Best Travel and Outdoor Vest Yet!

Two small outer pockets also buttoned.  The right hand one has a slit that I found most convenient for hanging my reading glasses.  Above the left pocket is a smaller slit pocket I used for lipstick and it was deep enough that the pocket contents didn’t drop out when I bent over.

How friends stay friends on a boat trip: 5 steps to success

The Wildlife for Tomorrow Banquet provided the springboard for twelve Antelope foundation members to successfully bid and win a Lake Powell House boat trip. Starting with a 5 step plan designed by the soon to be happy house boaters seemed prudent.

1. Have a planning meeting

2. Draw for sleeping quarters

3. Design a menu and food

4. Decide what gear to bring

5. Format the adult beverages needed

And the secret number six was to personally decide to stay positive and have fun no matter what.

Shane Stewart, current president of the AAF offered to bring their beautiful boat. Jim McCasland, current Board of Directors and Jim Unmacht, Board of Governors and past president, chimed in and offered up their Bass boats. The group included:

Board of Governors- past president

Jim McCasland and Debbie

Pete Cimellaro founding member and Cathy

Jim Unmacht and Tracey

Bill Keebler

Mary Keebler – Treasurer

Al Sue – Board of Directors and wife Marsha (me!)

Arriving the evening before, the soon to become boating buddies, arrived in Page and dined at The Dam Bar and Grill. Early the next morning the troop headed for the marina and began the daunting effort of loading all the gear onto the 70′ Silver Millennium luxurious houseboat. Thankfully the ‘helpers’ from the marina packed up the trailered golf carts and hauled many loads of ‘stuff’ to our floating paradise.

The planning meeting paid off – sort of. Way too much food was unpacked so there was never the thought of starving. The variety and excellence of the meals would have pleased any gourmet’s palate.

With a limit of over 200 small mouth bass and the prospect of many poles in the water we knew one of the feasts would be a fish fry. Hush puppies, French fries and coleslaw would provide another incredible meal. Layer on a dose of perfect weather for a perfect holiday.

The only issue seemed to be running low on water and we did not want to retire to the home marina only to be remembered as the dirty dozen. The plan did include coming closer to the Antelope Marina the evening before our week ended.  So departing from our anchored bay, we stopped by Dangling Rope Marina, filled our empty water tanks and of course refilled the ice chests. Showers were had by all by the end of the day!

 

All equipment seemed to work well, except for Umacht’s skiff named Betsy.  She decided to die just as the troop started back to the marina.  With a little help from their friends, and the Lake Powell rescue boats, everyone arrived safe and sound.

So here is the lesson: when attending banquets bid often with friends and win. Supporting these great conservation groups should be on every ones agenda. Help the Antelope herds and throw in a bunch of fun.

By: Marsha Petrie Sue

AAF Volunteer

President Women’s Outdoor Media Association

NRA Women’s Leadership Forum Executive Council

 

Pheasant Hunting with Style!

Two women, two dogs and guide Marcus created part of the most memorable afternoon for me in a very long time. Wing shooting and sporting clays are not activities in which I am well versed but off I went on my third day at Virginia’s amazing Primland Resort to participate in something I knew nothing about. Barely resting the night before, my sleep was constantly interrupted by images of the shotgun skills I just learned at recent shooting lessons. Morning came quickly and off I went for my day of ‘European style walk-up hunts.’

In case you aren’t familiar with a European style hunt it actually starts before you ever leave your room.  In my case I left my beautiful room at the Primland by dressing in the English style hunting apparel. This attire included the proper feathered hat, soft caramel shooting jacket, a silk ascot, tweed pants tucked into knee boots with taupe cable knit stockings peeking from the top, and skin tight leather gloves. I felt transported back to an elegant era of long ago.

As Carl McDaniel, Primland Activities Director, instructed us to safety procedures and what to expect, my mind was racing with the possibilities of planning a retreat to this beautiful lodge, imagining a women’s hunt, father – son outing and/or family reunions. The possibilities seemed endless. The amenities in the entire resort are flexible and friendly for so many events.

