while.  He was maybe a year and half old so I just watched him, knowing that in about 2 years he would be a nice one.  I didn’t mind letting him walk because I was thankful to have seen a deer.  After seeing the little 8 point we made the decision to take off early Friday and hunt and camp there for the weekend.  When we arrived Friday afternoon we went straight to our stands I hunted the one where I saw the 8 point earlier in the week and Chris hunted what he calls long lanes.  We both hunted til dark and I saw nothing and Chris saw 3 does, I figured it wasn’t a complete loss since he saw deer and he was only hunting about 400 yards from me therefore I knew I was bound to see something that weekend.  Saturday morning Chris and I both hunted the same stands again and again I saw nothing and he saw quite a few.  That Saturday afternoon the frustration was really working on me and I asked Chris to let me hunt his stand and he could hunt mine.  You can bet I will not make that mistake again.  At 4:15 pm I hear him shoot and nearly jumped out of my skin, and immediately sent him a text to verify it was him although I knew it was and he replied “isn’t your lucky day”.  Now I was really getting frustrated – I asked him what he shot and just said “8”, my first thought was “he shot my little 8 point that I let walk” but I new better especially since he will not even shoot a doe.  He told me to stay in the stand and continue hunting the rest of the evening but I was too aggravated by now so I got down and went to see what he got.   When I saw the 8 point I couldn’t believe it, it was huge.  At that moment, I got upset and decided that he was right I just don’t have the luck and was ready to just quit all together but I’m not a quitter.  I have been told that I threw a little fit but I don’t believe it.

It took me a few days to get over being jealous and feeling sorry for myself and when I did I realized that the Thanksgiving holidays were in a few days and I would have extra time off work and more time to hunt.  The Friday after Thanksgiving I was up early not to shop like everyone else but to hunt in Bossier Parish and since my mom was out of town we had a place to camp for the weekend.  Mason wanted to hunt with us so Chris took Mason with him to give me time to focus without any distractions.  I hunted Friday evening in my favorite stand and again saw nothing until right at dark, when I looked to my left there one stood in my new lane that we extended this year.  The deer looked to have a very large body and I could see horns but couldn’t tell how many because his head was behind a tree, I hesitated due to my fear of shooting one at dark and losing it.  I took my chances anyway thinking this may be the last one I see this year.  I shot and he ran and I panicked.  I immediately called Chris but he wouldn’t answer so I waited a few minutes, got down and went to look for blood but couldn’t find any and it was really getting dark.  I finally reached Chris and he and Mason came to help me look, I showed him where I thought he was standing and we looked around and found nothing.  I began to doubt my shot but I knew I hit him so Chris walked a little further down the lane and found blood and some yellow stuff.   That’s when the sickening feeling set in, I had not only gut shot the deer but I obviously can’t judge this lane like I thought because I thought he was a lot closer than what he actually was.  After calling a friend to bring his dog to help track him we found my deer – it was a spike, and I was devastated.  I don’t shoot spikes, it is a rule I have but I had shot a spike.  The next morning when my alarm went off I didn’t move I was still too upset with myself over making a bad decision.  Chris and Mason went hunting without me.  At 7:15 that morning Chris sent me a text message that said “Mason did it. He shot one.”  At that moment I forgot about myself and focused on Mason’s success.  While I was getting dressed to go meet up with them Chris sends me another text “doesn’t look good, gut shot, going to stay in the stand til 10 and then look.”  I crossed my fingers, said a little prayer and waited to hear back from them.  At 10 am we called the same friend with the dog and he trailed Mason’s deer.  Mason didn’t make a bad shot his was perfect the deer only ran about 50 yards a laid down Mason got his first deer – a spike.  I was very proud of him but still upset with me so we went home I was done for the weekend.  Sunday morning 7:00 am the phone rings it’s one of my girlfriends; she needs Chris to come help her husband cape out the huge buck she just killed.  That was it I had had enough everyone around me was either seeing or killing deer and now one of my friends who doesn’t hunt and gripes because I do every weekend has killed a mountable deer on her first time to go this year.  I quit!

