How To Get Women Into The Gun Concept

This has been a hot topic of conversation for several months now, making national news of the record breaking number of women purchasing guns and getting concealed carry permits. There has also been an increase in the number of women seeking training in general self-defense tactics.

Still there remains an “antigun” biases with a large population of women. Some refer to it as the Suzy Homemaker Issue. Women have achieved being equals in our culture, but many still hold on to the thought process that the gun is the symbol of male violence and therefore something they want nothing to do with, even something they allow themselves to fear. It is a topic discussed by Susan Brown Miller in her book Against our Will. I acknowledge that there was a time and place in our history that that may have been true. But in today’s modern progressive society especially where a woman may very well be the head of her own household, the gun is a tool just like any other. It is not about male or female, it is about empowerment. As women we take on the role of Mother Bear to protect our cubs. We don’t have claws or teeth as does a real mother bear, so we need to get them artificially… guns, knives, kubatans, pepper spray, stun guns… these are all forms of claws and teeth we use to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

What I ask of all women is that you give yourself every opportunity to learn, grow and thrive in all ways possible. Learning to handle firearms for sport shooting or otherwise is a very empowering adventure and it changes your perception of “self”. It is very important for women to have positive female role models in the firearms industry. I strongly encourage you when seeking out a firearms training course, that you look for one that has a female role model on staff rather than an overall male environment. Especially if you are new and feeling timid. Knowing that there is someone like you teaching from a similar perspective will ease the experience.

It might not be for you, it might turn out to be the most exciting experience you have ever had, but it will spark a feeling inside you of YES I CAN. Take that and use it in your life. Learn… Grow… Thrive!

Resources for Women in the Firearms Industry
· Kathy Jackson- The cornered cat
· Gila Hayes- Effective Defense, The woman the plan and the gun, Personal defense for woman
· Paxton Quigley- Armed and Female

How can hunter education help create more safe hunters?

Findings from a 2011/2012 hunter education study conducted by Responsive Management suggest that fine-tuning current hunter education programs could bolster numbers of licensed hunters.

“To capitalize on peak interest, state natural resource agencies should provide information on mentored hunting opportunities as well as maps of public hunting lands during hunter education courses or immediately following them,” said Mark Duda, executive director of Responsive Management. “Agencies that consolidate post-course information such as season dates, hunting regulations, special hunt opportunities and other information could make it easier for graduates to take that next step.”

The purpose of the study was to assess the best ways of encouraging hunter education graduates to become regular hunters and license buyers. The study included focus groups and pre- and post-hunter education course telephone surveys of students in Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky.

The study revealed that between 85 percent and 94 percent of hunter education students across the three states said they were very likely to obtain a hunting license after their course. However, post-course results indicated between 53 percent and 70 percent of hunter education students who had never hunted or possessed a license before bought a license after the course.

As a way to boost the percentage of students who buy a hunting license, Duda suggested that state agencies responsible for hunter education explore ways to immediately get a hunting license into the hands of course graduates. Doing that would mean hunter education graduates would face one less barrier to active hunting participation.

“One way of accomplishing that would be to include the fee of an annual hunting license in the overall price of course registration, thereby guaranteeing that students leave the course fully licensed to hunt in their state,” Duda said.

Other suggestions to increase the number of hunter education graduates who purchase hunting licenses is offering optional follow-up courses. Seminars or distance-learning options could be an additional source of revenue for agencies as well as provide new hunters with more information on topics such as scouting, hunting strategies or field dressing game.

Providing more classroom courses was mentioned by study participants as another improvement. Notable percentages of survey respondents in Georgia (12 percent) and Kentucky (34 percent) said courses were overcrowded or not easy to find close to where they live.

This is the Face of Women and Guns… Who is Listening?

Self esteem, empowerment, confidence… words that are always closely associated with women and girls. It is how we see our self, how others judge us by our actions or in actions, and the constant image that is projected by media, political agendas, even how products are marketed to us. Lets talk about my market… the firearms industry. I am a bit bothered that in this current explosion of women and guns, there is a strange mix of empowerment and belittling happening at the same time. For sure the firearms industry wants our consumer dollars, and our husbands are jumping for joy because if mama is buying guns, then the chances go up for hubby to buy more guns too. But there is a constant image of half naked women holding guns wrong, and snickers about pink guns or painted backstraps, even disrespect at the gun counter that separates us from really participating in the mainstream. What has been missed in this entire equation is how women really relate to their guns, which is a direct connection to their self esteem, sense of empowerment and confidence, as it applies in this discussion of women and guns.