Once the safety briefing concluded we headed outside to start the hunt.  I was joined by the four other properly attired hunters and we stood at the assigned pegs (new term for me meaning shooting station,) guns ‘leaded’ (another new term meaning loaded) by our individual ‘loaders’ (people that reloaded shotguns) and waited for the first bird to pop over the horizon.

Then it began. With the sun peaking from behind puffy clouds in the crystal blue sky, we could hear but not see the ‘beaters.’ Provided by the lodge, these well-trained people were thumping their sticks in the grass and on trees, hollering and even singing.  Their goal was to launch the Pheasant from the thick grass to the air and within our sight.

Why my heart didn’t pound right out of my body is still a mystery. My loader, Carlton, was a dream and gently steadied me with a hand on my back and suggesting when to shoot. Each time we moved from peg to peg, success rate improved.  I was in heaven and was officially bagging Pheasants!

I was pleased that the day before we had the opportunity for shooting clay targets at yet another activity area at Primland Lodge. The sporting clay venue was set up perfectly to practice all kinds of angles and helped me gain confidence.

We stopped for a lovely lunch in Woodland Grill at Primland activity center and were ready for our next event, the afternoon walk in hunt.  I was paired with Barbara Weiland, who was also a novice wing shooter. Off went two women, two dogs and our guide, Marcus. After his precise instructions on working with dogs and our ‘cone’ of shoot zone, we began walking through the most beautiful scenery I’ve traveled to in a long time, that included a very old hunter’s cabin.

As the dogs, Bo and Blue, worked the field, my heart started to pound again and with no warning, a Chukar ripped from the grass into the sky. Barbara’s shooting cone was alive with shot, and she folded the bird to the ground; a perfect first shot!   Then out of nowhere, there was a Chukar within my shooting sphere and voila, I had my first bird. Barbara and I looked at each other, and with Marcus walking between us, we did an ‘air’ high five.

Blue retrieved my bird, dropped it with Marcus and immediately rolled over in her victory dance. Now this was fun!  Just that quickly it dawns on me to steady my nerves and be focused; just like when I’ve taken Babes with Bullets handgun programs.  There is no room for mental terrorism, I know I can do this, I regain my composure and I’m ready for the next bird.

Changing fields, I continued to be amazed by the beauty of Primland. Barbara and I ended up our afternoon with 29 shots and from those shots came a total of 23 Chukar and Pheasants. The congratulations offered by the other guides and hunters complimented an already perfect day.

Consider planning a trip to Virginia and take advantage of the incredible 12,000 acre Primland Lodge. Schedule time to enjoy golf, the spa, wonderful dining options, astronomy, deer hunting, fishing and even tree climbing! Plan meals at the 19th Grill, Elements – just to name two of the fabulous dining options. This is an experience not to miss.

Marsha Petrie Sue

NRA Women’s Leadership Forum – Executive Committee

Women’s Outdoor Media Association – President

Babes with Bullets – Alumni

Photographs courtesy of Primland Resort

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.

WOMA Booth A Big Hit at the 2012 Shot Show!

All I can say is WOW!  The Women’s Outdoor Media Association BOD members Deb Ferns and Melita Ellington did an outstanding job with our booth at the Shot Show.  We have been having a very successful week with meeting and greeting many of the folks that stopped by to chat and inquire about the WOMA mission of focusing on increasing media coverage of women who are active in traditional outdoor sports, especially shooting, hunting, fishing and archery.  It has also been a great week for attracting new sponsors for the WOMA!  If you are still at the show, drop by and see us!  We are on the 3rd floor, just across from the Press Room, a great location.

Free Marketing For You and Your Company!

Would you like a free marketing opportunity at the SHOT Show January 17 to 20^th, in Las Vegas?

The Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) is the largest and most comprehensive trade show for all professionals involved with the shooting sports, hunting and law enforcement industries.   There are over 2,200 exhibits and more than 40,000 attendees at this annual event.

