Today, I’ll be closing the curtain on my episode as editor of “Wednesdays for Women.”

I want to give a heartfelt thank you to Jim Shepherd, editor and publisher of The Outdoor Wire, for giving me the chance to talk to you each week. It has been one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had in my 24-year career in outdoor communications. I’ll continue to enjoy Jim’s timely and insightful updates Monday through Friday on The Outdoor Wire.

I am sad to say good bye to this opportunity and at the same time excited about what’s behind door number 2.

I’ll be able to focus more of my time now on Remington Outdoor Foundation, an organization that is quietly doing the kind of work I can fully commit to. Founded in January 2009 as a nonprofit 501 (C) (3),  Remington Outdoor Foundation’s mission is to support the efforts of conservation organizations, wildlife agencies and other partners to share our hunting and shooting traditions with youth, women and other participants — while emphasizing safety, training and ethics. The organization also upholds conservation principles through assisting its partners’ work on habitat enhancement, wildlife research and management projects.

To that end, Remington Outdoor Foundation is collaborating with some important partners including the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), International Hunter Education Association (IHEA), Ducks Unlimited (DU), National Rifle Association (NRA), National Forest Foundation (NFF) and the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of Wyoming (WHFW).

Plus, a full website is in the works that I expect will become THE online guide to the outdoors. Outdoor Roadmap will host a vibrant community where visitors can trade tips, stories, photos and videos.  It also will answer the question, “where can I go to hunt and target shoot?” by offering interactive maps and other tools. In addition, you’ll get product reviews, event listings, training and licensing resources as well as coupons and discounts on gear. Stay tuned! You’ll be hearing a lot more in the coming weeks and months.

I’m also looking forward to another challenge I’ve accepted as editorial director of The American Chestnut Foundation’s (TACF) magazine. I’m working with great friends including graphic designer Jeff Hughes and editor James Powell as well as the Foundation’s CEO Bryan Burhans and director of communications, Meghan Jordan. We’ll be working together to revamp “The Journal of the American Chestnut Foundation” with the first issue of this new bimonthly, full-color magazine available this summer.

The American Chestnut Foundation is working diligently to launch the next phase of restoring the American chestnut tree to its native range in the eastern United States. After years of conducting a breeding program based on scientific research, the Foundation now hopes to begin reforestation trials with blight-resistant American-type trees before the end of the decade. Thus, it’s only fitting they have a new and improved magazine, and I’m green with happiness to be a part of their progress.

I’ll also continue my volunteer work as a board member for the Professional Outdoor Media Association and Orion – The Hunters’ Institute, two organizations I am proud to be a part of. In addition, I hope to do more freelance writing for magazines and websites.

So, while I’ll no longer be a writer/editor for The Outdoor Wire, I’ll never be far from the outdoor industry I love so much and all the wonderful people who are a part of it.

Stay in touch by contacting me at:
Facebook.com/tammy.sapp2
pr@tammysappcommunications.com

I expected to hear that turkey gobble last Saturday morning. I didn’t anticipate hearing him 20 yards behind me. The first gobble was loud and guttural, sounding more like the scary devil voice in the movie The Exorcist than a wild turkey. I fought the desire to swivel my head like Linda Blair to look at him.

Wes and I had been playing musical roost sites with this bird for several days, splitting up so we could cover more ground. It was dark when I crept along the edge of the field to find a big oak to nestle against. I figured this would be a hot piece of real estate, certain that gobbler would sound off from one of the huge trees flanking the creek, a safe distance from where I planned to set up.

Untested theories at that hour of the morning can get you in trouble. In retrospect, I can clearly see I should have at least tossed out a barred owl call before getting into position.

For the next 45 minutes, this bird punished my ears by gobbling about every 60 seconds while I remained as motionless as someone standing in line at the DMV. The beautiful thing about being human is the ability to cling to hope, even when chances are slim the outcome will be good. Just maybe, I thought to myself, he will land on the far side of the field, and I can call him back.

Finally, satisfied he had broadcast his intentions throughout the countryside, the gobbler clattered off the roost and sailed over my head, across the creek. I would have been completely heartbroken except for the fact at least he didn’t poop on me during his departure.

In retrospect, it was a thrilling experience and a reminder of the faux pas of being overconfident about where a bird is roosted.