Again I spent a few days dealing with what I now know was jealousy.  My aunt who isn’t a hunter is the one who got my mind right.  She told me that I was trying too hard and maybe if I stopped focusing on that BIG BUCK and got back to the reason why I love to hunt then maybe things will change.  After talking to her I thought about the main reason why I love to hunt and that is because I love the outdoors and nature.  When I hunt I feel like a part of nature whether it be in the mornings when it awakens or the evenings when it is going to bed.  That is what I did the following weekend. Chris and I both took off work early Friday and headed to Natchitoches, but since I wasn’t planning to hunt anymore this season we weren’t prepared and didn’t make it in time to hunt that evening.  During the night Chris and I both became very ill with a stomach virus but we hung in there determined not to be forced to go home.  We slept most of the day Saturday and at 2:00 pm we decided to give it a try and head for the stands.  Neither one of us had eaten since Friday and were extremely weak to the point that I didn’t know if I would be able to climb in the stand.  I went to the stand called long lanes and Chris hunted what is called fence row.  Around 4:30pm I had a spike come out about 200 yards in front of me I watched him walk off in Chris’s direction.  A few minutes late I had 3 does in my lane on the right so I watched them for a while.  At about 5:00 pm Chris sent me a text that he said he has 2 does to the right of his stand.  Things were looking up I was finally seeing deer.  Just before dark I had 3 more does come out on the lane to my left and began to wonder how I was getting back to the house because that was the way I had to walk out and I could still barely see them even well after dark.  I managed to get down and walk out without spooking the deer.  When I returned to the house Chris was waiting to tell me what he had seen.  Just after he sent me the text about the two does on his right a nice 8 point walked out behind them, he chose not to shoot in hopes that if I were to hunt that stand Sunday that maybe I would get a chance at him.

Sunday morning I hunted the fence row and he hunted the stand that I had hunted in the previous evening. That morning we hunted til about 11:00 am and I saw 8 does and Chris saw 5 does but no bucks. That evening we were back in the same stands that we hunted that morning and I am thinking Chris saw the buck the previous evening so maybe this will be my evening. Around 4:45 pm a doe stepped out to my right and my heart started pounding I was thinking this is it the buck can’t be far behind her. I sent Chris a text and just as I pushed send the doe spooked and ran back in to the woods I knew then that he was on his way out. Directly across the shooting lane from where the doe came from, out stepped a spike. I knew then that the big buck wasn’t there because the spike didn’t seem too concerned. A few minutes later I get a text from Chris saying “the 8 pt is on my shooting lane to the right.”  Again my point is proven he was just luckier than me and the deer seem to follow him, but why?  A few minutes later he sends me another text that said “get down and come this way if he is hanging with this doe like I think he is you can make it.” My doe had returned and now I had 2 deer to my right about 75 yards from the stand and I didn’t want to spook them but I climbed down anyway and just as I got to the bottom the doe started walking towards me and then stopped and watched. I never scared them and they just watched me walk away and at that moment I knew my luck had to be changing. The stand Chris was hunting in has a lane out front and lanes to the left and right, like a T with the stand in the center. I walked down the lane out front and headed straight for the stand trying to decide what in the world I was going to do once I got there or should I say if I got there without jumping up or spooking one that may be coming out on the lane I was walking down. I walked thru knee high water that filled my boots and made a loud squishy sound or at least to me it seemed loud.  I made it to the end just in front of the stand and was burning up from all the clothes I had on. I got down on my hands and knees and crawled out in to the lane facing the direction of the buck but he wasn’t there only a doe and a 3 point were there. Chris whispered “he is in the woods snort wheezing at the 3 pt, so just be patient” but I was uncomfortable and needed to get out of my coat so I slowly took it off and laid it on the ground. I still wasn’t sure how I was going to shoot from the ground and I knew I needed some type of rest. Everything from this moment on happened so fast that I will tell it how I think it happened. Chris pointed in the direction of the doe and the buck stepped out all I saw were horns and a huge body. I immediately stretched out, laid on my stomach, propped up on my jacket, and shot. He stumbled for a second and ran into the woods followed by the doe and then a few seconds later the 3 pt followed behind the doe. I did it I walked all the way over and I did it I got my first big buck with my brand new Savage 30-06 rifle that Chris bought me for an early Christmas present. That was an exciting moment but it wasn’t over. After Chris got down from the stand we heard a lot of crashing in the woods and I got a bad feeling that I had made a bad shot and it was getting dark. The crashing lasted for about 5 minutes and I stood ready in the shooting lane while Chris went around to where he thought he was headed to send him back my way.  A few minutes later the crashing stopped and I could hear Chris walking thru the woods in my direction, he then yelled at me and told me to start walking the lane.  I went about 30 yards and spotted something white near the woods and there he was.  I didn’t make a bad shot! Chris then told me that the crashing noises were from the 3 pt chasing the doe once he saw his window of opportunity. That’s when the high fives began because I had made a perfect 75 yard shot from the ground. Some people may call that cheating of some form since the buck didn’t come out by my stand but I call it one heck of an adrenaline rush and a really good story to tell.

