Prois introduces cutting edge technology in ladies hunting gear.

I am anxious to try out Prois’ new Intuition line I viewed at SHOT Show last week. It is a revolution in concealment technology for the lady hunter.

“Prois launches the new HECS Intuition line.

At ATA and SHOT Shows Prois launched their new Intuition line. They are the only US licensee of the HECS technology which is pioneering a new technology in hunting! They are the only company making a women’s line using the revolutionary HECS STEALTHSCREEN fabric. HECS STEALTHSCREEN is a revolutionary material that allows you to get closer to animals in their natural, undisturbed state and experience life in the wild like never before. HECS STEALTHSCREEN helps you stay undetected by combining three simple scientific principles.

1. All living things emit a faint electric signal.

2. Science has now proven that some animals have the ability to detect faint electromagnetic signals.

3. A conductive grid known as a “Faraday Cage” can block electromagnetic signals.

HECS effectively creates a “Faraday Cage” for your body that is quiet,  flexible, lightweight, and comfortable. To learn more about this technology and see some great videos and testimonials visit http://www.hecsllc.com/research.html”

The Intuition line is made of conductive carbon fiber but remains thin and flexible. It can be worn under or over your winter under/insulating wear. Prois Intuition is scheduled to be released the summer of 2012.

 

Saskatchewan, land of giants

Our hunt had been planned for a few months, with a few twists and turns along the way. The day had finally arrived to fly to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for our white-tailed deer adventure. Kirstie Pike, CEO of Próis and I were meeting up on Saturday, November 6 and planned to overnight in Saskatoon, prior to our departure for camp on Sunday. All travel plans went off without a hitch, and we were ready to go by 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Devin, the outfitter, and a few other hunters met us at the hotel, and we loaded our gear into the trucks and headed north. It is approximately a two-hour drive from Saskatoon to Leoville (where ATVs are stored for the ride to camp), and the guides offer to stop in Leoville to let hunters purchase any extra beverages or snacks they need for the week. We arrived at the base camp in the early afternoon and each hunter’s gear was loaded onto trailers which were to be pulled by quads. Each hunter drives their personal four-wheeler for the one-hour adventure into camp.

I say “adventure” because this is exactly what it was. The guides had just brought the previous hunters out of camp two days prior to us making the trek but not long after starting down the trail we hit our first bump in the road. One of the hunters dug himself deep into a mud hole and had to be rescued. The weather was quite warm for early November so the trails were not frozen as they typically would be when hunting season begins. The second bump: A beaver had chewed down a large tree, blocking our “train” from passing by. The tree was too large for the six guys to lift and move off the trail, so the guides took each four-wheeler around the tree so we could continue on our journey. The rest of the ride in was uneventful, but the scenery was amazing. We saw several lakes, miles and miles of timber, clear blue skies and wildlife galore!

Once at camp, the guides unloaded all gear and we were shown around camp. There was the main cabin, where hunters sleep and meals are prepared, the guides’ cabin, the cleaning shed, a workshop, and the changing cabin. The heated changing cabin is where you store all your hunting gear. The owner is a firm believer in scent control and does not allow any of your hunting clothes to be brought into the main cabin. While the guides were busy cleaning the four-wheelers, we unpacked our hunting items into the changing cabin and took everything else into the main cabin. The main cabin has three bedrooms, each with a set of bunk beds, a bathroom with shower, kitchen, dining room, livingroom and deck overlooking Higgins Lake. The main cabin is also equipped with a wood-fueled hot tub.

Next on the agenda was the sighting in of each hunter’s gun. Once this was complete it was time for dinner and to get all paperwork out of the way. Each person drew for their stand placement and guide for the Monday morning hunt. This works well, as it keeps things fair among all hunters. After a quick video, it was off to bed as the morning would come very quickly.