Later that same day, I was propped up against another tree, doing a little calling and listening for birds. I heard footsteps shuffling through the leaves to my left. Since my encounter with a Georgia bruin last spring, my first thought is often, “Oh God, please don’t let that be a bear,” though I know that’s unlikely where I hunt in South Carolina. A furious stamping noise from a thicket about 40 or 50 yards away verified the visitor was a white-tailed deer. The stiff-legged stomp was quickly followed by a loud, nasally blowing sound. And another. Because the sun was already low on the horizon, I started hoping this clown would bound off before it scared away every wild turkey in the woods. He or she apparently hoped I would scamper away, too, because the chorus of stamping and blowing went on for several more minutes.

I finally accepted by fate. I collected my calls, pulled Henny Penny’s stake out of the ground, tucked her in my vest and started my long hike back to the truck.

There’s always another day. And I hope the fact that I listened more than talked (or called) will help make me a better woods woman. I’m already more appreciative of the gifts I receive as a hunter.

Now I yearn for a floor show replete with strutting, gobbling, spitting and drumming. Though I’ve spent countless hours afield, I’ve been denied front row seats to a wild turkey cabaret. Here are 7 reasons why:

1) Wild turkeys are ill-mannered. On the roost, their gobbling rivals the incessant barking of neighborhood dogs. Toms seem to bellow out pickup lines such as “Roost here often, baby?” and “Your meadow or mine?” Once off the roost, the pillow talk comes to a screeching halt. Wes and I dash off to where we think they might want to go, mindful of obstacles such as swamps, creeks, thickets and our middle-aged legs. We guess wrong. Nothing and nobody shows up. The only noise we hear is from doves, bobwhites and songbirds. And it sounds like laughter.

2) Turkey hunting is hard work. I had a friend say that to me once, and I scoffed at such a ridiculous notion. Well, as the years add up, getting up in the middle of the night for a week straight can wear you out. While eating turkey is known to make people sleepy, hunting them can make you comatose. Those first rays of sunshine can knock me out harder than a hot bath, smooth jazz and Chamomile tea. Bottom line, you can’t fill a tag dreaming about turkeys.

3) Even when I’m awake I’m easily distracted, especially by other birds. I’m mesmerized by whippoorwills. Bewitched by barred owls. The other day I heard a red-tailed hawk scream as it soared by, and for some reason it made me say “Wes, wouldn’t it be cool if birds were big enough they could swoop down and pick up a person?” Of course, Wes thought that was absurd, yet launched into a SNL-style skit of how people would have to scurry across the mall parking lot with guns aimed skyward to fend off attacks. While the topics of these strange exchanges vary, the end result is always the same…somebody winds up laughing out loud, and that rarely qualifies as good turkey hunting technique (except one time in New Mexico, I did make a turkey shock gobble with my hooting and snorting).

4) I’m experimenting with different progressive contact lens prescriptions, which means my ability to see far, near and in between varies. OK, this is a lame excuse since I’ve only seen one turkey.

5) We’re hunting a new tract so we’re learning the lay of the land. This is a legit excuse, at least for this year.

6) Wes has already killed a monster bird, and I think it injured my psyche, especially since he texted me the photo while I was out of town at a meeting.

7) Brood surveys have shown poor reproduction in South Carolina during the last couple of years, and the DNR’s biologist predicted only fair turkey hunting this spring. I think it’s terribly UNfair, but it does make for one heck of an excuse.

The good news is there are two weeks left in the season. Plus, I have not been kidnapped by gypsies and I don’t have a dog, so my box call is safe and sound.

How is your season going? Leave a comment here, catch up with me on at Facebook.com/tammy.sapp2 or email me at tammy@womensoutdoorwire.com. I’d love to hear from you.

It’s not all candy and flowers, though.  Like the big whitetails she pursues, Tiffany also is a target, and her detractors express doubt about her hunting skills and contend she uses her sexuality to attract a male audience. Some have called into question whether or not she’s an appropriate role model for the thousands of young ladies who seek her autograph at outdoor shows.

Because my opinion on this subject was sought in recent magazine and radio interviews, I decided it was time to quit talking about Tiffany and talk with her instead.

Who’s that girl?
Like many women, Tiffany did not grow up in a family that hunted. Her entry point into hunting was meeting Lee a decade ago when he worked in an archery shop in Minnesota. He invited Tiffany to shoot, and she said she took to 3-D archery shooting right off the bat. With some help from local pros, Tiffany improved her shooting form and soon was competing in tournaments.

