April’s Woman of the Wild~Tish Proffitt

As I ponder my evalution as a Huntress and avid angler, I realize my journey began many years ago growing up in the great state of Virginia, rich with wildlife and abundant with waters!  My parents still enjoy sharing stories of me wanting to sleep in but rolling out of bed at the last second when Dad was leaving to go fishing for fear of being left behind!  So began my love of the water and fishing!  Over the years I’ve had the blessed privilege of fishing in various states on the east coast along with the Gulf Stream and coastal waters. I have been able to supply my family with meals of a variety of fish including everything from Alabama crappie and Virginia bass to Tennessee striper and Gulf Stream yellowfin tuna!  Although all meals I place on the table are nice, none compare with dining on freshly caught trout from the stream served on a lap of aluminum foil!!
Another of my outdoor pleasures I only have the chance to engage in once a year and only in a 3 week window, hunting morels!! Affectionately refered to as dry land fish in areas of the south, these small mushrooms have provided many a delicious meal here in my home. Times spent hunting and gathering morels take me back to my roots as supplier for my family.  Native Americans shared in this gathering of food and generations later, I love the time spent seeking the forest floor in search of her treasure and passing along this tradition to my two young daughters.
As a huntress, again I started at the tender age of 12 hunting with my dad and distinctly remember my first hunting trip being a dove hunt.  I didn’t kill any that day but enjoyed being outdoors and being with my dad. For many years I joined him in the woods and successfully harvested small game but never any large game. I married a hunter at the age of nineteen and for four years I let him enjoy his hunts with his male hunting buddies. Then I realized, this is something I enjoy as well and can share with him the way I did with my dad!!  The need and desire to hunt took over and for the last nine years I have joined him in the field hunting with my new hunting partner!  Over those nine seasons I have harvested twelve deer, two turkey, more small game than I can count, a Texas Dall Ram and successfully added grouse hunting to my list of feats!  Although all my kills were rewarding and very special to me, none of my endeavors came close to sharing the experience of my seven year old daughter’s first kill when she harvested a 225 lb boar in Tennessee!!  To know that she carries the same passion, fire and desire that I have is a feeling that words cannot express!!
I consider it an honor to be featured on this site along other strong women in the sport!  The last year has been filled with many things I never thought possible.  I have my own Signature Series of turkey calls that I sell online and in sporting goods stores in my area, I launched my project Southern Belle Outdoors which supplies ladies with discounts on hunting related products!!  Please feel free to add me on Facebook and get to know me!! I love having the opportunity to represent women in this sport and meeting and sharing with other ladies with the same passion as I. To each of you, I wish you the very best of luck and happy hunting!!

Tisha Proffitt
Southern Belle Outdoors

 

Hunting Clothing for Serious, Dedicated Women Hunters

Anne Vinnola says: “Just ask any woman hunter, and she will tell you, the most difficult part of hunting? Her wardrobe. Finding well fitting, hard working, layerable, hunting pants and shirts.  Some mainstream clothing companies are slowly beginning to work women’s sizes into their lines, but mostly they are cut like a man and just sized smaller.”

As a woman, I am always trying to find resources tailored for women. I constantly battle the cold because of having a thyroid problem. I decided to do some research on ways to keep warm and here is what I found!

According the Wikapedia, layered clothing is a manner of dressing using multiple garments that are worn on top of each other. Some of the layers have different, largely non-overlapping, functions. Using more or fewer layers, or replacing one layer but not others, allows for flexible clothing to match the needs of each situation. Two thin layers can be warmer yet lighter than one thick layer, because the air trapped between layers is a good insulator

Layered clothing is particularly relevant in cold climates, where clothing must at the same time transfer moisture, provide warmth, and protect from wind and rain. In a hot and dry climate, clothes have very different functional requirements: they must block the radiation from the Sun, and allow for sufficient air circulation. Therefore, layered clothing in the sense used in this article is largely irrelevant to hot and dry climates.

Outdoor and sportswear manufacturers favor layered clothing because, among other reasons, it allows them to offer so-called “technical” or “functional” clothes which are optimized for the particular demands of a specific layer. Such clothes are often made of advanced synthetic materials.

With that being said I was on a quest for clothing that not only kept me warm but was made for a woman and had many thin layering options. Impossible you say? I thought so too until I ran into Kirstie Pike from Próis^TM Hunting Apparel.

Kirstie states “Próis^TM Hunting finally answers our “Quest” for great Women’s Hunting Clothing and Gear. Throughout our years of hunting, we at Próis^TM were amazed at the fact that there was literally nothing on the market for women who hunt.”

 

This “Quest” for Women’s Hunting Clothing soon became an obsession; they thought women’s huntwear must be something of a myth! While they attempted to avoid sounding like a frustrated feminists, they found it unreasonable that successful women hunters could not find appropriate gear for their sport.

 

Simple concept, the Próis^TM Hunting team thought; Combine technical hunting components, functional fabric and an athletic composition, and unite it with patterns that are engineered to the female form…Voila, Próis^TM Hunting Apparel!

 This new women’s hunting clothing concept takes layering to a new art form. The Próis^TM shirt is a cross between the finest athletic wear, and a comfortable favorite shirt. Polyester wicking fabric keeps moisture from your skin and allows you to stay dry and warm.  Thumbholes help the shirt to stay in your gloves and it is perfect alone for cool fall mornings of archery or layered for those cold winter rifle hunting trips. 

 

Próis^TM Hunting Pants are crafted using 100% polyester brushed tricot for warmth and durability. They are snag resistant and silent in the woods.  Each pair is fitted just below the waist for comfort and fits a woman’s form perfectly.  There is plenty of storage room in the deep cargo pockets and thoughtfully pleated knees for kneeling comfort. They are boot cut to fit over bulky hunting boots with elastic cuffs and cord lock to cinch close to your boot. Add in their vests, jackets and rain gear and you are set for all occasions.

 

Próis^TM Hunting Apparel is taking the industry by storm with their “made FOR women” hunting clothes.  Women are not interested in merely looking like hunters; we are hunters that demand the best quality hunting clothing. We fully understand that fit, warmth and durability makes a huge impact on our hunting success.  Próis^TM Hunting Apparel is serious clothing for serious, dedicated women hunters.