I always thought of myself as a patient and non-jealous person but I let my emotions get the best of me and that is something that I will not let happen again.  When you let the things that you love to do become work and you try to hard to achieve the goal then you forget your reason for doing it at all.

Shreveport, LA

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February’s “Woman of the Wild”- Jennifer L. Metzker!

When I was a small girl, I remember going to my uncle’s property to hunt deer, turkey, dove, quail, etc with my family. I loved being out in the woods, running free, watching the wildlife. My dad would take me to hunting camp, despite the comments from the older members; dad would put me in the woods with my grandfather’s Smith & Wesson model 1000 shotgun and say, “sit still and good luck”! I only ever shot one doe, and we never found her…I was heart broken.

As the years went by, the family grew apart. I found myself driving my very old Grandfather to hunting camp, just so I could get another chance at another deer.  No Luck, I grew older as did the relatives, and there was no one to take me hunting, but you could always find me outdoors either at the horse shows or at the mud hole, which is where I met my husband of 19 years.

Bryan has been a hunter all his life and we kicked it off immediately.  We married, had a son and moved to North Carolina and had our second son. Bryan joined a Hunting club in Georgia, that we are still apart of to this day. It was at this club with my husband, that I really learned how to hunt. I was taught how to watch and “let the deer get closer” and where to put a stand, etc. I harvested my first doe on that club, weighing in at 120 lbs, while my husband sat in the truck with the boys watching a clear cut. That was it, I was really hooked! No, I wasn’t the first woman in camp to hunt, but I was the first to hunt as hard as the men do.  Sure, I have heard the same questions over the years; “How do you do it”? My only answer to that was “How can you not”? The woods are my sanctuary. Things always seem clear when I’m in the woods. And I have seen some wonderful things in the woods!

Over the years, I have harvested some nice deer and I’m always proud of whatever I do harvest. I hunt Alligator, Turkey, Deer, Ducks, Coyotes, Fox and Bobcat. I am open to try anything once. I fly fish in the spring and summer months but hunting is always on my mind.

I have been married for 19 years to my “hunting mentor” lol, Bryan. We have two sons, Bryan Jr. and Boone. Bryan Jr. is currently in the Navy and fishes and duck hunts with us when he takes leave. Boone is in the woods and water with us all the time and has become quite the hunter.  I know a lot of other ladies that hunt hard like me and I love meeting other lady hunters.

Jennifer L. Metzker

Hunting for a Cure!