She had been shooting her bow for a couple of years when Lee invited her to try hunting. The first time she hit the woods with a bow, Tiffany arrowed a nice buck. After that, there was no shaking the hunting bug.

As Tiffany honed her hunting skills, Lee began pursuing a longtime interest in outdoor writing and filming. He bought a good video camera and with some pointers from friend Michael Waddell, Lee and Tiffany began filming their hunts.

While neither knew it at the time, that first video camera would become a catalyst for change in both of their lives. It would transform Tiffany from being an airline attendant and Lee from being a chemical engineer to some of today’s hottest outdoor celebrities. Their first year of serious filming took them to Wisconsin, Iowa and Kansas, with hunts ending up on Realtree’s Monster Bucks DVD, thanks to a gig as local Realtree pro staffers, and later on Kisky’s Whitetail Extreme series.

Shortly after the pair married, Lee decided to quit his job so he could pursue his dream. The couple packed up and moved from Minnesota to the land they had bought in Iowa. It was a good call because not long after that they received their big breakthrough, an invitation from Scent-Lok to host a TV show.

Tiffany said neither she nor Lee ever expected their careers to include hunting across the country for TV shows that would become the narrative of their young married life. When not filming, Lee and Tiffany shake hands, sign autographs and conduct seminars during their 50 plus appearances a year. Add that to running a production company and managing 5,000 acres in Iowa and a thousand in Kansas, you can see Lee and Tiffany are living life in the fast lane, albeit mostly on dirt roads.

Even though they are constantly on the go, Tiffany said she feels lucky they can do it together. While a lot of reality show relationships hit the skids, (think Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson and Jon & Kate), sharing a love of the outdoors is something Tiffany believes strengthens their relationship.

Her side of the story
While most people recognize stereotypes as oversimplified judgments, they are sometimes relied on as dodgy shortcuts to understanding someone, which frustrates Tiffany.

On TV and at seminars, her life may look like a fairy tale. However, those close to Tiffany know she is beset by the same troubles others face – a mother who battled breast cancer. Her father’s death. And the myriad of other challenges life throws at us.

Tiffany said the people she associates with like and respect her. But she doesn’t understand why a stranger would decide she can’t be a good hunter because she wears makeup, has long hair or does her nails. Nor does she get why someone would declare she’s unfit to serve as a role model for young women.

“Though I didn’t set out to be perceived as a role model, I’m a good one. I’m a happily married woman who spends time with her husband doing what we both love. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I had a good upbringing.”

Tiffany said she has proven that through hard work and dedication, you can be a successful hunter.

Tiffany dismissed the notion she is a talentless diva akin to Paris Hilton as ridiculous. She said she frequently practices with her bow and can out shoot the guys. She knows how to drive a tractor and field dress a deer, even though that is normally a task that she and Lee tackle together.

Tiffany said she’s not trying to sell herself as an expert, even though she is proud of her hunting skills. What she is striving for is to send a message that hunting is a lot of fun, and she hopes other women will give it a try. Judging by the shift in who is lining up for her autograph these days, she may well be able to make a difference. Not only have the lines to meet Tiffany grown in recent years, their makeup has changed from mostly men to many women now, both young and mature.

To reach that audience, Tiffany is now working on a “Crush Girl” web site aimed at women and girls. She is also launching a line of jewelry, apparel and accessories (including bow slings) that play off of her love of deer hunting called “Peace, Love and Venison.”

Final thoughts
I view criticism as a form of feedback designed to make everyone in the hunting industry the best possible representative of something we all love. But it also can serve as a “keep out” sign. With license sales for men on the downslide since the mid ‘80s and flat for women since the early ‘90s, the last thing the hunting community needs is to be exclusive. The higher visibility of women such as Tiffany may throw out the welcome mat to potential women hunters who wouldn’t dream of going without highlights or a pedicure. It’s possible they may feel more comfortable about doing something as unconventional as hunting if they see others in that role who look and act like they do.

Plus, the state wildlife agencies, which are desperately trying to stretch their budgets to manage our wildlife resources, don’t care if they are selling a hunting license to a woman who may only help field dress her turkey or deer. They do care about making sure all hunters follow the regulations and show respect for wildlife as well as for other hunters, landowners and the property they hunt.

So maybe our time is better spent exploring the best way to invite others into our community and teaching them to be safe and responsible hunters. And yes, to have fun. After all, couldn’t we all use a little more peace, love and venison?