Bright and early Monday morning, the coffee was brewing and breakfast was cooking on the stove. Dustin, the cook and guide, created the most amazing meals you could imagine in a backcountry hunting camp. After breakfast, it was off to the changing shed to prepare ourselves for a long day in the tree stands. We loaded our gear onto our four-wheelers and wished each other well for the day. My guide for the week was Tom Beebe, the outfitter’s dad. Tom has been guiding hunters in the area for 21 years so he knows the land very well. It took about an hour to navigate our way to the stand. My stand the first morning was named Jack Pine 2. It was about 20 feet in the air and about 111 yards from the bait pile. I had three good shooting lanes and a lot of action all day. I had a nice ten-pointer chase a few does around for the majority of the afternoon but I didn’t get too excited about him. I decided that if I was in the same stand on Thursday and hadn’t shot anything, he would be my Thursday deer.

During the 12-hour sit, I also saw four eight-pointers, four six-pointers and several spikes. I lost track of all the does that came into the bait pile, of alfalfa straw and peas. Every day, the guides drive around to all 35 stand locations and place fresh bait, if needed.

Back at camp, dinner was ready and we all talked about the day’s happenings. Every hunter saw several deer, but no one had taken a shot. We were all waiting for the monster! The outfitter has about 20 Cuddeback cameras placed at different stands. Every day they pull the cards from the cameras to help pattern the deer movement. A board in the lodge displays photos of deer they have gotten on camera that have not been shot. They have each hunter study this board to be sure they know how to judge deer in the field. The guides had spotted a very large buck at a stand where they hadn’t placed a hunter, so they decided to move a few of us to different stand locations. I wasn’t really ready to move, but agreed to shake things up a bit. Four of us were chosen to draw again, and I drew lucky stand Carolina.

The next morning we drove about 1.5 hours to my stand location. This time there was one shooting lane, the bait pile was at about 75 yards and my stand was about the same height. Before we headed out, I had told Kirstie that I had a nervous feeling in my stomach. About an hour into sitting, I realized why I was feeling that way. Two does came underneath my stand and headed straight for the bait. They hung out for a while and something spooked one and off it ran. The second one stayed on the bait but was looking into the trees to my left. I scanned the woods to my left and saw nothing. A few minutes went by, and that doe hadn’t moved.

So I started searching the woods to my left again, and there he stood: the large buck with the tipped main beams that I had remembered seeing on the board. I knew instantly he was a shooter! No need for binos—I went straight for my gun. The buck went directly to the bait pile and turned perfectly broadside. I took about five deep breaths and fired. Wow, what a rush! I will never forget that feeling just after you take your shot and you watch your deer trot slowly away. I immediately radioed my guide to let him know I had taken a shot, just as we’d been instructed. About an hour after I had shot, I got all my gear and myself out of the stand and was going to investigate. I walked down the hill to the bait pile and couldn’t find any blood. All I found was a pile of fur. I sent Kirstie a message to let her know that I had shot and good news, so had she. She tracked her deer and had a very nice 12-pointer on the ground!

The timber was so thick that I decided to go back to my stand and wait for the guide. A couple of hours passed and Tom arrived. We went down to the bait pile, I told him which direction the buck ran off and the tracking was on. We found a very large pile of blood and then tracked for about an hour and couldn’t find anything else. I was getting that sick feeling like I had a bad shot, but knew deep down I was right on. It was getting dark, so Tom decided we needed to head back to camp and we would try again tomorrow. I was beside myself. The entire ride back to camp, I was speechless. I felt I had wounded a deer and left him to die in the woods. Tom did everything he could to console me and said that if he was down, the birds would be on him in the morning and we would find him. Once back in camp, we learned five of the six hunters in camp had shot deer that Tuesday morning, and mine was the only one not recovered yet. There was Tom who took a 182, Kirstie with a 154, Ron with a 140 and Jessie with his first whitetail at 127. The wait for Wednesday afternoon was the longest 12 hours of my life. Tom, Devin, Ron, Jessie (Ron and Jessie were from North Carolina and Florida, respectively) and I headed out on quads Wednesday in search of my tipped main beams. Along the way we baited a few stands and finally reached Carolina.