Meet The Leonards

Derrick Leonard and Lauren Conley were married March of 2009 after building their home together in the small town of Church Hill, MD. Derrick and Lauren were high school sweet hearts that never grew out of it, and after 8 years finally tied the knot. Lauren found out she was pregnant and life was good. They knew 2009 would be the most exciting year of their life but had no idea just how exciting it would turn out to be. They had everything they ever wanted, a great relationship, a brand new house, great careers, and a baby on the way.
On August 19th 2009 their son, Darren Alan Leonard was born. Darren was a perfectly normal and healthy baby who stole the hearts of every nurse, family member, and friend who set eyes on him. Darren wasn’t like most babies, he only cried when he was really hungry and was a laid back new born who loved cracking smiles at everyone. The Leonard’s were a truly blessed family living the American dream.
In mid October of 2009, Derrick, Lauren, and Baby Darren went on a trip to PA to visit with Darren’s Grandparents on a camping trip. During that trip, Lauren noticed a subtle laziness in Darren’s left eye and on the way home was already scheduling a appointment with his pediatrician. After getting home and meeting with Darren’s Dr. the Leonard’s were referred to an ophthalmologist at A.I. DuPont Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, DE.
On October 27th 2009, Derrick and Lauren packed up Baby Darren and headed for their trip to DuPont. When they arrived there they met with the eye doctor who immediately called the Emergency Room to send someone up to bring Darren down for a CT scan. After a long wait in the ER, Derrick and Lauren were advised by Drs. That Baby Darren had some type of mass on his brain and needed to be taken to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Derrick and Lauren felt as though they had been struck by a train. This was a total shock, going into a routine eye Dr. Appointment with only the clothes on their back and somehow ending up in the intensive care unit that night with their two and a half month old baby boy.

Following being admitted into the PICU, Darren was given lots of IV’s, blood draws, and other unpleasant things no baby should ever have to experience. The next day in the PICU the Oncologist at DuPont came in the room and told the Leonard’s the most devastating and shocking news they ever have heard or would hear. . Their baby has cancer… Not just cancer, but a brain tumor the size of a golf ball. The oncologist told them they would need to do a biopsy of the tumor to remove a very small amount and send it out for identification of what type of cancer it is and then treatment options would be discussed.
Darren had a brain tumor biopsy and the tissue was sent out. The Dr. advised that due to the size and location of the tumor, removal was not an option. After the results came back Darren was diagnosed with a low grade glioma brain tumor. The only treatment option for Baby Darren is chemo and the Dr. started him on a once a week chemo schedule for one year. The Dr. told the Leonard’s that there was only an 80% chance that the chemo would keep the tumor from growing larger, let alone shrink it.
Darren began his chemo treatments while Mommy and Daddy started to adjust to their new hospital life. Lauren didn’t leave Darren’s side for one minute while in the hospital and Derrick took up residency at the Ronald McDonald House across the street. After being admitted in the hospital for almost half of Darren’s life the Leonard’s finally got to come home to Church Hill. They only made it home for less than 24 hours before having to go back to DuPont because of medical complications.
The Leonard’s have made plenty of late night emergency trips to DuPont and Darren has had a central line placed in his chest to access for his treatments as well as blood draws. Darren also had a shunt placed in his head due to spinal fluid pressure on his brain. His shunt runs from his head to his stomach to drain and is visible under his skin.

The family has recently learned that not only has the chemo stopped the tumor from growing, but in the last MRI showed signs of the tumor shrinking. The family still has a long way to go before being out of the woods and Lauren had to leave her career as a compounding pharmacy technician to take care of Darren’s many round the clock medical needs. Derrick is back to work his 24 hour shifts at the county 911 center and makes lots of time to spend at home with the family. Without the love and support from friends, family, and even some strangers, the Leonard’s would be having a much harder time than they have already been presented with.

If you or anyone you know would like a camo hunting for a cure cancer support bracelet that were made in Darrens honor, simply send a donation to Darren of any size to Derrick Leonard PO Box 205 Church Hill, MD 21623. Checks can be made out to “fund raiser for darren leonard”. Be sure to include a return address for the bracelet/bracelets to be sent to and include the number of bracelets you would like. These donations are to help offset the loss of Lauren’s income while caring for Darren.

New in 2010~ Camp Wild Girls “Hunting Parties”

Well it’s official. To kick off the New Year we are going to start having Camp Wild Girls “Hunting Parties” featuring Prois Hunting Apparel.