I have a nice glimpse of this social experience. A Girl and A Gun Women’s Shooting League has connected me with hundreds of women, all different stages of life and reasons for participating in shooting activities. No matter if it is a woman I meet in person at the range, or the gal I meet on Facebook across the country, we are all bonding in a sisterhood, the common interest of shooting guns because it is fun and we can invoke our own style. It has nothing to do with if we shoot a pink gun (or my color of choice… purple). It has nothing to do with the color of our range bag or the bling on the earmuffs… it has everything to do with personal connections and how those personal touches makes us feel. The explosion of women and guns is a direct connection with the fact that we are embracing “girly” behavior along side learning a skill set that enables self esteem to blossom into the empowerment and confidence to walk into the gun store, step up to the line or join the discussion.

I am proud to be in this community of women (and the men who support us). The talent in the leadership is amazing, the women who are stepping out are inspirational, and the relationships are priceless. This is the face of women and guns… who is listening?

Girls and Guns

by: Amy Carducci

This week two stories caught my attention in the media because they featured women and guns. This is a subject close to my heart for obvious reasons. One story delighted my heart while the second story angered me in the tone and misuse of terms. As we all know firearms in the liberal media often are portrayed as the “bad things.”

Let’s begin with the story that made me smile. Have you seen the short movie “The Debutante Hunters?” This documentary focuses on a group of South Carolina women who hunt. The film won the audience award at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah last week. The producer – director Maria White won a $5,000 check and will be investigating making the short documentary into a series and has even been contacted by a number of networks and production companies.

The film explains why the women hunt and the bond the group of ladies have in common. One of my favorite quotes from the movie is from a young woman in her tree stand explaining why she loves to hunt. She dislikes that hunting is often seen in a bad light. In her words, “a lot about hunting is not just about shooting and killing things …it is as much as being part of nature. If you have never listened to the woods wake up in the morning, I strongly suggest it.” Another female hunter agrees stating “amazing things that happen in the woods. It is so peaceful watching the wildlife.” They explain the sense of humbleness and gratitude they feel from hunting.

Seeing hunting and women portrayed in such a positive light put a huge smile on my face. Congratulations to the women and the director for a fine piece of work. I’ve seen bad reviews on the internet as well as positive reviews. I happen to love this group of women and hope you check out the film. It might just be the best 12 minutes of your day.

Sadly, I will step on my soap box as I finish this post and explain the news article that upset me when I began to read a feature story in the January 22, Atlanta Journal and Constitution. The story is called “Shooters aim for good reads” and is about a Guns, Girls and Good books club here in Atlanta. Wow! From the picture of the lady shooting an orange silhouette target to the picture of the book and a glass of wine, I was drawn to this article. Books and guns are two of my favorite hobbies. Surely this would be a positive article, right?

WRONG!

I should have known the liberal paper would turn a very positive group into a gun-wielding bunch of crazy women with “assault rifles.” The article opens with paragraph after paragraph talking about fashion and the purse choices of the ladies. Finally, the article gets to point and talks about the ladies at the range. Now their choice of a gun range happens to be one of my favorite ranges here in Atlanta – Sharpshooters USA. I am optimistic at this point that the article will turn from a fashion read to women responsibly enjoying a day at the range. Of course, that would not be the case.

The article states the women were standing before “an intimidating display of black ASSAULT RIFLES.” WHAT?? Did the fact checker not discover that AR stands for Armalite and not assault rifles? Those firearms are modern sporting rifles and when did they become intimidating for women? Does the naïve writer not understand that women can shoot more than a handgun? Women shoot shotguns, carbines and rifles. An AR-15 carbine or rifle is not intimidating, but actually quite fun at the range. At this point I am still hoping for positive view of a day at the range, but my hopes vanish.

As the women are heading into the bays, the article introduces the range master by explaining he “was firing what looked like an Uzi at a target an impossible distance away.” Ok, now there are two major points in this sentence that upset me. An Uzi? Why pick an Uzi? Was the writer watching a 1980s Miami Vice drug raid when she wrote the article? Does the Atlanta Journal realize that an Uzi is a rather short open bolt, blowback-operated submachine gun? I have a sneaky feeling he was shooting some type of modern sporting rifle and not an Uzi. In my humble opinion an Uzi sounds mean and intimidating – just the picture the writer wanted to paint. She picked a firearm with a bad reputation. Again, I wonder if she is just that naïve?

