Texas specks

Marsha Petrie Sue enjoying Corpus Christi, South Padre Island fishing. And of course, once again, she caught the biggest fish! Very windy day on the inland waterways but beautiful fishing with husband Al.

Chris Quam dives near Boca Grande Island

It started with a business trip to Orlando to conduct product training for sales staff at one of our distributors.  The meetings went well and it was now time for a little adventure.  I stayed a few extra days and was fortunate enough to have our rep get a small group together to go diving with me.  I am considered an intermediate diver, but still feel fairly green coming from land-locked Colorado as opposed to my new fellow divers that get out every other weekend or so.  It was reassuring to know both other divers had more experience and one was dive instructor.

Considering my past dive experiences were guided “sight-seeing” dives along natural reefs with about 150-feet-plus-visibility and I was still at the top of the food chain … I was now diving 35 miles off the coast of Florida in the Gulf in murky waters.  This time of year the tarpon are running in the “Pass” area.  I come to learn the “Pass” is also known as Hammerhead Pass, but not exclusive to hammerheads!  No, bull sharks are quite common there too.  Apparently the tarpon running, which is big sport fishing in the area, are also good feeding for the sharks.  You see where this is leading …

So we go far beyond the “Pass” area to coordinates where there are sunken boxcars, artificial reefs for fish.  Did I mention we are spear fishing?  That was the focus of diving here.  I was given brief instructions on the boat for reloading and safety on the spear gun.  Try as I may, I can’t quite pull it back far enough to reload the spear gun by myself. So we agreed to the guys reloading for me underwater.  They ask me to put on a huge metal stringer on my dive vest to carry whatever fish I may shoot.  No thank you, I decided I’ll hand my fish off to the guys to carry the “chum” around their waists, thus diverting any shark interest away from me!

First dive we descended about 76 feet.  On the descent we see two smaller, but cable-of –inflicting-serious-damage size bull sharks.  They seem to continue on and leave the area.  I’m ok with that.  The visibility is maybe 15 feet or so.  If something is going to sneak up on me, I’d like to know before it is only 15 feet’ from me!  The guys, being stronger swimmers than I, were all over the fish, groupers, hogfish, etc., and soon had their stringers pretty loaded.  We came up and I hadn’t gotten a shot off.

Second dive we descend to about 59 feet.  Lots of fish, first a huge school of bait fish surrounds me and darts by, then another huge school of much larger Jack fish does the same.  Now I’m looking around to see what is chasing them!

We spot a large bull shark just doing his reconnaissance cruise for his lunch — definitely one we keep our eye on.  And here I thought our spear guns were for fishing not self defense!

Anyway I am determined not to come up empty handed this time, despite the two guys just ahead of me either shooting or scaring all the fish away!  I know I can’t reload my gun by myself so I have to make my shots count.  I’m happy to say I didn’t miss once and ended up spearing three nice-size fish.

All in all I can’t say how much I enjoyed that trip, sharks and all!  The spear fishing is something I would definitely do again.  I love to try new things and you never know when these opportunities will present themselves again; you have to jump on it!  So glad I did!

Christine Quam is CFO, Dir. of Sales, for  HIVIZ Shooting Systems
1941 Heath Parkway, Ste. #1
Fort Collins, CO  80524
PH:  970.407.0426
FX:  970.416.1208

The Future of Women’s Shooting Sports – Madison Gravitt and mounted shooting

The first Saturday of the month … it could mean many things to many people.  For me, it’s a day of the month that had been on my radar for quite a while.  Since having attended the Reba McEntire/George Strait concert with my friend Debbie Martin in March and running into another friend’s daughter at the train station in downtown Atlanta, I had every intention of getting up early one “first Saturday” to get to the Peach State Mounted Shooters event, which is what my friend Robyn Gravitt’s daughter, Madison, has taken up as her sport of choice.