At the end of her second term, Sandy was elected to NRA’s Executive Council, which is comprised of past presidents. Though prestigious, the Executive Council carries a lifetime appointment sans the ability to vote. Sandy, who was the second woman president in the organization’s 139-year history, decided she still wanted a voice and a vote and is running for another three-year term on NRA’s board of directors.

Sandy hasn’t slowed down one whit, declaring she’s not ready for the “old goats club,” an affectionate term used to describe the Executive Council. Armed with a PDA bearing more contacts than the south has fire ants, her mission is to continue building on those relationships with the industry, donors and members through Friends of the NRA. To that end, she accepts many speaking engagements throughout the year.

During her presidency, Sandy cited her work restructuring the advancement office and enhancing NRA Foundation’s fund raising ability as something that made her most proud. When she joined the board in 1992, efforts to launch their endowment program had just begun. During that time, her work on the Foundation’s Board of Trustees led them from living paycheck to paycheck to building the kind of financial stability that allowed them to enhance training programs for safety, marksmanship, hunting and more as well as a multitude of programs for youth and women.  She continues to play an important role in working with donors to ensure there’s always a nest egg. As Sandy said, work to protect the Second Amendment is all for not if there aren’t opportunities to exercise that right.

Working for Women
Though standing only 5 feet 2 inches tall, Sandy is not the kind of woman who is easily intimidated by anything or anyone. A Harvard Law school grad and top gun attorney in L.A., she is now a practicing business litigation attorney running her own firm in Tucson, Ariz. However, in 1981 an attempted break-in at her Hollywood Hills home convinced the new divorcée she needed to defend herself. So she took a gun safety course and bought a Colt M 1911 pistol. And even though some of the hotshot lawyers in her L.A. firm were anti-gun and stopped talking to Sandy, the female secretaries and paralegals would pull her aside for a little gun talk. They wanted to learn but were scared to ask until they found a woman who wasn’t afraid to talk about her support of gun ownership.

Fast forward to now and women are snapping up handguns and taking training courses like their lives depend on it. Today’s woman is not interested in abdicating responsibility for her own protection. Sandy, who helped develop NRA’s Refuse to Be a Victim program, said these women are enthusiastic, determined students who recognize handguns are an important self-defense tool. While prison may not deter hardened criminals, the possibility of encountering someone who is armed and trained to protect themselves, will make them think twice.

While Sandy has enjoyed target shooting for many years, in 2001 she discovered a new wonderful way to enjoy firearms — hunting! Her first trip was with friend and mentor Brenda Potterfield of MidwayUSA. Sandy said Brenda coaxed her into a pheasant/chukar hunt by sharing photos of her hunting trips. While Sandy said she wasn’t sure how she’d feel killing an animal, when she shot her first bird, she was amazed at the beauty of it and captivated by the fun of wingshooting. That night, Brenda fixed roast pheasant, morel mushrooms picked from her Missouri farm and asparagus from her garden. Sandy was hooked.

Since that first hunt, Sandy has traveled to Africa with a group of women and said it was a life-changing experience. Everything was new and exciting, and she sopped up every sight, sound and smell. She has hunted seven states and three continents, including a return trip to Africa in 2008. Next on her agenda is caribou hunting in Alaska. That love of hunting translated into her encouragement of the hunting component of NRA’s Women on Target Program.

Sandy said she believes women can be a significant force in protecting the Second Amendment. Just as she was a different kind of NRA president than her predecessor Charlton Heston, women have a unique ability to get their point across. As an example, Sandy said years ago her husband tried to set an appointment with a congressman to discuss gun rights but was rebuffed. However, when she called, she got the appointment, possibly as a matter of courtesy. Though it may be sexism in reverse, it can get your foot in the door.

Sandy also noted that women play an important role in gun rights issues because of they often determine what activities the kids do after school, where the family goes on vacation and how they spend their disposable income. Even if women don’t necessarily want to shoot, Sandy found those she has met at NRA’s annual meeting respect the organization’s message of freedom and the right to keep and bear arms. You can see for yourself at this year’s NRA meeting, which is being hosted in Charlotte, N.C., May 14-16).

“NRA is a big tent. It doesn’t matter why you want to be a part,” Sandy said. “Maybe you’re interested in shooting, hunting or want self defense training. Or maybe you just believe in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

The rites of courtship usually kick off in March. One day, I look up from my computer and there he or she is, sitting at the entrance of the owl box that hangs 12 feet up in a loblolly pine tree.

