Babes with Bullets™ starts sixth year of camps

The Babes with Bullets ™ program kicked off its sixth year at the home range of head instructor, Kay Miculek of Princeton, La., in early April.  The ladies action shooting program has been underwritten by Smith & Wesson since 2004 and recently OTIS Technology joined as a Platinum Sponsor. The 3 day immersion program, with more than 1,200 alumnae,  offers the opportunity for novice women to be taught by female handgun champions.  The camp also offers additional training for women entering into competitive shooting events.  Babes with Bullets™ will be hosting its first Pacific Northwest event at the Albany Rifle & Pistol Club south of Portland, Oregon, in late June.  There are additional camps being held throughout 2010, including the launch of Babes with Bullets Part 2 – The Rifle being held in November. For more information or to register for a future camp visit www.BabeswithBullets.com

Próis Hunting and Field Apparel partners with Camp Wild Girls to launch exciting new home hunting party program

Serious female hunters be on the lookout — thereʼs a dynamic new wave to the traditional “home-based party” thatʼs hitting the scene, and you wonʼt want to miss out on whatʼs in store for great shopping and incredible employment opportunity. Introducing the Camp Wild Girls Home Hunting Party — the perfect place to gear-up with Próis Hunting and Field Apparel, along with other great gear for the season in the comfort of your own home.

The Camp Wild Girls Home Hunting Party isnʼt your run-of-the-mill “Tupperware” party; this new concept is a haven for female hunters to shop and try on their favorite hunting gear, hang out with fellow hunting gal pals, share a few stories from the campsite, and ʻget wildʼ earning incredible discounts. Created by serious female hunters for serious female hunters, the concept blends the growing passion for hunting within the female market with the other two pastimes women enjoy – shopping for great hunting gear and camaraderie with friends and fellow hunting and outdoor enthusiasts. Friends, family members, neighbors — essentially anyone you sit around the campfire with — will enjoy an afternoon or evening of fun at a Home Hunting Party. And, if you host a Home Hunting Party, as a hostess you are eligible for remarkable discounts on Próis Hunting and Field Apparel, as well as other great gear for the upcoming season.

“We are thrilled to be able to bring great hunting gear directly into the homes of our customers and create a new avenue of excitement in the hunting community,” said Kirstie Pike, President/CEO of Próis Hunting And Field Apparel. “And, to be able to create jobs in this tough economy in an industry weʼre so passionate about is something we are truly proud of.” Camp Wild Girls Home Hunting Party representatives not only get to throw hunting parties for a living, they also can start a profitable career earning income, discounts and incentives with flexible hours, working around a schedule they create.

“We already have a large number of Home Hunting Party Representative applications, and we are just going live with the program,” commented Camp Wild Girls CEO Terri Lee Pocernich. “We are thrilled about the response so far and look forward to this phenomenal program taking off,” she added.

Contact: Terri Lee Pocernich 715.209.7555 for more information about the Camp Wild Girls Home Hunting Party or e-mail us at party@campwildgirls.com.

Kathy Jackson — Member of the Women’s Outdoor Media Association

As the Managing Editor of Concealed Carry Magazine, Kathy Jackson has been actively involved in promoting better and more accurate portrayals of women in the firearms and self-defense industry. She comes to this role with experience that includes co-founding in 2003, along with well-known gun writer Gila Hayes, the Women’s Study Group at the Firearms Academy of Seattle (www.firearmsacademy.com). WSG is an informal group dedicated to supporting women’s self defense choices, increasing women’s knowledge of firearms, and improving women’s shooting skills. It meets approximately six times per year with a different focus each time. Most recently, Kathy took charge of the holster show, gathering and presenting different carry options for women.

Kathy also works as instructor at the Firearms Academy of Seattle, with a primary focus on women’s programs although she also work with many co-ed classes. She holds certificates for more than 500 hours of professional self-defense firearms training as a student of many different instructors and training schools, and has spent many more hours behind the line as an assistant instructor learning from master instructors. She earns a living by combining her magazine work and efforts as a firearms instructor.

Since 2006, she has published the Cornered Cat (www.corneredcat.com), a website dedicated to improving women’s knowledge of firearms, self-defense, and concealed carry. She contributed to SWAT Magazine: “Surviving the Aftermath – LFI’s Deadly Force Instructor Class” and her byline has appeared many times in Concealed Carry Magazine, viewable online at www.USConcealedCarry.org (search for her name).  Kathy is also the co-author with Mark Walters of “Lessons from Armed America” which is available on amazon.com.