Now the second issue with the sentence actually made me laugh – “an impossible distance away.” I have been to lots of indoor ranges and there is no distance inside that is impossible. Again, the writer wants to scare away women from a range by using words such as Uzi and impossible distances.

By now Danny is getting the full brunt of my anger toward the paper and the article actually continues to get worse if you can believe it. Once the women find a bay and start firing, the writer, Rosalind Bentley, paints a violent picture for the reader. Bentley writes “BLAM! One to the heart. BLAM! One to the lung. BLAM! One to the forehead. BLAM!!! Right between the eyes.” Words have left me as I continue to read. The quote “you don’t really have to aim” was enough to send me over the edge.

The article concludes as to why women carry concealed and practice at the range. The writer feels it gives them a “sense” of safety and control. There was a positive quote by one of the ladies explaining that learning to shoot can give women self-assurance and help them be more aware.

As I stand here on my soap box, I am angered at the liberal media who want to paint gun owners in a bad light. I want to show my fellow women that guns are safe and can be fun. I applaud the film “The Debutant Hunters” for the positive views about hunting and women highlighted in the documentary. Maybe one day all media will see that women are not at the range surrounded by intimidating assault rifles and scared by an Uzi. In fact, the media does not need to look far to find confident women who enjoy shooting whether for fun or safety. I fear the media cannot look with unbiased eyes but, I know, however, that hunting is good for the environment and it’s perfectly ok for a girl to be a bad ass at the range. You know I now have this urge to grab my guns and gear…see you on the range!

For more information about “The Debutante Hunters” check out their Facebook page. You can check out Armalite here and to see what’s new from Uzi here. NRA First Shots and other programs are great for all shooters. Danny and I are both NRA Certified instructors and would be happy to help you at the range. Just email amy@carduccitactical.com for more information.

Here’s the awesome documentary “The Debutante Hunters”:

http://d.yimg.com/nl/movies/site/player.html#vid=27874990

(Note: All opinions are simply mine. All quotes from this article are from the documentary “The Debutant Hunters” or “Shooters aim for a good read” from the January 22nd edition of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution.)

What do Hogs know about Blogs and more?

The HAHWG (yes HOG)  group recently hosted a meeting at Horseshoe Ranch off Bloody Basin Road in Arizona.

OK – HAHWG stands for Hunting and Angling Heritage Work Group.  Attended by many wildlife groups, the focus of the meeting was how to grow your association, expand client base and increase volunteerism. As a WOMA board member and my husband is a board member of the Arizona Antelope Foundation, we decided to attend. All I can say is WOW! What excitement to move to the next steps.

My head is full of fabulous ideas. One of the agenda items that we can all use is keywords, phrases and positive messages specifically for the outdoors. There are a number of studies that have identified this information to grab the attention of the very people that will read your story, use your product or employ your services. These examples work for re-activating lapsed hunters, fishermen and others, as well as reaching people who are interested in the outdoors but haven’t taken the first step.

1. The following is taken from a Responsive Management Study: Developing  an integrated Marketing campaign to bring back Lapsed Hunters in Virginia: Identifying Words and Phrases that Work

- Safe

- Controlled Environment

- Building Memories

- Heritage

- Traditions

- Connect with Nature

- Quality Time

- Fun

- Get Away from it All

- Relaxing

- Excitement

- Family Activity

- Health and Lifestyle

- Character Developing

 

2. The following information is taken from: Meat and Meanings: Adult Onset Hunts’ Cultural Discourses of the Hunt, Master’s thesis, Tovar Cerulli, University of Massachusetts, 2011

Hunting, fishing, outdoor activities, are culturally significant because:

“they make you feel more connected”

“you get to “you get to know nature”

“it is primal, innate, a natural thing to do”

“it is spiritual’

“it builds camaraderie, sense of community, sharing, unifying”

“take your place as part of the natural cycle”

“gives connection with what you put into your body”

“of its renewable resource focus”

Underlying propositions:

- it’s good to feel connected to nature, it’s good to do natural things, it’s good to feel connected to other humans, and it’s good to feel connected to ancient heritage

3. Prominent Cultural Key Words and Phrases for Adult On-Set Hunters:

Connection/connected, relationship, nature/natural, land, responsibility/responsible, understanding/awareness, participate/ interact, respect/respectful, health/healthy, focused/engaged/alert, excitement/exciting, intensity/intense, challenge/challenging, powerful/deep, clean-kill/humane, pride/challenging, powerful, gratitude/thankful, and eat/food, wanting to eat good food.

