The Outdoor Scene

Trees stand as the ultimate symbol of a healthy ecosystem. And while this country’s tree huggers legitimately care about the environment, they lack an understanding of what it takes to create healthy forests. They’re often followers of the preservationist approach or letting nature take its course. Problem is, that philosophy produces forests where trees are the same age, a situation that destroys biodiversity. Those who really want to give the woods a hug realize that forest management practices such as burning and thinning are vital to creating a mix of young and old stands.

Working to encourage a variety of beneficial trees is also critical in creating healthy forests and robust wildlife populations. One particularly valuable species, the American chestnut, is receiving a lot of attention from the scientific community.

When the Europeans first arrived in this country, this species occupied more than 200 million acres from Maine to Florida and from the piedmont west to the Ohio Valley. Chestnuts were an important food source for many wildlife species. And the settlers depended on the annual nut harvest as a cash crop to feed livestock as well as the lumber from harvested trees.

Though it was a fast growing tree, it couldn’t outrun a lethal fungus known as chestnut blight. This fungus killed an estimated 4 billion American chestnuts or 25 percent of ALL hardwoods in its range. By the middle of the 20th century, the chestnut was nearly wiped out.

However, things are looking up thanks to the work of The American Chestnut Foundation.  The mission of TACF, which was founded in 1983, is to restore the American chestnut tree to its native range using scientific research.

TACF’s founders, a group of prominent plant scientists, developed a program to breed a blight resistance species by backcrossing the American with the Chinese chestnut, which is naturally resistant to blight. Through the years, they’ve made significant progress in producing an American chestnut tree that retains no Chinese characteristics other than blight resistance. During the last 26 years, the TACF and its partners have invested more than $16 million to develop a resistant tree. 

Their work is not done, though. One key element to bringing back the American chestnut is the help and support of informed tree huggers…those who know that Mother Nature can’t always do it alone.  So log onto www.acf.org and become part of a conservation history. Go on, hug an American Chestnut.

First Tennessee River Ladies Duck Hunt: Brenda Valentine, Julie Schuster, Lisa Cinquino, Kim Dwyer-Wilson

According to the 2007 National Sporting Goods Association participation study, 2.5 million American women hunt with a firearm while about 400,000 hunt with a bow and arrow. Their reasons are varied. Some women enjoy being close to nature, watching the sun rise and the woods wake up. Others are empowered by mastering a new skill whether it’s shooting, scouting, calling or learning about wildlife and their habitats.

There are many who take pride in providing food for the table, knowing what they’re serving is healthy, nutritious and free of the contaminants you might find in meat sold at the supermarket. A number of women report they thrive on the adrenalin surge felt when a wild turkey cuts loose with a booming gobble or a giant buck steps into a clearing. They love the intensity and that sought after feeling of “living in the moment.” Still others will tell you it’s to relax, bask in outdoorsy solitude and take a break from worrying about work, family and finances.

According to a survey conducted in 2005 by Responsive Management, the number one reason women reported they hunt is to spend time with family and friends. That’s not surprising. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence to support that the sisterhood of hunters is strong.

I bumped into good friend Lisa Cinquino recently and when I asked her if she had been on any neat hunts lately (a question that all in the sisterhood are compelled to ask), she excitedly told me about the First Annual Tennessee River  Ladies Duck Hunt.

Last December, a group of four women came together for a duck hunt on Kentucky Lake: Lisa Cinquino, Whistle Communications owner, angler and competitive pistol shooter, was joined by the First Lady of Hunting Brenda Valentine; Julie Schuster of Outdoor Trail Magazine radio show and promotional director for the Nashville Bass Pro Shops store; and Kim Dwyer-Wilson, a crappie guide at Kentucky Lake and avid whitetail hunter.

Garry Mason, a world class duck and goose caller who owns Adventure’s Outdoors, served as the guide. Garry also is the founder and owner of the Legends of the Outdoors National Hall of Fame, with the first female inductee being Brenda Valentine.

If you think this is a story of four accomplished hunters mopping up the ducks, you’d be wrong. It’s a story of how four women from different backgrounds came together for a day of rain, wind, few ducks flying, and ….friendship. After all, what do you do in a 24-foot heated blind known as “The Hilton” besides share your stories? And that’s exactly what they did. While they managed to bag two drakes, a mallard and a gadwall, the real joy was in getting to know each other and building bonds with new friends.