One of the many benefits of your membership in the WOMA is to have your brochures and/or flyers at the WOMA booth, this year located at L344 near the Press Room. Maximize the value of your WOMA membership by letting us know if you want WOMA to be part of your marketing strategy! And remember this is free!

Let us know as soon as possible if you would like to have a threefold brochure or flyer at the WOMA booth by contacting Marsha@TheWOMA.com or Deb@TheWOMA.com.

Pleasant Pheasant Feast

When my husband Al returned from North Dakota Pheasant hunting, accompanying him was a cooler full of these game birds. I had no idea what to do with them but knew that I would find new and interesting ways to prepare this delicacy. Searching and asking friends brought this wonderful dish to our table.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 pheasant
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1/2 cup water or broth
• Barbecue sauce, optional
• Marinade:

-       1/3 cup soy sauce

-       3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

-       3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

-       2 tablespoons minced garlic, optional

-       1 tablespoon liquid smoke flavoring

-       1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

-       3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

-       Onion powder, to taste

Preparation:

Rinse pheasant. Place pheasant in a large bowl with salt; cover with water. Let pheasant soak for 1 hour – drain and rinse.

Combine marinade ingredients. Put pheasant and marinate in large non-reactive container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Stir occasionally to keep pheasant coated.

Discard marinade and transfer pheasant to slow cooker; add 1/2 cup of water or chicken broth. 
Cover and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours. About 30 minutes before done, coat pheasant with barbecue sauce, if desired.

I accompanied this dish with wild rice and a green lettuce salad.  A wonderful bottle of Pinot Noir is a great accompaniment.  Bon Appetite! And thanks Al for adding to our game reserve in our freezer!

 

Don’t Fence Me In!

For over thirty minutes, the nine Pronghorn stood at the four-rung barbed wire fence on the Vaca Ranch in Sonoita, Arizona. 

The Game and Fish regional manager watched the antelope walk off to find a place where they could dive under the fence to move the small herd to the good forbs (wildflowers, weeds, etc.) eating area.  The problem?  Coyotes and mountain lions will ‘push’ the group into this type of barbed fence and the young goats become part of the food chain.

Because Pronghorn don’t typically jump over a fence, the Arizona Antelope Foundation (AAF) works with local ranchers to strip off their barbed wire and replace the bottom line of wire with smooth wire 18″ high. In addition, water catchment areas are enhanced for the animals’ drinking pleasure.

My husband Al and I participate in many of these AAF projects  … setting up camp on Friday, working all day Saturday and breaking camp to head home on Sunday. We are lucky to have fabulous leaders in the AAF and an incredible group of volunteers.  Many times we have Boy and Girl Scout troops, biology students from Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University and others. Our members even bring their kids and that is fabulous! 

Before I married Al, I had never camped – well maybe if the Ritz Carlton didn’t have turndown service! Thankfully he has opened up an entire new chapter of my life to the outdoors, the importance of managing our forests and taking care of our precious hunting lands.

 

Before managing the fences became a priority, this animal population was on the decline. I am honored to be part of this restoration. The herd numbers are steadily on the increase.  And I think I heard the Pronghorn singing their anthem,  ‘Don’t Fence Me In‘ as we left the ranch!

Please check the rest of the pictures on FaceBook!

Heartbeat of the WOMA – July 2011

My goal was to have a Heartbeat blog by the beginning of each month. I only missed that deadline by 29 days here in July (sad, so sad.) I’m not going to beat around the bush; bottom line is summer is very busy for my meeting planning business (my paying job) and we were slammed with huge camps for Babes with Bullets ™ through May, June and July. In fact our July three day camp, recently held in Chicago, was one of the largest ever with 32 women participating and varying in ages from 18 to 71. Besides being a well attended camp we also had a “pro gun” article from the Chicago Tribune (link is below in case you have an interest) which generated over 2,000 emails with requests for more camps in the Midwest. So despite Mayor Daley’s adamant “anti gun” stance it seems the women in that area want to learn how to shoot! God bless America that they have the right to do so and only because the Supreme Court basically told Mayor Daley he’s been wrong for decades on his personal interpretation of the 2nd Amendment.