Julie Goloski Golob wins Single Stack Ladies title

Champion competition handgun shooter and WOMA member Julie Goloski Golob has won . . . again.

Julie took the Women’s Single Stack division title at the USPSA Area 6 Championships, held April 16-18 in Conyers, Georgia. USPSA Area 6 was the first match in her busy 2010 competition season. “Montana’s News Station” KTVQ ran a feature story on Julie’s win this week. She lives in Glasgow, Montana, with her husband and their young daughter.

She will travel to Barry, Illinois, this weekend to compete in her second 2010 season match, the USPSA Single Stack Nationals, held from April 30 to May 2.

A competition handgunner since age 14, Julie was a member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit for eight years, and was named U.S. Army Female Athlete of the Year in 1999. She has won more than 70 titles in national and international shooting competitions.

Julie also serves as team captain for the Smith & Wesson pro staff.

Women making a mark at USPSA Area 6

The United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) divides the nation into eight different areas and each area hosts its own championship. These action-packed competitions are the sport’s premiere matches. Many draw from more than just their resident competitors. Area 6, the Southeast region, is one of these area championships. Hosted by the South River Gun Club, the competition has always been among the best. Honestly, this match could be a national level championship. There are certainly enough competitors. A whopping 380+ shot the match this year!

There are some matches where you see just a handful of women on the range. Not the case with Area 6! At the helm,  a woman who wears so many hats, The WOMA’s Cindy Noyes, was once again the match director. There were women working at every level, from Chief Range Officer Beth Wingfield and 15 lady range officers (including The WOMA’s own Melita Sims Ellington) to seven women serving roles in Stats and Registration. Thank you, ladies, for all your hard work!

Women represented every level of competition, from national champion shooters to junior ladies just making their marks in USPSA. While competing on Friday, I had a chance to catch up with Kay Miculek and Lisa Munson, who were fresh off teaching yet another successful Babes With Bullets (TM) Ladies Action Shooting Camp. I also got to meet Katie Harris and Tierani Hendrix, two talented young ladies competing in Production Division.  I just love seeing all the  junior females participating in the sport!

Here’s a video from the 2010 USPSA Area 6 match demonstrating the wide variety of stages that were both challenging and a blast to shoot.

There’s no doubt that Area 6 is a match you don’t want to miss on the circuit. It’s a huge success on so many levels. The match has excellent leadership, and the dedication from the hardworking women who serve on the staff is impressive.  Pair that with the wonderful and diverse group of women who compete, and Area 6 is one competition where women truly make a mark.

For more on the match and photos, please visit the Women of USPSA Blog and my personal blog.

The GTUL: Keeping your mags clean

Have you ever thought about what to do with those dirty magazines? No, not THOSE magazines . . . your Glock magazines. Do I have the tool for you. It’s the GTUL Magazine Cleaning System, developed by Greg Morando.

The two-piece system consists of a GTUL magazine holder and magazine brush with punch on the opposite end. Using the system is fairly straightforward, but does take a bit of elbow grease, and a little practice.

I met Greg at the USPSA Area 6 Regional Match in April 2009 while volunteering to work the vendor tables. Greg had just started marketing the GTUL and was traveling to state and area matches to get a foothold in the marketplace. Of course, I had to buy one for my husband so he could clean my mags!

In one short year, after countless hours of hard work and many, many miles, Greg has propelled the GTUL to its rightful place in the firearms accessories category. His invention has been showcased on The Outdoor Channel’s Shooting USA, and has been reviewed in the NRA’s monthly magazine American Rifleman.

We ran into Greg again at the Alabama USPSA State Match, and learned that the GTUL will be available at MidwayUSA in the near future. But best of all is that the GTUL is available in pink—a recommendation made by Greg’s daughter Angela, not me! Greg considers Angela his vice president, as she has assisted him with many tasks, including marketing, product packaging and sales.

Using the GTUL is very simple, and I can attest to this myself. After shooting a match at Cherokee Gun Club recently, I ended up with muddy Glock mags, and there was no way I was putting those back in my Glock 17! Time to learn how to clean my mags.

Step 1: Insert the magazine into the GTUL with the open end at the top.

Step 2: Push the punch downward and forward of the retaining pin until it can go no further, then squeeze the legs of the GTUL to release the locking tabs. Now pull the handle of the brush forward and begin to slide the floorplate off, just until the spring is visible.

Step 3: Remove the punch, and with the thumb of your support hand, hold the spring (to keep it from flying across the room!) and carefully slide off the end cap. Set aside.