What is a “hunting party” you might be asking yourself? Well remember all those home parties that you didn’t really want to go to because they didn’t have anything you really wanted to buy? Well we are going to change all that. As one gal put it “Oh it is like tupper**** party only for kick @$$ chicks!” Exactly my friend!

You will  now be able to try on all the Prois Hunting apparel, and Camp Wild Girls clothing in the comfort of your own house or maybe a friends. It will be  getting a bunch of “wild” gals together for a wild  kinda time!

If you have an interest in attending, or throwing a party or possibly even becoming a rep, please contact me at party@campwildgirls.com. Please be patient until we can get to your area since this is a very new program.

Jan 2010’s “Woman of the Wild”-Kim Pezzeminti

Kim Pezzeminti, explorer, huntress and creator of things.

“Woman of the Wild” could not be a more perfect description for this explorer!  As a young girl, I would create some of the most amazing places in the wild of the outdoors.  The most memorable is of my playhouse underneath a GREAT big maple tree!  The dirt floor was swept daily and the luscious and green moss became the carpeted areas of this delectable place.  I served mud pies topped with the flowers of the Forsythia bush.  My Grandmother Ruby would always be there to assist in my projects.  I credit her for blessing me with creativity.  She taught be how to see pictures in the clouds and how to make something out of nothing. (Which by the way has been a wonderful trait to have through my adult years!)

My Mother and Father are also very instrumental in the development of my creativity Through many years of camping, seeing, doing and just sharing added the element of honesty and integrity.  My Dad would take me fishing atop Mowbry Mountain near Chattanooga, Tennessee.  I caught my first 3 pound bass on a Zebco 202 rod and reel and I was hooked.  I began to scream to my Dad across the pond…”Daddy, Daddy, Daddy” as I drug the most incredible, awesome fish ashore.  Daddy came just a running and was so proud of me!  I went home, took my hands up to my Mom’s nose and said smell…I caught a fish!

As I grew and developed into a woman, all of these experiences and skills would ultimately become the foundation for my work world success.  After spending almost 20 years in the tile industry, I found it ironic that I was selling “baked dirt” for a living. (Hmmm, thank you mud pie).  I was able to work with ceramic engineers from France, Italy and Spain to take clays, silica sand and glazes to make beautiful tiles for homes and buildings around the world.  This job also enabled me to travel where I was constantly in sensory overload!  As this Tennessee girl traveled to the West, it was if she had found her home.  Wyoming became the place that every chance I got, I would go there, place my feet into the vast forests and just be on cloud nine.  The grand mountains would bring my creativity out like flowing lava from a volcano!  I spent several summers in the Teton National Forest on Horseback and I never returned the same person.  I am so thankful for these days in the woods.

As I traveled, I became the Platinum Princess on Delta Airlines.  Spending over 200 nights a year in a hotel was quite and experience.  I never knew what I would receive from all these frequent flyer miles but I found out a little over four years ago…the award was my darling and precious soul mate.  As we sat side by side on a flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta (thank you Delta) we talked about deer hunting, which I had never done, but my Dad loved to deer and turkey hunt.  I told him about the back strap my Dad cooked every Christmas morning.  Needless to say, this was love at first flight!

We married 2 years later on the Bell Tower of the Hotel Colorado ( Interestingly, this hotel became the White House of President Teddy Roosevelt, while he bear hunted…I think I must have felt his love of the West) then we jumped in our jeans and headed Elk Hunting for our Honeymoon.  My hunting buddy taught me to shoot my first gun and ultimately harvesting my first deer.  We make being in the WILD a priority for our extra curricular activities.  I escorted my husband on this 50^th birthday celebration to Namibia, Africa where I watched my mentor focus and harvest.  We have Elk Hunted together in Colorado and Wyoming.  Our most favorite place is our hunting camp in Georgia where we work on the many aspects of the Whitetail Deer.  Living now in Merritt Island, Florida, we are anxious to someday find a little cabin hidden in the woods where I can sit on my porch and listen to the creatures sing their songs.