Moving off the subject of our camps and back onto business for the WOMA I urge you to read the minutes each month from the board of directors’ meeting. We address issues presented to the board by the members and that’s where the discussion is held and a vote taken on how to proceed with the member request. For instance several new members wanted to know how they could become more involved in various WOMA teams. Again, read the minutes of the meeting to find out what projects are being worked for the teams of:

• Web – contact Cindy@theWOMA.com

• Moderating/Editing – contact Editor@theWOMA.com (this goes to Heide Kaser, Cindy Noyes and Deb Ferns)

• Membership – contact Melita@theWOMA.com

• Public Relations/Marketing/Sponsorship – contact Marsha@theWOMA.com

Reach out to the committee person noted, who is basically the team lead, and let them know how you would like to participate. For instance a new member, Cami Eisenzimmer, offered to take on Facebook and Twitter for the WOMA and update it weekly with a theme for each week no less.   New member Amy Carducci also volunteered to help us with the website.  Considering that the entire board is volunteers having someone like Cami and Amy step forward is huge and I love Cami’s quote of “I don’t want to rock the (WOMA) boat, just add a little wind to the sails.” FYI – in my mind Cami isn’t adding just a little wind through her involvement in the Woma’s social media; instead I think she’s like a breath of fresh air!

Moving on to other areas where we would like to see more members involved is tradeshows and assisting with sponsorships. The PR team wears many hats and marketing the WOMA at various tradeshows across the country is just one of the hats. In August in the Midwest is the ATA tradeshow, in November in Reno is the National Association of Sporting Good Wholesalers conference, and then in January is the huge SHOT Show in Las Vegas and in spring the huge NRA annual convention, this year held in St. Louis. Then in the summer we’re invited to participate in the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) which is held in Alaska next year. We have been invited to participate in each of these events with a complimentary table in the registration area along with a listing in the tradeshow program. We would love (LOVE) to be present at these large national events but again it takes members stepping forward to staff the table, hand out brochures, talk about what the mission statement is for the WOMA and on occasion doing an interview about the WOMA to local media. While at most tradeshows we can work out for you to have free “shared” housing, the member picks up their own expenses to attend in terms of airfare, rental car, and food.

If you have an interest in becoming more involved in the WOMA, possibly in the tradeshow area, please let me know. It’s easy to reach me at Deb@theWOMA.com and those of you who email me know that I’m pretty darn good about getting back to you fairly quickly. Last but not least for the month of July we had two new members join us; Doctor Dawn Obrecht and Morgan Craft. Every month I’m impressed by the members who are joining and this month with Dawn and Morgan that trend continues! Hope you are all having a great summer and that we have the opportunity to meet at either a fall retreat (still a work in progress) or at a future tradeshow. Take care…

Deb

Chicago Tribune Link: Babes with Bullets and other women who believe the Constitution …

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

Our simple freedoms have been violated. Many are now worried about their companies, their business, their customers and clients. The status of our daily lives, both personally and professionally has been changed forever. The one element we control is our personal freedom. Freedom begins with you and by taking personal responsibility for everything — including your success.
The first step to renew freedom is to develop a free agent mind set. Be willing to accept and grow with the talents your have. See yourself as a winner. And remember that no one owes you anything. Ever.
The road to freedom is the following seven laws. What will you be willing to focus on and change? Do you have the passion to be really free – because freedom is not free.

Law 1: Independence is the best hedge against a downturn.

In fact, free agents are safer in an economic storm than their job-holding counterparts. The reason: They’re diversified and they leverage their talents.  If you are working for someone else, become a diversified intra-free agent. Learn everything you can to protect your future! Either way, take control of your future and your freedom.

Law 2: When times get tougher, quality counts.

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