Step 4: Remove the GTUL from around the mag and set aside. Use the brush to clean the mag, both inside and out. Brush off the spring as well.

Step 5: Replace the spring inside the mag and hold in place with your support hand, along with the spring guard (small black, notched piece) and press down with your thumb as you guide the end cap back into place with your dominant hand, making sure to line up the grooves on the sides so that the end cap seats firmly on the end of the mag. Slide all the way to the locked position (when the notch pops into the hole on the end cap).

Step 6: Relabel and number your mags. NOTE: This is something my husband taught me to do so that (a) I can keep up with all my mags; (b) if I have an issue with a magazine, I know which one it is; and (c) I know which mags are mine at a match. Until I can paint them pink, writing my name on them in silver Sharpie will have to suffice.

Partners: In pistols and in prayer

Recently, my husband, Brian, and I shot a match at River Bend Gun Club in Dawsonville, Georgia. Okay – nothing unusual about that. What was unusual for us was we shot on the same squad. We don’t typically shoot together. It just happened that way I guess.

If you know me, you know I don’t believe in coincidence. Divine intervention is part of my belief system. Everything happens for a reason–it’s all part of God’s plan. No karma … no stars aligning … no energy in rocks … God. G-O-D, God. Don’t believe there’s a God? Just ask me how a 19-year old single, pregnant girl can have a child on her own, triumph over that stigma, work hard, eventually marry a great guy, start her own company, and become the Vice President of The WOMA? One word: God.

So, back to the point. We had been having our typical Sunday morning “issues”… where’s my bag? I didn’t have it! Where did you put my ammo? What ammo? Why are you breathing? Could you stop looking at me?! You know … that kind of morning. And we were about to be armed … perhaps not a good combination. Something needed to change. Time for me to change. This was not going to be pleasant.

When we arrived at the range, we were a bit early, so as we pulled in and Brian was instructing me where to park, no not here, there …, I had an idea. Actually, I think it was God’s idea, but in my voice. I have a theory that when we get ideas, they’re not actually our ideas, they’re His, but He disguises His voice as our own voice in our heads. Imagine driving down the road and the voice in your head is the James Earl Jones/CNN voice saying ‘MELITA, THIS IS GOD…I HAVE A GREAT IDEA!” You’d pee your pants and run off the road! I know I would!! Maybe it would be much better if at the beginning of each day there was the little disclaimer like soap operas use to do: “The voice of God will now be played by Melita Ellington.“ We’d be okay with that, right?

Again, back to the point. I get this divinely inspired idea to pray with Brian, right there in the car, before the match. Not something we had EVER done before. I pray a lot. I’ve got a kid in Afghanistan. Enough said. So right then and there, I said to Brian, “Let’s just say a quick prayer.” And we held hands and prayed. Not the sappy kind that when you hear the person praying you wonder what grade they got in Seminary for Prayer 101, but just the “Lord, bless us today, and help us to not get on each other’s nerves today” prayer. Well, guess what? We got along great, and I shot the best match I ever shot. He helped me so much and seemed really interested in helping me out. We were like a team for once.

James 4:2 says “… ye have not because ye ask not.” Prayer for even the most insignificant things in our lives are not insignificant to God. He wants to hear us ask for blessings, forgiveness, advice, thanksgiving … After all, He is a Father, and what Father doesn’t long to hear from his children?

Nancy Jo completes Grand Slam, starts on another one!

Sunday, Apr. 18, 2010, was a very exciting day for Richard and me —I achieved my Turkey Grand Slam harvesting my Merriam’s in central Montana. This, by far, was one of our most challenging hunts — both mentally and physically due to lost luggage upon our arrival, two to five foot of fresh snow on the ground, a flat tire on our rental vehicle and a whole plethora of other shenanigans and calamity that continually happened—but worth every minute of it. Our original return flight was changed so we didn’t arrive at our home until well after midnight.  The story is at my blog here.

I harvested my Merriam’s at 7 a.m. MDT on March 18, 2010, in the mountains of Central Montana. The bird had a 9” beard, 1/2 “ rounded spurs and weighed in at 23 pounds. It is typical for birds in this region to have broken or worn-down spurs from the freezing temps and rocky terrain. I can TOTALLY relate to that because I wore quite a bit of sole off my own boots.