For the next few weeks, I’ll see screech at all hours of the day. Then at last light, he or she takes off, in search of a meal of songbirds, insects, rodents and other yummy critters. However, by late March or early April, I won’t see so much as a feather. The first year this happened, I was convinced we had done something to offend screech’s sensibilities. However, several weeks later we were treated to our first look at young screech owls. Fluffy and gray, they bobbled in front of the nest box entrance like sock puppets on tequila. Their jerky, uncertain maiden flight occurred about a week later, with both parents offering encouragement from nearby trees.

The same thing has happened for the last five or six years, culminating with the young making their grand entrance Mother’s Day weekend (early May). This year, however, the adult owls threw me a ringer. In addition to seeing an owl in the usual nest box, I now also see another, smaller owl in a bluebird box that features a gaping entrance gnawed by gangs of demonic squirrels. Most evenings this March, they have each sat in their respective nest boxes, not paying one another the slightest bit of attention. And like a Hollywood gossip reporter, I just had to know what was going on. Are they friends, enemies or Frenemies? Are they courting or completely clueless of each other’s existence?

So, I called Laura Erickson, a science editor from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and author of “The Bird Watching Answer Book.” It turns out, Laura is not only an expert by training, she is licensed to possess a screech owl for educational purposes (though it’s not recommended the average birder undertake this responsibility). Her experience with a screech owl named Archimedes made her the ideal person for me to cross examine.

Screech owls, which are only about 6 ½ to 10 inches in length, come in two color phases: gray and red (mine are a handsome cinnamon color). Male birds are smaller, and Laura suggested the smaller bird I’m seeing in the bird box renovated by squirrels is a male, while the female is occupying the larger owl box. The male and female typically don’t roost together except during winter they occasionally will share a nest box or cavity.

Screech owls mate for life, though Laura said about six percent of pairs divorce and find another mate even if the original one hasn’t died. If one owl does breathe its last, the other often takes a new mate. Laura said screech owls differ from hawks in that they are more “touchy feely” and will preen each other’s faces. Singing is another part of the male’s romantic repertoire. He trills to court the female, and whinnies to defend his territory.

Then the work begins. The female incubates the eggs and broods the young. She sits on her two to six eggs for about a month. After they hatch, the male is in charge of hunting. For the next month, he hands his catch over to the female who tears it up and feeds the young. Males will hunt even during the daytime to keep nestlings fat and happy. Screech owls are respectable hunters, catching about 50 percent of the mice and birds they go after and 83 percent of the insects they pursue.

After the young fledge, the parents have another 8 to 10 weeks of hard labor, teaching the little owls how and what to hunt and making sure they recognize danger and then what to do about it.

Laura said screech owls are common backyard nesters and will use the same nest site year after year. Because they are shy and quiet, they often go unnoticed by their human neighbors (unless you hear their spooky, quavery calls), though I can tell you from experience the local songbirds are abundantly aware of this pint-sized owl’s presence. During the day, screech will sit at the entrance of her nest box, catching some rays (and vitamin D) until a mob of titmice or bluebirds start flapping around. Screech, whose eyes appear closed, is actually monitoring potential threats and pops inside the box when the avian bullies get too close. The songbirds have a right to be scared, though, as I have watched screech pick off a female cardinal from the feeder.

Many thanks to Laura for helping me lift the shroud of mystery surrounding the life of eastern screech-owls.

You can learn more about the birds that interest you at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Web site. Their “All About Birds” is one of my favorite places to loiter on the internet. It contains great photos, maps, life history descriptions and even audio files of bird songs.

Interested in becoming a citizen scientist by monitoring bird nests? You can contribute to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s data base of nest records through Project NestWatch.

Through eBird, you can also support a real-time, online checklist program by reporting bird sightings so scientists can spot trends in distribution and abundance.

Trim, petite and emitting enough energy to qualify for nuclear reactor status, Sue is Michigan’s Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program coordinator. Like the proverbial long-lived cat, she’s had her share of lives. She worked as a promotions director at Bass Pro Shops, a coordinator for NWTF’s Women in the Outdoors program and a state representative for Michigan’s 71st District. But she almost exhausted all nine of them when her truck hit a patch of black ice a few weeks ago.