Being the firm believer that everything happens for a reason, I know it was no coincidence that I saw Robyn’s elder daughter, Amber, on the train platform after the Reba/George concert and had to speak…it would be just plain rude not to!  I said hello, and asked about her momma (a Southern thing, I guess!). It was then that Amber told me that, while Robyn was still doing scrapbooking retreats, lately she had been busy with Madison in her new hobby with Mounted Shooting.  What?  Mounted shooting?  I was ecstatic!  I could feel the mice in my head begin to run on the little wheels…a story was beginning to take shape, and I was still talking to Amber!!  Okay, focus Melita, focus!

As the train approached and we said our goodbyes, I promised Amber I would call her mom, and resisted the temptation to dial her up at that instant.  After all, it was nearly midnight on a school night, certainly past my bedtime.  I settled for a call the next morning after Robyn returned from her bus run, as she is a school bus driver for special needs children in Forsyth County, Georgia.

After a few scheduling issues, we were finally at the day.  I arrived early for the event, and nosed around looking all reporter-like with my teal Irlene Mandrell Celebrity Shoot polo from 2007 (more to come on that event), my hot pink camera and my notepad.  Armed with a pocketful of WOMA business cards, I set out to find my target … Miss Madison Gravitt.  As I stood on the outer edges of the shooters’ meeting, I listened intently to the range master as he doled out directions to the day’s shooters.  If there was this kind of problem, see him; if there was that kind of problem, see the match director — very similar to a USPSA match.  I was intrigued.

Then everyone gathered around, the American flag was brought out and we said the Pledge of Allegiance. After the pledge, the match was opened with a word of prayer and God’s blessings were asked for the day‘s event and safety to be bestowed upon everyone present, as well as our troops fighting for our freedom to be able to participate in this sport; in Jesus’ name.  Later, I found out from Robyn that, because the event is a Saturday and Sunday event, Cowboy Church is held Sunday morning prior to the event and they have a pastor that preaches to the ones that can’t make it to both church and the event.  That must be what it was like in the cowboy days.

While nosing around, I walked over to some ladies loading their 6-shooters from community buckets on a table in front of the registration office.  There, I met Tisha Deckena, a mounted shooter from Indiana.  She said she and her husband drove 11 hours to get to this event.  Every weekend is spent shooting at a mounted shooting event, and next weekend, they would be at the Nationals in Oklahoma.  Her sentiments are “The more guns I can get that aren’t registered, the better!”

I was taking it all in…the horses, the arena (which was HUGE!), the guns (oh my, were they pretty…), the attire (one could hardly call it costumes, because they’re just beautiful rodeo clothing), and I was really digging it.  Then Miss Madison Gravitt walked up and introduced herself to me.  She took me around to the stall where her horses, Ranger and Baby were kept, and began explaining how the day’s events would go.

Her mom said it might be hard to get information from her, but I didn’t find that to be the case at all.  Madison was quite the source of information, but aren’t we all when it comes to something we love?  Madison exudes love for the outdoors.  She is bright and intelligent, and has a natural gift.  She isn’t aloof when it comes to caring for her equipment or her horses, either.  She is meticulous in making sure that all tasks are completed and in a timely manner.  She even pointed out to me that her horse, Ranger, has hearing protection too, which are the squishy rubber cat ball toys stuck into his ears.

Madison explained every nuance of the mounted shooting event to me, from the riding levels, how prizes are awarded, how times are calculated, how penalties are assessed, and for someone who has been doing this for under six months with real guns, I was quite impressed.  Madison got her start in mounted shooting through dad’s, Johnny, best friend and fellow mounted shooter Robbie Henderson.  Joel Paulk, another mounted shooter, has been her coach and mentor and has really shown her the ropes, so to speak, when it comes to mounted shooting.

One thing I noticed at the Peach State Mounted Shooters event was that there were a great number more women than men participating in the event.  That seemed unusual to me, because in USPSA events, we are hard pressed to get even 20% of a day’s participation to be women.  I spoke with a number of women at the event, one of which was a middle school science teacher named Georgette Hewell.  She got started with her husband in mounted shooting.