I am headed to Florida this week and then Oklahoma next week … my original goal was to complete my Grand Slam in one year which by calendar date I succeeded, but for last season my Merriam’s carried over. I still have the opportunity to complete a Grand Slam in the same season if I can be successful in harvesting my Osceola in Florida and my Rio in Oklahoma—so my goal is still in reach!!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone that supported me, cheered me on, wished me luck, or sent me in the field with their products; you made this special. Good luck to each and every one of you this season and please keep me updated with your success or stories. ~ Nancy Jo Adams

Turtles on the road — remember to ‘give ‘em a brake!’

I managed to avoid “squarshing” a turtle with my truck tire on a county road near my home recently, only to look in my rearview mirror and see the yahoo in the truck behind me purposely aim for the little critter. Another turtle became one with the chip-and-seal job on the road.

In child psychology courses, we’re taught to watch for children who hurt animals because they grow up with a tendency to hurt people. What about an adult that drives a 6,000-pound vehicle over a puny turtle? What would the psychologists call that behavior?

It’s just sick, that’s what it is. It’s not sporty or amusing or worthwhile. But, hey, the common attitude seems to prevail that turtles are expendable. Etymologists reckon that the word turtle is derived from the French word “Tortue,” meaning “twisted.”  Actually, twisted really describes the minds of those folks who like to squash turtles.

In fact, turtles don’t really get the respect they deserve. After all, they’ve purportedly been around for 200 million years and have not evolved that much, so most folks consider them simple and overly abundant.

My home state of Missouri is home to 17 types of turtles, and three of those are protected by law. Most of them live in water habitats, so they’re safe from big wheels. Two types of box turtles, though, often can be spied basking in the warmth of the sun on the asphalt.

According to Missouri Department of Conservation herpetologist Tom Johnson, turtles need solar energy to keep their body temperatures high in order to metabolize their food. That’s why they’re sitting in the roads these days.

In the spring, box turtles heed the call of nature and wander lustfully across roads, looking for the next affair of the heart. Box turtles cannot mate until they reach six- or seven- years old. With a life expectancy of 80-100 years, they seem to be getting the jump on reproducing.

If you head to the rivers of Missouri, you’ll see turtles galore. I’m not sure I’d want to be noodling (it’s illegal, anyway) and poke my hand into a tight spot underwater where a 150-pound alligator snapping turtle might be waiting. But I would like to see a River Cooter or a Red-eared slider. The slider is one of the most common semi-aquatic Missouri turtles, so I’ve probably seen dozens of them.

I’ve never eaten turtle, but I went to the university with a gal who routinely brought turtle sandwiches to school. Her name was Millie and she wore a scarf on her head, tied under her chin like my grandma used to wear, and pointy toe Keds tennis shoes like my mom used to wear. I never asked her what type of turtle sandwich she was eating, but if it’s like frog meat, it tastes like chicken.

In fact, there’s even a Western Chicken Turtle, and what does that say about the flavor of the meat? But, it’s one of the rarest species of turtles here in Missouri and prefers swamps and sloughs, which means it’s found in the Bootheel region.

Kids love turtles. My son’s best friend had a turtle farm, but he had to keep searching for his herd because they kept crawling under the fence to escape to the nearby woods.

For kids of all ages, there’s a special playground made of concrete turtles in St. Louis at Forest Park. It’s called Turtle Playground and features seven turtles – a snapping turtle, a soft-shelled turtle, a red-eared slider, a Mississippi map turtle, three box turtles and a stinkpot.

Oh yeah, the stinkpot turtle – that’s the one that discharges a rank yellow secretion from its musk glands, and it bites.

The park is located at Oakland and Tamm Avenues, on the south side of Forest Park. To see the larger-than-life turtles, check this website: stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestpark/turtle.html

Turtles rarely take over a body of water and eradicate the fish population, as some folks believe. In fact, turtles have an important place in the food chain, and ought to be treated with a little more respect, on and off the road.

Releasing a Spirit

There’s the old cliché that if you love something, you let it go.

This spring I am readying myself to release my friend and hunting companion Kyra back to the wild.

Kyra is an American Kestrel the smallest North American falcon.  The experience of working in partnership with such a personable and beautiful wild animal has changed my life forever. We have had some exciting, humorous, terrifying, and inspirational moments together.

I trapped Kyra in October 2009 and I spent one amazing winter with her. She, by far, has had more personality than any other bird I have worked with.  It is amazing to watch her fly; it is like watching a jet plane.

As I look back on the time we spent together this past winter, I have  many fond memories – her first starling we caught, her first free flight, and seeing her interact with a wild male kestrel.

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