“At the end of the day, the rain cleared away, and rays of sunshine penetrated the Hilton. It was one of those moments when I realized it wasn’t about the kill but about the camaraderie,” Lisa said. “That day created a sense of family, and we enjoyed a spirituality in the outdoors that I won’t forget.” 

Lisa said they are already talking about the 2^nd Annual Tennessee River Ladies Duck Hunt where they plan to take someone who hasn’t hunted before so they can mentor a new enthusiast.

Whether it’s the Swamp Witches duck hunting sorority in Mississippi or the Annie Oakley Shooters from Atlanta, Georgia, all have a story of how they came together and why they love doing what they do. You have a story, too. And I want to hear about it. Your story may just end up in the Women’s Outdoor Wire. So, leave me a comment about your sisterhood of hunters, anglers, target shooters, campers, cavers, kayakers, mountain bikers or whatever activity your group of women enjoys in the outdoors. Or email me your story and photos at tammy@womensoutdoorwire.com

A friend recently sent me an August 1949 issue of NRA’s The American Rifleman because she knew it would intrigue me. The cover depicted a young woman wearing a shooting jacket and holding a firearm. A blurb inside the magazine explained the suede-trimmed shooting jacket, modeled by designer Lois Agee, was created with “eye appeal in view as well as practicality.” It went on to say the coat wasn’t commercially available yet but they were hoping for manufacturer interest.

So our quest for fit and functionality in outdoor apparel began as early as World War II, though likely way before that. I imagine the pioneer women who helped settle the west in the 1800s wished for something more serviceable than the cotton dresses they wore to raise a garden, keep house, herd livestock and hunt small game for the family table.

Flipping through the pages, I was surprised to find this 1949 issue of The American Rifleman carried an article about a female shooter. Ethel Edwards was an eight-time winner of Colorado’s women’s smallbore championship. And she went on to find another true passion, teaching young people how to shoot.

Ethel reported that she got her start with pistols and rifles in the shooting gallery her husband had opened in Denver in 1932. She was quoted in the article saying she “took to shooting with the police and detectives who came into our place to practice. And did I take a beating until I settled down to really learn how to shoot a pistol. Finally, when I began to get good they wouldn’t shoot with me without a handicap.”

History is a great teacher, and I was reminded yet again that throughout time, women have shattered stereotypes to do what they needed and wanted to do. While the level of social acceptability for female hunters and shooters has seesawed throughout America’s history, the presence of strong women has not.

Today, though, many Americans have lost touch with our collective rural past, a time when survival depended on a person’s woodsmanship and shooting skills. Those who now live in cities are often disconnected from the land. Their only brush with wildlife occurs on the National Graphic Channel or Animal Plant. To them, modern sportsmen and women are as embarrassing as the hairstyle they wore in high school.

Even though I have been told since I was a little girl growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s that women could do and be anything they wanted, I’m not sure that holds up in today’s politically correct climate. That freedom sometimes seems reserved for female math professors, nuclear scientists or secretaries of state, but not women who hunt and target shoot. So, it was a thrill for me when I recently saw positive media coverage about women who didn’t let conventional wisdom dictate their life.

First, someone forwarded me a February 2009 article from Southern Living about the Annie Oakley Shooters, an all-woman shooting club outside of Atlanta, Georgia. According to co-founder Mary Huntz, the group grew out of an annual sporting clays tournament to raise money for charity. Only a handful of women who signed up for the Annie’s had ever held a gun before but they had fun learning something new. Now they meet once a month to shoot at one of several shooting ranges near Atlanta. In addition to the fun of shooting, the 150 Annie members build friendships and network with women from different professions and walks of life, much like what happens on golf courses across the country. Plus, they’ve raised about $200,000 for The Trust for Public Land.

Another recent media portrayal of outdoor women almost blew my hunting socks off…a positive look at a group of female duck hunters showed up in the New York Times. When a friend sent me the link, I prepared myself for the worst. This was the New York Times after all. But what I read was a delightful article about a group who call themselves the Swamp Witches.

Strains of the novel, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and books about the Sweet Potato Queens, floated through my mind as I read about the half-dozen women who duck hunt twice a year in the Mississippi Delta. The account of these ladies, who became the Swamp Witches a decade ago, is a refreshing look at women who are sophisticated and fiercely independent.