“I was going slowly, as a matter of fact it seemed everyone was passing me,” Sue said. “Then
I felt the backend start to sway, and I did what I usually do to keep it straight, but the little S10 started to spin and kept spinning. I think I did two complete circles on the expressway, before I hit the guardrail, bounced across to the left side, got into some deep snow in the median and that’s when I was able to bring her back into control and slow down, then stop.  Thank God all those other cars had passed me and that I didn’t hit another car. ”

Sue and her friend emerged from the wreck shaken and sore but otherwise okay. However, her truck was DOA.

The next weekend Sue was headed up north to host a BOW Discovery weekend, where 67 women had the opportunity to cross country ski, snowshoe, dog sled and check out a host of other courses including outdoor survival.

I doubt the outdoor survival class included instructions on what to do if your vehicle spun out like it had been deliberately wrecked by NASCAR driver Carl Edwards. However, Sue contends those schooled in the outdoors are more apt to prepare themselves for emergency situations.

“When we travel, we ready ourselves the same way we would when heading to the woods,” Sue said. “We make sure we have everything we need, especially in the north during the winter months.”

While Sue was lucky and had a cell signal where she wrecked, she advised thinking about what you would need to do to stay comfortable if you were stranded in the cold because of an accident or your vehicle broke down. A blanket, candy bar, first aid kit and water are items Sue keeps in her truck year round.  In the winter, she adds disposable hand and foot warmers to the kit as well as an extra pair of boots and socks to stay warm.

The most important item to have with you is your brain, especially when you’ve recharged it with knowledge of first aid and CPR.

Sue said the big take home from the experience, though, was more mental modification than what she puts in her glove box.

“Don’t wait to try the things you’ve always wanted to try. Life can be over in an instant.”

Sue is taking her own advice. The dog sledding at the BOW Discovery weekend tripped her trigger and she’s already making plans to mush.

You shouldn’t wait either whether you’ve always wanted to shoot a handgun or cast a fly rod. Sue is trying to make it easier for those of you who are battling the two-headed monster called “time and money.” She’s lowered the cost of the BOW programs by offering one-day and weeknight events. And she’s trying to get more courses offered throughout the state to reduce drive time.

To find a BOW workshop in Michigan, visit http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/1,1607,7-153-10369_15424—,00.html

To find BOW events throughout the country, visit http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/bow/map.aspx

While still a teen, she whupped all the boys in the youth division of the World Elk Calling Championship – three times – before moving into the women’s division in 1998.

Barks, whistles, grunts and squeals are in her blood. Her dad, Rockie Jacobsen, is a three-time RMEF World Champion elk caller while her brother Corey is also a competition caller, with several top five finishes under his belt.

Misty said she got her start 17 years ago when her dad was inventing his patented Tone Top Mouth Call Diaphragm. He asked her to give the call a test run, and quickly realized she had inherited the family bugling gene. Misty credits her success to her dad’s call. It’s the only kind she uses whether she’s knocking the judges’ socks off on stage or she’s knocking ‘em dead in the woods.

While Misty enjoys calling on stage, elk hunting is her true passion. She said she actually feels more pressure calling when she’s afield. She started off hunting with a rifle under her dad’s tutelage; however, today Misty prefers the challenge and adrenalin rush of bowhunting. When she gets time off from work, Misty and her husband Casey head to the wilderness to get their fix of screaming bulls.

A lot of Misty’s practice time occurs in the field, hearing the real deal. However, she also trains by listening to bulls on video. She admitted she doesn’t practice as much as she should, however, between riding her horses and shooting her bow, there’s not a lot of time left. Fortunately her hobbies mesh nicely. The trail riding gets her to the woods and the archery practice and calling competitions keep her hunting skills sharp.

Thanks to the $1,500 Misty received as top female caller this year, she said there might be a new horse trailer in her future. She also plans to enjoy all the other swag she won including a Remington .243, Cabela’s gift card and prizes from Eberlestock, Hoyt, Kershaw Knives, Montana Decoy, Montana Silversmiths, Schnee’s and Traditions Performance Firearms.

Even though hunting is a way of life in northern Idaho, Misty said not all that many women go. Still, her co-workers think what she does is pretty cool, and from time to time they ask her to liven up their meetings with a calling demonstration. Misty hopes she can use her accomplishments to encourage other women to get involved in the calling competition as well as give hunting a try.