Once again my experiences would take hold of my creativity and I from this my company Doeville would be born.   This is a place for women to come and capture items created by women and made in the USA.  The products and artists are a direct result of my many years of traveling and meeting people all over the world.  Our tag line is “Accessorize Your Spirit” which is what the places in the wild have done for my spirit!

My message to all women is to explore, not only places but also within you.  There are many treasures to be found!

Vote for Team HuntingLife.com!

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Don’t forget…The Battle of the B.O.W.

The Battle of the B.O.W. with our own Terri Lee Pocernich and her son Kale starts Tuesday the 29th on the Sportsman’s Channel. It starts in the 7:30 p.m. time slot. (that is CT).

We are very excited to see the new show and how it gets all put together. We only know one of the stories, ours. There are 9 other teams and the stories that they will also have. It should be an exciting venture, through the season!

Voting will start on after the first show on www.battleofthebow.com. Please watch the show and let us know what you think!

AFTER MUCH ANTICIPATION…The Prois XTREME Women’s Hunting Series has arrived!

AFTER MUCH ANTICIPATION…The XTREME Series has arrived!

New to our Camp Store this jacket has it all! Soft, silent shell of our 100% polyester 8000/5000 waterproof/breathable fabric. Well insulated with 150Gm 3M ULTRA Thinsulate- this jacket will not leave you out in the cold. Lined with our 100% nylon tricot for added ease of layering and movement. Deep chest and hand pockets. Innovative inner sleeve liner keeps arm mobile yet reduces drafting and maximizes dryness. Safety Harness access at the base of the neck with magnetic tab closure allows the huntress to wear harness under the jacket. Hood with exterior drawstring closure that pulls hood away from the face, thus maximizing peripheral vision. Drawstring at waist to enhance warmth. Includes the signature Prois Ducktail Feature that is designed to provide additional warmth and dryness to the backside…simply unsnap and the tail drops down an additional 12 inches that optimizes dryness when sitting in the elements.

The heavyweight pants that are engineered to withstand the coldest conditions mother nature has to offer. Constructed with 100% polyester 8000/5000 waterproof/breathable shell that is soft and utterly silent. Insulated with 150 Gram 3M ULTRA Thinsulate and lined with our sleek nylon tricot. These pants are the ultimate in warmth whether you are trekking across the frozen mountain terrain or awaiting that trophy buck in a treestand. Elastic waistline with added elastic drawstring and cordlock. Large cargo pockets with pillowtop closures. 9″ boot zippers added for ease of donning. The Prois XTREME Pants are designed to meet the needs of THE serious hunter! Find them in the Camp Store

NeverGuess Range Finder- I like it so much I added it to the Camp Store!

My biggest obstacle in bow hunting has been the fact that I don’t judge distance very well. Maybe it is the fact that I didn’t ever need to when rifle hunting in the woods of Wisconsin, or maybe it was that I was learning how far away things were, from other people that really couldn’t judge distance either. All I know is that it was hindering me from shooting my target.

I started looking at rangefinders but it was hard to figure out what I needed. I really didn’t want one more thing to have to pick up and put back down to figure out how far away my target was. With two people in the stand while filming, we have more movement than we needed already. I tried “stepping off” certain spots, but if the deer didn’t stop in exactly that spot, how far was my judgment going to be off at that point?

The truth is I no longer worry about distance, because I found the NeverGuess Rangefinder. Made for bow hunters, it straps tightly onto my left fore-arm. One simple push of a button against the bow handle, at full draw, and the laser shoots me back the yardage in an instant. No extra movement to scare away the prey. If the prey moves I can still range it again without ever letting down on my bow.  It even accounts for the angle, when I am up 35 ft. up in a tree.

NeverGuess Rangefinder is a very sturdy product and easy to setup. The rangefinder is housed in anodized camo aluminum housing with scratch resistant lens covers.  The LED light automatically adjusts for low light conditions.

Although I am not a big fan of the Velcro straps and the noise, the peace of mind knowing how far out my target is, far outweighs my annoyance. The team at NeverGuess is also working on a shorter arm guard as well as a left-hand guard. The front sites are now new and improved from an open type site to more of a peep style.  