One of the Witches, Susan Williams, 52, an importer from Clinton, Mississippi said  “A lot of people say, ‘Oh, sure, women hunt, but there are men putting out the decoys for them.’ We have our own dogs, we put out our own decoys, we do it all without power, we canoe in.”

My favorite quote in the article, though, was delivered by group leader Allison Crews, 42, an owner of a small insurance company in Canton:

“We’re not out to prove anything,” she said. “We just like it.”

I’ve long thought that women were the key to the sustainability of hunting and shooting in the future. And these articles validate that belief. Women can replace that Bubba image that so many uninformed citizens seem to have about hunters. The good news is that even though positive mainstream media coverage of hunting and target shooting is rare, polls show 75 percent of Americans still approve of legal, regulated hunting. And like Ethel Edwards, the female hunters, shooters and trappers I know are not only shattering barriers to pursue their own passions, they’re also serving as powerful role models to pave the way for other outdoor women.

Check out the New York Times story here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/sports/othersports/05hunt.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

“Caving is for people who have a love of adventure,” said veteran caver, Cheryl Jones. “It allows you to see places that most people will never see. There’s just something about crawling through virgin passages. There are very few places left on Earth where someone has never been before.”

Cheryl, who began caving in the 1970s while in college at Virgina Tech, said she joined a caving club, went on her first trip and was hooked.

“Physically, caving is really interesting. You’re using your body in different ways, observing beautiful formations, hearing an underground stream and feeling the walls. It touches all of your senses.”

Cheryl, who is now “trying to be retired” in Mclean Virginia, said her fascination with secret passageways may have started when she was a kid, roaming the storm sewers with other children in her northern Virginia neighborhood.

Caving is an activity that nearly anyone can enjoy. The range of difficulty is broad, from a commercial show cave experience to caving that requires advanced technical skills and everything in between. Cheryl recommends if you’re interested in caving that you test the water by experiencing it in a controlled environment such as Mammoth or other commercial caves. If you like that, your next step might be to log onto the National Speleological Society site, www.caves.org to find a local caving club. Called grottos, these clubs have meetings, training programs and mentors who can show you the ropes. You’ll also learn about safety, equipment, conservation and landowner issues, which are all important elements of caving. Books, Web sites, NSS brochures and online forums are other good sources of information.

Once part of a grotto, you’ll be invited on trips that require using simple hiking or rock climbing skills. As you gain confidence and master the basics, you can challenge yourself to do more or stick to the level you enjoy.

“Caving is not an extreme adventure sport. The only competition is between you and the cave. The cave treats everyone the same, it’s a great equalizer.” Cheryl said. “It takes a special person to cave. It challenges you to be more than you thought you could be. And it teaches you to find your inner strength, to push yourself past a limit you thought you couldn’t go beyond. When you succeed, it’s a great feeling.”

Cheryl said she sees a lot more women now than when she started caving. It may be a result of that endless search for living in the moment.

“With caving, you leave your problems on the surface. No bad news, no distractions, not even bad weather. You just concentrate on your footsteps, think about the climb and focus on the experience.”

Camaraderie is another important aspect of caving. After all, grotto members put their lives in each other’s hands. However, don’t expect to become everyone’s best buddy right away. Newbies have to earn respect and credibility first. Cavers go to extremes to ensure they are trained, properly equipped, and that they leave the right impression with landowners. Many caves are located on private land and getting permission to access them is a privilege that cavers respect. As Cheryl said, the motto of responsible cavers is “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but carefully placed footprints and kill nothing but time.”  Unscrupulous or unqualified cavers cause numerous problems ranging from damaging cave formations to causing unnecessary, expensive and life threatening rescues. So don’t expect anyone to hand you a map to all the area caves at your first grotto meeting.

Grottos are really committed to conservation as well. They work to purchase land to conserve caves and the unique critters that live in them. They also remove trash, repair formations and restore caves as well as reach out to others with their conservation message via speaking engagements and Project Underground, an educational curriculum based on the same principles as Project WILD.

If cave exploration and the opportunity to give back as a conservationist appeals to you, make sure your first stop is http://cavingintro.net/ to find information on several topics to help you get started, whether you plan to make caving a strenuous sport or just a casual hobby.