Babes at Bondurant
December 10, 2010 by Debbie Keehart
Filed under Featured Blogs, On the Road
Babes with Bullets® is an organization that believes in providing women the opportunity to experience soft adventure. To allow them to step outside of their comfort zones through a safe and fun firearms training camp. Periodically the Babes instructors also get the opportunity to have a little fun!
Hi, I’m Debbie Keehart, one of the Babes with Bullets ® instructors. After our November ladies pistol camp in Mesa, Ariz., we got to experience one of those little adventures! Through the amazing coordination skills of our beloved Camp Coordinator Deb Ferns and the Bondurant Media Relations Manager Eric Tunell, Kay Miculek, Lisa Munson and I got to race shifter karts at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix.
Kay Miculek, Lisa Munson and Deb Keehart
Now I’ve done quite a bit of high speed off road driving and some go-cart racing, but these shifter karts were the coolest, with a max speed of about 100 mph! They sit about four inches off the ground with no side panels, so you really feel the speed and the power! Awesome!
Bondurant’s Chief Instructor, Mike McGovern, explained the function of the karts and gave us some interesting information on the school and past students. Would you believe an 85-year-young lady took one of Bondurant’s multi day courses? Bet she put “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena” to shame!
After hearing that story, I was more than ready to drive these high speed 125cc SuperKarts! Now, you don’t just jump in and take off. First you go through a briefing on how to get in and out of the kart. You learn about the gas, brake and shifter. But we all know the best way to learn something is to practice. So, that is what came next!
We were fitted with jackets, gloves, head socks (for cleanliness), helmets and neck rolls. Then taken out to the track to suit up and sized up for the karts! Extra seat cushions were needed so we could comfortably reach the foot peddles. With a push start from our instructors, the karts were fired up and we gently rolled on to the track to practice shifting. Down the straight-a-way and back up we went. Shifting through gears 1thru 6 and back down again. We were now ready for lesson two!
One of our handsome driving coaches got in his kart and had the three of us ladies follow him like ducklings following a mama duck. Around the track we went learning the best line to drive. One by one we were allowed to go ahead on our own. After a few warm up laps, we were starting to rock n roll! There was no waving of a green flag or a flashing green light; but, I think when I put the “peddle to the metal” and flew by Kay, she and Lisa realized the race was on!
The track had a variety of turns and twists to test any driver’s skills. Every lap we made we learned how to drive a faster smoother line. Less braking and more shifting. At this point you are probably wondering about spinning out or crashing – there was no crashing, but there were a few spin-outs. No worries, the car just spins a little and the motor cuts off. You stay in your cart until one of the nice gentlemen comes to push start you and sends you back on your way. I do have to admit, that when we drove by someone after a spin-out, we would wave at each other! I’m guessing that’s a pretty girlie thing to do! However, we thought it was a good way to say “Don’t worry I see you and I won’t crash into you!”
Like anything else, all good things must come to an end. Before we knew it, we were being waived back to the pits to leave our SuperKarts for another day. One word of caution when leaving the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving; you will have this overwhelming desire to mash down on the gas peddle of your personal vehicle and race home! Please follow the speed limit and drive home safely! The orange cones on the street probably mean road construction and not where to make your high speed turn!
Kay, Lisa and I shared our track experience all the way home that night and the following days. We encourage all of you to test your skills on the track too!!
Many Thanks to:
Deb Ferns – Our Babes with Bullets ® Coordinator who broke her ankle just a few days beforehand and had to forego the racing but was a trooper none the less.
Jaci Janes – Our photographer.
Eric Tunell – Bondurant’s Media Relations manager for allowing us the special class and to do this media piece.
Mike McGovern – Chief Instructor at Bondurant for sharing his knowledge of the SuperKarts and the various driving classes offered.
Brand Arter – Sale Representative at Bondurant for his guidance and direction.