Women do have a great opportunity to compete against each other at the World Elk Calling Championships. RMEF officials introduced the women’s division in 1994 in response to the enthusiastic participation at the Becoming an Outdoors-woman seminars they offered at Elk Camp, according to head judge and contest official, Fred McClanahan, Jr.

Good news is, with next year’s Elk Camp scheduled for March 3-6 in Reno, Nevada, you’ve got about a year to get your mews and chirps down pat.

For more information, visit http://www.rmef.org/AboutUs/ElkCamp/ElkCampMedia.htm

What is does suggest, though, are the lengths some Americans will go to avoid topics with any complexity. Thank goodness there are people willing to do the deep thinking for those trapped in a haze of crappertainment.

There does seem to be an uptick in the willingness to tease through the tricky details whether it is understanding the ramifications of the health care bills or how McDonald v. City of Chicago will decide whether or not the 50 states are required to obey the Second Amendment, by testing the 14th amendment.

Hunting is not without its share of difficult issues as well.  What constitutes fair chase and the legal intricacies associated with access are just a couple of the matters we have to grapple with. In many ways the privileges we enjoy as hunters depend on our ability to tune in, understand and take a stand.

Being someone who helps shape the future means you should have some understanding of the past. Our wildlife history is a riches to rags to riches story that includes a group of conservation forefathers who pioneered a blueprint known as North American Wildlife Conservation Model.

Elk have benefited from the principles outlined in the North American Model.

While the North American Model and the Seven Sisters of Conservation may sound like a wild theme party at the Playboy mansion, actually, it’s the philosophical framework used to restore wildlife populations from the brink of extinction to the abundant levels we know today.

The model’s two basic principles—that fish and wildlife belong to everyone and are to be managed so their populations will be sustained forever—are explained through a set of guidelines known as the “Seven Sisters for Conservation.”

I visited Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s Web site to obtain a list of the “Seven Sisters” and below, I’ve provided a synopsis. You can see the full explanation at: http://www.rmef.org/Hunting/HuntersConservation/

Sister #1: The Public Trust
In the United States and Canada, wildlife is not owned by individuals. Instead, federal, state and provincial governments are responsible for managing wildlife and their habitat on public lands. This public trust gives all citizens the opportunity to view, hunt, fish and enjoy these natural resources.

Two hundred years ago, American colonists appreciated this unfettered access to the continent’s abundant wildlife. Back in Europe, in many cases only nobility and the very wealthy were allowed to hunt. In 1842, the U.S. Supreme Court set a legal precedent by supporting the American ideal that wildlife belongs to everyone.

Sister #2: Prohibition on Commerce of Dead Wildlife
Because we all own wildlife, it is illegal in North America to sell the meat of any wild animal. In some cases the hides, teeth, antlers and horns of game animals and the hides of a select few furbearers may be sold.

In the latter half of the 1800s, buying and selling meat, hides, feathers and other wild animal parts was big business. Excessive hunting nearly wiped out bison, egrets and elk, and drove other species, such as the passenger pigeon, to extinction. Strong laws written at the turn of the 20th century restricted market hunting and the buying and selling of some wild animals, which allowed many threatened wildlife species to rebound and thrive.

Sister #3: Democratic Rule of Law
Every citizen of the United States and Canada has the right to help create laws to conserve and manage wildlife. You can share your ideas and opinions about wildlife management at government hosted public forums or by voting for or against ballot measures.

Early 20th-century conservationists wanted to protect wildlife populations, yet many still wanted to hunt and fish. So they established laws and set limits to enjoy the bounty without depleting the population.

Sister #4: Hunting Opportunity for All
Everyone is allowed by law to hunt and fish in the United States and Canada regardless of social status, race, creed, religion or gender.

Hunters and anglers led the crusade for wildlife conservation a century ago. For instance, before Theodore Roosevelt became president, he helped found the Boone and Crockett Club. The club’s Fair Chase Statement was the first document outlining a code of conduct and ethics for hunters and anglers. It became a cornerstone of our game laws.

Sister #5: Non-frivolous Use
In North America, we can legally kill certain wild animals under strict guidelines for food and fur, self-defense and property protection.

Laws restrict us from casually killing wildlife. We can’t kill wildlife merely for antlers, horns or feathers or to use only a small portion of the meat. Laws also help ensure we show respect for and avoid mistreating wildlife and the land, and that we make maximum use of every animal hunted for food and other purposes.