One of the most impressive ladies I met was Mary Ellen “Granny Oakley” Carson.  At nearly 79 years young, she had friends that rode horses and became involved in mounted shooting.  They invited her to come along, and she decided very quickly that this was not a spectator sport!  So they talked her into giving it a try and she’s been doing it ever since.  That was nearly 4 years ago.  When I asked her if she had any advice for anyone thinking about getting into mounted shooting, Granny said “Shoot one time and you’re hooked!”

That’s the sentiment of Madison as well.  “My friend rides English and I’m trying to talk her into giving this a try.  I think she’ll love it. I know I do!”~Melita Ellington

Hoodman Loupes for Glare-Free LCD Viewing in the outdoors

I would like to share a great product for viewing your photos on hard to see LCD screens in the outdoors.  The Hoodman loupes 3″ will block out the sun allowing you to see your shots  more clearly on the back of your digital cameras.

There are a couple of  options to choose from. If doing video, you can get the Hoodman CINE set.  For Stills, just the 3″ loupe for glare-free LCD viewing. Read more

Scholastic Clay Target Program success stories

Shelby Township, Mich. – It has been a year of successes for many of the thousands of youth participants in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) since the nine-year-old nonprofit organization was taken over by the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF). The program, created to introduce youth to the fun and excitement of shooting, was originally administered by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). The NSSF handed the reins over to the SSSF last year in a move that would allow the new foundation to better focus on the needs of SCTP’s youth participants and coaches and further grow the program.

Notable successes and individual achievements under the SSSF’s guidance over the past year include:

• Allyson Brugioni, a sophomore at Ankeny High School in Ankeny, Iowa, won top honors for female shooters at the Iowa State High School State Trap Shoot in Cedar Falls last June. Brugioni was one of 315 high school participants in the competition.

• Another Iowa competitor, Justin Fey, a junior from Maquoketa, showed true grit in his desire and ability to competitively shoot. Following an October 2008 accident in which he lost part of three fingers on his right hand, Fey was back shooting with a new form less than five months later. Then in May, he broke his leg, which forced him to compete at the end of the season from a sitting position and at the state championships while still in a cast. Despite this, Fey maintained his position on his school’s First Team and went on to help them win the Iowa Cup along with first in league and first in state.

• Two 14-year-old members of the Georgia Claybusters squad, Matt Fisher and Will Hinton, enjoyed an exceptional year of competition. Fisher earned eight 1^st-place divisional and competition honors and six 2nds and placed in nine others, while Hinton won 10 divisional or overall competitions including Georgia State Sub Junior Champion and Georgia Games Junior Trap and Sporting Champion. Hinton also took 2^nd-place honors in four competitions and placed in eight others.

• The competitive fire and accomplishments of Sydney and Steve Duncan of the Gaston Young Guns was featured on NRA News’ World Wide Web radio program.
• In an effort to raise much needed funds to send two squads to the SCTP Nationals, all of Massachusetts’ young shooters have banded together to hold a fundraising “Shoot-A-Thon.” The cost of sending just one squad is estimated to be around $7,000. The teams hope to raise as much as $17,500 and agree that one of the squads to go to Nationals will be the overall winner at the State Championships this June. The second team will be selected at random from the 1^st-place squads in the remaining divisions.

The pride, determination and competitive fire demonstrated by all of these young competitors and many others like them, as well as the urgent need for funding to support their efforts as exhibited by the Massachusetts’ shooters, underscores the vital need for continued donor support.

To date, more than 30,000 middle and high school students have participated in the program, which includes trap, skeet, sporting clays, Olympic trap and international skeet competitions. Without continued corporate and individual contributions to the SSSF, which is responsible for all aspects of the SCTP, including participant registration, coaches, state coordinators, state and national championships, promotion, communications, websites, public relations and growth strategies, many of these young shooters stand to miss out on the great opportunities the program affords.