I showed everyone the fur at the bait pile, the direction he ran off and the large pile of blood we found the previous day. We all started off in a different direction with our eyes and ears open. Driving in we didn’t see any birds flying overhead so that wasn’t a great sign. Devin yelled for everyone to be quite, he thought he heard something. We all stood our positions and then we heard them, the birds squawking about 100 yards away. Devin and Ron took off at a fast pace in the birds’ direction and Ron started yelling he could see him. At that point, I was sprinting through the brush, my heart pounding. Devin was yelling for everyone to get there as he spotted an eagle. Ron, my savior, had found my deer! Little did we know that Tom and I had been only about 10 yards from the deer the previous day but could not see him through the thick brush. It was smiles and hugs all around. I was so excited! I had my first Saskatchewan whitetail, and he was a beauty. My emotions had gone on a roller coaster ride in a short 24-hour period, but everything ended well. We made it back to camp and the celebration was on! We had taken five deer in one day and that was a record at camp!

We had a fantastic meal, and Jessie even played a few tunes on the guitar for us that evening. Bobby, the only guy in camp who hadn’t shot settled in early that evening as he was going to try his luck again the next day. It turned out that Bobby wouldn’t take a shot on this trip to Saskatchewan but had several opportunities at deer over 140. Bobby and Tom both are returning to hunt in 2011. As for the rest of us, we will be back again someday.

Kirstie and I packed up and were ready to head back to Saskatoon on Thursday for Friday flights home. We said our goodbyes to the hunters in camp and to the fantastic guides. Overall this was one of the best experiences of my life, and I would recommend anyone who wants to shoot a large whitetail deer to head to Saskatchewan with this outfitter.

Great meals, excellent accommodations and very friendly guides all make this an unbeatable, unique experience. My deer ended up scoring a whopping 160 4/8 and for my first whitetail, I think it will be hard to beat. Thanks to everyone who was involved in this hunt, Kirstie (my new best friend and hunting buddy), Ron from North Carolina (who I owe my first buck to), Jessie from Florida (Ron’s son, who kept things lively around camp), Bobby (the only hunter who didn’t make a shot but deserved it more than the rest of us), Tom (who had the largest deer in camp for the week), Dustin (a fantastic cook and new friend as well), Tom (my guide extraordinaire) and Devin (who almost was the first to find my deer and to whom I owe this incredible experience). I can’t wait to do it all over again.

For more information about this whitetail hunt in Saskatchewan or any other outdoor adventure, contact Tracey Splechter with Outdoor Connection.

tracey@outdoor-connection.com

620-364-5500

WOMA member Kirstie Pike featured on Bowhunt America’s blogspot The Archeress

Bowhunt America has recently taken the plunge into the electronic world with the release of the web-based version of their acclaimed publication. This online magazine has many great features, all focusing on, you guessed it, bowhunting.  With articles ranging from gear to tactics to shooter profiles, you are sure to find great tips and insights on Bowhunt America. Read more

Heartbeat of The WOMA: Twin Biathletes, WOMA retreat & more

A few weeks ago several members of the Women’s Outdoor Media Association attended the annual NRA Meetings and Exhibits in Charlotte, N.C. It was an AWESOME experience, between outstanding speakers, a record-breaking number of exhibitors and attendees, plus a wonderful response to The WOMA’s hospitality suite hosted throughout the Saturday of the convention.

In a few weeks, my video editing guru, Marilyn Vogel of ProVideos 4 U, will have finished a webisode filmed at the NRA event. We’ll post the video at the website so you’ll have the opportunity to meet a variety of interesting new WOMA members, including Olympic Biathlon twin sisters, Tracy and Lanny Barnes.

The Barnes sisters, along with several other men and women of all ages and media backgrounds, are exactly the “breaths of fresh air” that our outdoor industry needs, especially if we hope to continue to encourage mainstream media to cover our industry in a pro-gun way—and we do!

As the camp director of Babes with Bullets ™, I know that at almost every BWB camp across the US we enjoy pro-gun mainstream media coverage (check out the newest pieces from NBC and ABC at the Babes With Bullets website. Whether at Babes with Bullets ™ or other arenas of The WOMA based on hunting, fishing, the shooting sports and archery, the goal of The WOMA is to build a unique human interest story about and around women, not a story about political parties or turf wars.