Sister #6: International Resources
Because fish and wildlife migrate freely across boundaries between states, provinces and countries, the United States and Canada jointly manage land and wildlife to ensure wildlife can safely cross borders and that no country, state or province will take more than its share of a common resource.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 demonstrates this cooperation between countries. The Act made it illegal to capture or kill migratory birds, except as allowed by specific hunting regulations. Treaties now exist between the United States, Canada, Mexico and Russia, which has helped restore ducks, geese and cranes that cross several countries between their wintering and nesting areas.

Sister #7: Scientific Management
Scientific research—and applying that research–is essential to managing and sustaining North America’s wildlife and habitats.

If you’re still reading this, your understanding of wildlife conservation likely ranks in the top percentile. You probably could run an entire Jeopardy category titled “Measures That Saved Wildlife.”

Besides the obvious game show advantages, understanding the basic principles of wildlife conservation can help you become an informed decision-maker and a better spokesman or woman for hunting and fishing. Many Americans don’t even know hunters and anglers led the way in rescuing our wildlife populations let alone that we continue to be the biggest supporters of conservation today.

This community’s willingness to give back helps drive the model’s success. And a great place to start is by being in the know.

Though I don’t aspire to that kind of humor, this week I will be talking about chicks, instead of what I usually do, which is talk with chicks.

Kenny Kieser

To that end, I called Kenny Kieser, an outdoor writer, book author, hunter and angler who possess an unabashed admiration of strong women.
Kenny comes from hardy stock. He loves to tell the story about his great, great, great grandmother, Elizabeth Rose, a Missouri woman who in 1876 bravely forged ahead to South Dakota with her four children after her husband succumbed to illness. Kenny said the family contends Elizabeth Rose was the second white women in Deadwood, S.D. She and her boys set up a livery stable and food tent for the town’s hungry gold miners. And she prospered during a time when there wasn’t a government bailout for widows trying to make a go of it against all odds with rough prospectors and hostile Lakota.

In the American old west, a woman had to be courageous and a proficient shot. Though Kenny hasn’t modeled one particular character after the legendary Elizabeth Rose in his books, you’ll find the women in Kenny’s historical westerns, “Ride the Trail of Death, and “Black Moon’s Revenge” borrow from her indomitable spirit.

Fast forward to modern times and Kenny says the women in his life are still  fiercely independent. His aunts know how to take care of themselves and his mother single-handedly runs a 160-acre farm. These role models have fostered Kenny’s appreciation and understanding of women who know what they want.

He said he’s glad today’s woman has claimed a more visible presence in the industry. Kenny is quick to point out more women hunters means additional dollars for conservation, through hunting license fees, duck stamps and taxes on firearms and ammunition especially earmarked for wildlife management and hunter education.

I asked Kenny what he thought about the conversations women were having now about our place in the outdoors including: Are women such as Tiffany Lakosky and Haley Heath good role models or does their beauty generate skepticism about their skills? Are pink firearms, fishing rods and other outdoor gear a condescending marketing ploy or a way for women to assert their femininity while enjoying hunting, fishing and target shooting? Does a woman have to be an “extreme” hunter or angler to portray the right image or should we strive to make the outdoors more welcoming to women who are beginners or maybe just less hard core?

I posed these questions to Kenny in a gush of words, and he had good answers. First, he said hunting and fishing should not be driven by your ego, whether you’re a man or a woman. Being an outdoors-woman is what you make of it, not an exercise in meeting some subjective standard. Kenny said hunting and fishing should be enjoyable. Relaxing. Exciting. A chance to watch the seasons change, observe wildlife, learn about nature, build your skills and confidence, and savor the companionship of your family and friends.

What I’ve come to understand is how neat it is to have such diversity among women who hunt, target shoot and fish. It means there truly is a place for every woman who wants to be a part of our community, whether she’s a diehard outdoorswomen or an occasional participant. There’s a place for women who wear makeup when they go fishing and shoot handguns with pink grips and for women who can identify ducks on the wing and insist on field dressing their own deer.

This really isn’t a new idea. Within my lifetime, I’ve seen attitudes change about women’s role in society.  When women first began entering the work force in great numbers, the career woman reigned supreme. However, attitudes have evolved and today, women are respected whether they want to work in an office, be a stay-at-home mom or both. The outdoor community is beginning to understand and accept this concept, too, that as outdoor women we should be free to be who we are, not who we should be.