For more information on the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving contact:
Brandon Arter
Sale Representative
1800 652.KART (5278)
Sheila Hoekstra – Member of The Women’s Outdoor Media Association
November 30, 2010 by The WOMA
Filed under Featured Members
Sheila Hoekstra grew up around firearms and hunting and has been shooting competitive handgun sports for about five years. In 2005, she created a Ladies Day class at her gun club and has since seen more than 500 new women shooters go through the class with 30 shooting regularly, 10 of whom have attended a Babes with Bullets™ camp where she is a Junior Instructor. She shoots USPSA and ICORE and any steel match she can make it to. She has participated in a Breast Cancer fund raiser shoot for the last three years and has helped raise at least $10,000 for the Komen Foundation. Read more
Sara Ahrens wins Otis ‘Group Goddess’ award
October 20, 2010 by Deborah Ferns
Filed under Kudos
Otis Technology became a Platinum Sponsor for our Babes with Bullets ™ program in early 2010. Their financial support is invaluable and their product support allows us to have a “shoot off” at each camp. Wondering what I mean by product support? Imagine dozens of women who come from across the U.S. to participate in a women’s firearms training camp. Once campers arrive, our head instructor, Kay Miculek, along with our senior instructor, Lisa Munson, quickly figure out who is moving on to an advance group with Lisa and what women will be in Kay’s more novice group. (There are more female instructors who assist as Kay and Lisa as we adhere to a “one instructor to 6 campers” ratio.) By the end of day two of camp, these two groups are already doing all the same action pistol drills with the advance group doing them at a faster pace. Read more
Join Veep Melita Ellington at upcoming AR-15 camp in Louisiana
October 8, 2010 by Melita Ellington
Filed under WOMA News
At first, I just couldn’t see myself shooting an AR-15. Those are some pretty mean looking rifles, and I tend to gravitate towards the more delicate firarms … you know, pistols and pretty shotguns. Well, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I should step outside MY comfort zone and attend the newest Babes with BulletsTM camp — Rifle 101. Read more
WOMA members meet and shoot at Babes with Bullets Camp in Michigan
September 23, 2010 by The WOMA
Filed under Featured Blogs, On the Road
When a few WOMA members get together, things happen. Shots may get fired, a fish or two might get landed, a bear down … here’s an article about WOMA members Deb Ferns, Sheila Hoekstra and Kay Miculek, on duty at a Babes with Bullets’ Camp in Michigan this week. From the Niles Daily Star.
Post a photo or your news in this section so that we know where you are this season!
Here's Sheila Hoekstra instructing at a Babes with Bullets (TM) Camp in Iowa 2009. Photo by Barbara Baird
Fly Fishing for the Fishing Chicks
September 4, 2010 by Marsha Petrie Sue
Filed under On the Road
Well, at least I am a Fishing Chick. For Rose Mary Winget (Babes with Bullets alumna) and Anne Draper (BWB and WOMA member) fishing, in general, was not their bag. But they made themselves proud!
Left to right: Anne Draper, Marsha Petrie Sue and Rose Mary Winget fly fishing at Bear Mountain in the Colorado Rockies
Orvis certified fly-fishing instructor Jon Maron and cowboy Randy Gaskill work on Anne’s Bear Mountain Ranch in Colorado. They were kind enough to volunteer to be our instructors.
The Fishing Chicks made the boys proud! We had the right equipment and clothes, which of course, we consider to be a little retail therapy. Can’t wait for the next trip!
Rose Mary Winget with a beautiful brown trout
The WOMA's Anne Draper with a nice rainbow trout
Check out more of our pictures on FaceBook – Marsha Petrie Sue
Babes with Bullets comes to Colorado next spring
It’s official—Kay Miculek and the Babes with Bullets (BWB) Ladies Action Shooting Camp are coming to Steamboat! This is a shooting camp for women only, taught by champion lady shooters. BWB is a wonderful introduction to shooting, or a great way to improve your skills if you’re already a shooter. The all-ladies environment really adds to the learning experience and enjoyment of the camp. Read more
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
The road to the range … let the adventures begin
March 25, 2010 by Sheila Hoekstra
Filed under WOMA News
I’ve been shooting handguns for the past six years. I shoot competitively and as most of you know there is never but a few ladies that you see on the range.I went to a bowling pin match at a local shooting club one day and saw they had 12 ladies there. I was amazed, so I walked up to one of the ladies and asked, “How did you get such a great turn out of ladies?”
She explained that they ran a Ladies Day Shoot once a year to get the ladies interested, and it was working! So I decided to have one at my club, and we had 28 ladies show up. I decided since we had such a great turn out that maybe we should do it more than once a year — so, with the help of some wonderful guys at our local club, we been doing this once a month for the last four years. Read more
Chair Deb Ferns reports from Iditarod
March 3, 2010 by The WOMA
Filed under Featured Members
This week, our Deb and an entourage that includes other members of The WOMA (Marilyn Vogel, Kay Clark Miculek and Lisa Munson) are headed to Anchorage, Alaska for the 2010 Iditarod. Deb will be sharing her adventure through video with readers of her column, Outside My Comfort Zone, over at The Women’s Outdoor News. We’re looking forward to the updates and hearing all about the trip when the women of The WOMA return.