And thanks to the 2012 Winter HAHWG Meeting for supplying all of this information and to Arizona Game and Fish for organizing the meeting. And to Doug and Craig for their outstanding leadership!

Click here for FaceBook Pictures!

Let’s all get on the positive side of neutral by considering these words for your written word or for the spoken word.

Dr. Suzanna Hupp – From Luby’s to the Legislature

Long before September the 11^th, part of America’s innocence was shattered on October 16, 1991 in the central Texas town of Killeen.  At lunchtime a man drove his pickup truck through a window at a local cafeteria called Luby’s.  Twenty four people were murdered in cold blood by a deranged man who ended his life after the 15 minute rampage.  If the laws of the country supported Second Amendment rights, a patron named Suzanna Hupp might have changed history and stopped the deaths of the patron’s of Luby’s cafeteria.  In her book, “From Luby’s to the Legislature,” Suzanna Hupp defends the right for all people to carry a weapon.  She so believed in her cause she became a Representative in Texas.  The book details her life and her mission to change government.

I had the chance this past fall to meet Dr. Hupp and hear her powerful story.  She was the keynote speaker at the GeorgiaCarry.Org convention.  She commands your attention and if you get a chance, you should read her book, “From Luby’s to the Legislature.”  It’s a short read, and you will quickly find that you do not want to put the book down even for a minute. Read more

Coldwater Trout Tactics

I was doing a little scouting throughout a three day period of rain that we had here at the beginning of December. The first day of this rainy spell brought with it no changes in weather other than that of precipitation falling from the sky, as air and water temperatures remained unchanged. During the second and the third days of the rain, however, things were different. The winds changed from the south and increased out of the north, the tides began to fall, and air and water temperatures suddenly dropped to levels that one would generally expect for a wintertime month. I fished briefly during each of these three days, but the constant changes made for lousy success.

Up until this particular drop in temperature, our fishing endeavors so far this year have been supported by some pretty mild spring-like weather. In fact, I previously had been catching most all of my trout above sandy shallows, as the waters covering these sandy areas had remained warm enough to keep the trout there. But now that we’ve had more than a few days of constant daytime high temperatures in the 50′s and 60′s, and nighttime low temperatures in the 30′s and 40′s, I’ll now be changing from that of my old fall strategies to that my new wintertime strategies. Instead of searching for the trout bite solely above sandy bottoms, I’ll now be looking for trout also above mud and grass. And instead of anticipating lots of action along the bayside shorelines, I’ll instead now begin expanding my explorations to include the secluded back areas of marsh where the fish shall begin to dwell during the earlier part of the winter months as the air and water temperatures continue to remain cooler.

Today marked the third day following the passage of the latest cold front, and the sky above our area was in the process of clearing from being overcast to that of becoming partly cloudy. Three of the past four days had consisted of rain and today’s forecast was calling for temperatures to be in the high 40′s to low 50′s, and there currently was very little wind blowing. My first stop on this morning’s outing put me upon a concealed shoreline that’s somewhat removed from the openness of San Antonio Bay. This stretch of shoreline is a particular favorite of mine at the beginning of winter each year simply due to the fact that it offers a gradual change in bay bottom formats which is especially good for those of us who have been wading comfortable and hard-packed sand for the past six months. I anchored and moments later made my way over the side of the boat and into the water in a place where the depth was in excess of four feet and where the bottom was made-up of hard sand covered with grass. Colder temperatures and north winds had helped to make the water gin clear, and I could often see my feet beneath me. At the point in which I had entered the water, I was still some 60-70 yards (or more) off the bank of the shoreline which is entirely lined with tall marsh grass.

My first casts of the morning consisted of offerings of the nearly five-inch long Killer Flats Minnow XL (manufactured by Texas Tackle Factory) in the Morning Glory and Texas Roach colors. Doing so is a tactic of mine that I like to practice whenever the water turns cold and once the larger natural bait fish, mainly mullet, have disappeared from the bay systems for the winter. Anyhow, I continued making my way down the shoreline at the same depth that I had started in earlier, but had not had more than an occasional “bump” along the bottom for more than thirty minutes now, so I slowly began making way into shallower water. As I reached thigh-deep water, there was a noticeable transition to mud beneath my wading boots. From where I stood I was now within casting distance of the grass-lined bank, so I planted my feet and began casting in a rotational pattern from the shallow water against the grass all the way out to the deeper water from which I had come earlier. I was still throwing the large plastic minnow bait, and was looking for any signs of trout willing to compromise their concealment due to hunger pains. It was another thirty minutes before I had made my way another 50 yards down the shoreline at the same depth.