The saga of Tracy and Lanny, from their World Cup wins, to their experiences at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and now their goal of the 2014 Winter Olympics, is just one of many intriguing storylines. Visit Tracy and Lanny’s website at www.TwinBiathletes.com.

The gals are actively building their sponsorship and fan base, and I believe The WOMA is the perfect vehicle to help them with that task! WOMA President Barb Baird and I are already talking about traveling to Russia for the 2014 Olympics so we can cheer on our fellow WOMA members in their quest for an Olympic medal, so stay tuned for more information as time goes on.

We’re also hoping that Tracy and Lanny can make it to the first WOMA retreat to be held at Gunnison, Colo., from Friday, October 8 to Tuesday, October 12. This retreat, with housing provided at Three Rivers Resort, is being arranged through another outstanding member, Katherine Browne,  of the Prois Pro Hunting Staff. Katherine has put together for us a wonderful (and significantly discounted) package including grouse hunting, fly fishing and something I’ve wanted to do for years: working and hunting with falcons. How cool is that!

We have a large lodge reserved and can accommodate a total of 12 people for this event, though several spots were already spoken for as soon as we announced the retreat. So far we have three couples and two other members. If you’re interested, please contact me by e-mail (Deb@theWOMA.com) ASAP, as it takes a deposit of $100 per person to hold your spot. We estimate the cost for lodging, chipping in for food, a one-day grouse hunting license, a full day of fly fishing, etc. will run roughly $450 per person for the whole event. This is a great program offered at a discount for The WOMA, though due to lack of slots we are limiting this event to adults only.

I hope to meet more of you at the October retreat and in the meantime please submit your articles, photos, short blogs (whatever) to The WOMA so we can see what you are doing in your outdoor life!

Prois Pro-Staffer Barbara Baird Takes Pride in NOT Being One of the Guys!

Próis Hunting Apparel Pro-Staffer Barbara Baird recently spent time on the Norfolk Police Department shooting range alongside several outdoor bloggers, courtesy of BLACKHAWK! and a special trip for media it sponsored in Norfolk, Va., home of BLACKHAWK!’s headquarters. Barb wore her “Take Pride in NOT Being One of the Guys” shirt on the range, and as the only female blogger represented, felt it a fitting motto for the day. In this case, the pictures can say more than words! However, she liked the sleeve length of the shirt and felt it allowed her movement that she needed in order to make hits on the targets. And it made a nice, not-in your face, but ever-so-there statement. And a lot of the guys, including the Director of Business Development, Chuck Buis, inquired as to where he could buy a shirt like that for his wife, because she was that kind of a woman!

Take Pride in NOT Being One of the Guys! Here’s Barb Baird at the Norfolk Police Department Range among fellow outdoor and shooting bloggers, learning about the variety of KNOXX stocks for rifles and shotguns offered by BLACKHAWK!

Pro-shooter Todd Jarrett offered a few pointers and then stood back to watch Barb blow away a target.

Then, Barb had to go all hot-dog at the range and show how she could shoot a 12-gauge with a BLACKHAWK!KNOXX Breachersgrip recoil reducing pistol grip all one-handed like …

She pooched out her lower lip and shot three rounds out of that gun. She won the hot dog award. That’s our Barb Baird!!!

Reprinted with permission.

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.

Let me introduce you to Itcha Mountain Outfitters!

Kirstie Pike
CEO, Prois Hunting Apparel

I am constantly on the watch for gear and services that are considered female-friendly.  When recently asked what, exactly, makes something “female-friendly” I had to laugh at myself. Well, the explanation isn’t as simple as it would seem. I believe the term “female-friendly” may conjure up all sorts of images like 10,000-thread- count Egyptian cotton sheets, or Cristal Champagne. Nope. It’s neither of those. When one ratchets down what exactly makes a female-friendly outfitter, it comes down to three simple things:  comfort, safety and experienced guides. That’s it. No fluff, no puff.

Read more

Kirstie Pike lives in the clothes she creates for Prois Huntwear for Women

Kirstie Pike, CEO and president of Prois Huntwear for Women, lives in the clothes she creates. As an RN, Kirstie, who is the veep of The WOMA, has designed clothes with comfort and a woman’s body in mind.