This product retails for $399 and is a must have for those that want to complete an accurate shot. Find it in our Camp Store

December’s “Woman of the Wild”-Holly Heyser

Holly A. Heyser, hunting blogger and college lecturer

I am pretty much the last person anyone – including myself – would have expected to take up hunting. I was born in Southern California and have spent all of my adult life in urban areas. After college, I spent 19 years as a newspaper reporter and editor (Orange County Register, San Jose Mercury News, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Virginian-Pilot, Sacramento Bee) before leaving the business in 2006 to teach journalism at my alma mater, California State University, Sacramento. Reporter. Professor.

Urbanite. Not someone you think of as a gunner.

But I have always craved unusual experiences, and hunting started worming its way into my realm of possibility back when I was in my late 30s. I was living in St. Paul, Minnesota, with my boyfriend Hank Shaw, and we were both working for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. We had befriended the hunting and fishing writer there – Chris Niskanen – and what he did was really piquing Hank’s interest. One day Hank announced that he wanted to take up hunting. “That’s fine,” I said. He’s a cook, so I knew he’d eat what he’d kill, which was my threshold of acceptance for hunting.

 He was really getting into it, spending a lot of time out in the woods, and pretty soon he started asking if I’d like to join him. I didn’t, because I was busy training for marathons at that point, and I rightfully concluded that I couldn’t fit two activities that intense into my weekends. But a couple years later we moved to Sacramento, and I stopped running, and I finally said I was ready to join him. My first hunt was a pheasant hunt, but what really grabbed me was duck hunting. Half of the ducks in the Pacific Flyway spend their winter in the Sacramento Valley about an hour north of us, and the duck hunting can be amazing. I will hunt anything that I’m willing to eat – pheasants, turkeys, wild boar, deer – but there’s just something about ducks. They’re fast, the marshy terrain is challenging and the worse the weather, the better the hunting. I love a challenge. And ducks taste divine. Duck is by far my favorite meat, followed closely by wild boar.

I very quickly dedicated myself to my new pursuit. I had just started my teaching job and was overjoyed when I realized my winter break covered the last six weeks of duck season, so when Hank was working, I’d drive up to one of my favorite wildlife refuges and head out into the marsh myself, determined to teach myself how to actually hit these birds. (Three years later, I’m sorta kinda getting the hang of it.)

 A year to the day after I fired my shotgun for the first time ever, I started a blog about hunting, NorCal Cazadora (www.norcalcazadora.com). NorCal stands for Northern California, and “cazadora” is Spanish for huntress. I figured no one would care what a novice hunter had to say, but boy was I wrong. I quickly found that even the most veteran hunters enjoyed the frustration-filled tales of trying to learn how to do this hunting stuff right. Since, then, I’ve expanded a bit and have begun writing for magazines including California Waterfowl, Delta Waterfowl and Turkey Country, and I’ve done quite a few hunting stories for the Sacramento Bee, which has shown amazing openness to hunting.

I’ve also taken up photography, and do a lot of food photos for my boyfriend, who started a blog shortly after I did – Hunter Angler Gardener Cook (www.honest-food.net) – and writes for a variety of food magazines. I’ll be doing photography for his upcoming book as well.

Writing and photography has opened many doors. I’ve begun doing a lot of volunteer work for California Waterfowl, which graciously honored me with its Artemis Award this year. And I’ve made friends all over the country and world, which means if I can afford a plane ticket someplace, I could probably find someone to hunt with there. I feel incredibly blessed.

Probably the biggest blessing, though, is having been able to enter the hunting world in the first place. I was not naïve about where food came from before I started hunting – I spent some time in the country as a kid, and my family raised a lot of animals for meat. But participating in food, nature and the cycle of life at this level has been a revelation, and it has improved both what I eat and how much I appreciate it exponentially. So many things had to fall into place to get me here: meeting Hank, moving to Minnesota, befriending Chris. There are any number of different choices I could have made that would have put me on a different path. But I got lucky, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.

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