“We are asking NSSF members in particular to stand up and directly support this wonderful program, which will ultimately benefit their business and industry as well,” says Dr. Bill Christy, Executive Director of the SSSF. “A lot of members think because they support the NSSF, that their money also goes to support the SSSF and SCTP. That’s not necessarily the case. While the NSSF remains one of our biggest supporters, they have a number of other important programs to fund. A contribution directly to the SSSF is the only sure way to support this program. It is a contribution in our industry’s future and the futures of these deserving, young competitors.”

To learn more about how your company can become an SSSF donor and to learn more about the SCTP, visit their website at www.sssfonline.org.

**end**

Deb Ferns awarded ‘Unsung Hero’ award from RICA

The Railway Industrial Clearance Association (RICA) is known throughout the transportation industry as the true “Mega Movers”; indeed, many of its members have been featured on the popular History Channel series. Recently RICA celebrated its 42nd anniversary with its annual conference held at the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort in Henderson, NV. On the final night of the conference the awards banquet was held and plaques given out for the President’s Award and Heritage Award to Kelli Collins and Carol Boylan respectively. The final award, Unsung Hero, was given to Deb Ferns, who has been the association meeting planner for RICA since 2007. Ferns accepted her award to a standing ovation and thanked members for their support. For more information on the members of RICA involved in railways, heavy haul transports, barge  companies, crane & rigging operations, along with ports and ocean liners, go to www.RICA.org. Read more

Managing stress and mental terrorism

Stress: the confusion created when the mind overrides the body’s desire to choke the living daylights out of some jerk who desperately deserves it.

Now that’s not nice or really useful because you have just given in to someone else’s behavior. A poor outcome is just about guaranteed. It is all about taking personal responsibility for your outcomes.

So here are some stress management tips for toxic people or those difficult situations life serves up:

1. Breathe—when you are stressed, you stop breathing. The brain receives no oxygen so you can’t think and will immediately revert to fight-or-flight—choke the life out of them, or flee.

2. Pause—stop. Think. Learn. Plan. Do.

3. Shift to the part of your brain where the words live so you can stop the negative spiral of thinking—your left brain. Say to yourself: “This is a test, this is only a test. This will not be important in 10 years.”

Have you ever noticed how you can think of exactly what to say about 2 hours after the stressful event? In the moment, you’re thinking from mental terrorism (the right side of your brain) and are highly emotional.

Remember, stress is a gift we give ourselves. No one can make you feel bad except yourself.

Any other ideas on how to manage your stress? Please share!

Laura Benjamin — Member of the Women’s Outdoor Media Association

Laura Benjamin is President, Pinehurst Press Ltd. Communication Strategies, a woman-owned, veteran-owned, small business in Colorado Springs. Since 1997, Laura has helped private individuals, teams, boards and business owners market a message, promote themselves, their company, club, concept or cause.

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WOMA veep certifies as instructor for ‘Refuse To Be A Victim’

The Women’s Outdoor Media Association’s Vice President,  Melita Ellington, of Conyers, Ga., recently completed instructor training at the NRA Meetings and Exhibits in Charlotte, N.C., for the Refuse To Be A Victim program. Ellington is a member of the NRA, USPSA and Snellville Sportsmen’s Ministry. She is the founder of Magnolia Defense Enterprises LLC, specializing in training women in pistol skills and basic self-defense. The Refuse To Be A Victim program will complement her business, and she looks forward to working with women in the Atlanta area where she works as a legal secretary. For more information about the program, see http://www.nrahq.org/rtbav/

Stop. Think. Learn. Plan. Do.

I’ve learned that fishing is not necessarily a sport of drowning worms. That is why it is important to check the weather report, read the local area fishing information and understand how people are catching fish.

Why is this so much like life? I believe that if we did our homework, whether shopping for a home, a loan or a phone, we would get much better results. But most people want it now, without much consideration. Their amazing fast track will get them . . . where? And is it what they really want?

So here’s my advice. Stop. Think. Learn. Plan. Do.  The three words in the middle are the most important.

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.

~Henry David Thoreau

A wise observation, but my favorite is:

If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles.

~Doug Larson

Cheers, Marsha

Check out our fishing pictures from Mexico and Corpus Christi on FaceBook.

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