The sun was shining a little bit now as I casted my plastic lure into the shallows with the mud-laden bottom. Suddenly, my retrieve was met with fierce resistance, and the battle was on. My bait had found its way into the mouth of a beautiful 7-pounder and I was experiencing the thrill of the day. I stayed in that general area for the remainder of the morning, never relocating my position more than 5-10 steps at a time, and managed what could possibly be one of my heaviest stringers over the past several years (all of which were released, of course). Fishing has been remarkable for me since the recent turn in the weather, and I look for the months ahead to be no different. Dark-colored plastics should continue to pay off, and I won’t shy away from keying in on soft, warm mud with some dark grass mix as well. P.S. — Don’t forget that this time of the year is when it’s so very important to use a slow retrieve if you’re working soft plastics or slow-sinking plugs.

With the second-half of this year’s waterfowl season almost completely booked-up, Bay Flats Lodge is already booking spring fishing trips. This is a great time to pick your favorite fishing dates, so give us a call whenever you’re ready. All of us here at Bay Flats Lodge wish you nothing but happiness and prosperity this Holiday Season. Our sincerest thanks go out to all of our customers, and we are looking forward to continuing our relationships in the coming year. Remember to practice CPR, “Catch, Photo, and Release”, whenever possible on trophy Trout and Reds.

Captain Chris Martin

A Time to Honor

A couple of weeks ago, I found something unusual in my mailbox.  Read more

Mississippi Forestry Association Seeks Communications Coordinator

Mississippi Forestry Association is currently accepting applications for the position of Communications Coordinator. Interested candidates should have a background in a communications-related field, as well as strong communication skills. This position requires some knowledge and familiarity of forestry and natural resource management.

For more information about this position, please contact Mississippi Forestry Association at 601-354-4936.

“PC” Stands for Positive Change!

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I don’t do “PC”. In my opinion, “Political Correctness,” is for the most part society’s way of accepting something that’s just plain wrong, or forgiving unacceptable behavior. Sometimes, the only way to make things right is to call someone on their conduct. Just because their attitude may be unforgiving, doesn’t mean that it’s unforgivable as long as it changes.

It’s hard for me to believe that despite the number of professional female hunters putting the fire out on record book bulls and bucks, we still have members of the male gender opposed to sharing the woods with us.

I’ve talked about the assistant at my dentist’s office before. She’s tried for years to get her husband to take her hunting. He’s always passed her off with one lame excuse or another. I’m sure he has his reasons, but I’ve done a lot of research, and for most guys it’s about giving up their own time in the woods. I just call it selfish. Sharing your passion for hunting with someone else should be considered an investment, not a sacrifice. It’s simply a matter of giving back to something we take from season after season.

Last week, I was looking at a selection of hunting magazines when I noticed one with a female hunter on the cover. Impressed, I picked it up to check it out. Turns out, the girl was a model that enjoyed hunting, which was awesome. Truth be told, I don’t care if a woman was previously a center-fold, or if she hails from true back country, and has a full beard. If she portrays hunting in a positive light, meaning being legal, ethical, and behaving respectably, then more power to her.

Then I read the caption that went along with the cover picture. “We thought long and hard before putting a female on the cover…..” Okay, seriously?

I’m the first to admit that I get bent the wrong way too easily, and this was no exception. I’m also the first to admit that sometimes, I need to assess a situation before going off half cocked, and once again this was no exception. While the fact that they had to think “long and hard” about putting a female hunter on the cover bugged the crap out of me, it was also a testament to how unforgiving behavior can relinquish its hold on a tradition that never should have been. After all, women hunters aren’t exactly a new concept. It’s just that there are more now than ever, and the demographic keeps growing. Regardless, a changed attitude like this deserves forgiveness.

The realization that women are an asset to hunting, and that it has nothing to do with gender is catching on, and thankfully spreading like wild fire. It has everything to do with driving up hunting numbers, with the end result favoring not only the future of hunting, but the impending state of our ecosystems as well.

I’d even go so far as to extend a couple thumbs up to the Illinois Outdoor News publication.  Sure, they’ve been trailblazers from the beginning, but the real tribute is that they’re brave enough to stick my mug and opinions in their paper and on their website!

 

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