Jan 2010 s Woman of the Wild-Kim Pezzeminti
Kim Pezzeminti, explorer, huntress and creator of things.
Woman of the Wild could not be a more perfect description for this explorer! As a young girl, I would create some of the most amazing places in the wild of the outdoors. The most memorable is of my playhouse underneath a GREAT big maple tree! The dirt floor was swept daily and the luscious and green moss became the carpeted areas of this delectable place. I served mud pies topped with the flowers of the Forsythia bush. My Grandmother Ruby would always be there to assist in my projects. I credit her for blessing me with creativity. She taught be how to see pictures in the clouds and how to make something out of nothing. (Which by the way has been a wonderful trait to have through my adult years!)
My Mother and Father are also very instrumental in the development of my creativity Through many years of camping, seeing, doing and just sharing added the element of honesty and integrity. My Dad would take me fishing atop Mowbry Mountain near Chattanooga, Tennessee. I caught my first 3 pound bass on a Zebco 202 rod and reel and I was hooked. I began to scream to my Dad across the pond¦Daddy, Daddy, Daddy as I drug the most incredible, awesome fish ashore. Daddy came just a running and was so proud of me! I went home, took my hands up to my Mom s nose and said smell¦I caught a fish!
As I grew and developed into a woman, all of these experiences and skills would ultimately become the foundation for my work world success. After spending almost 20 years in the tile industry, I found it ironic that I was selling baked dirt for a living. (Hmmm, thank you mud pie). I was able to work with ceramic engineers from France, Italy and Spain to take clays, silica sand and glazes to make beautiful tiles for homes and buildings around the world. This job also enabled me to travel where I was constantly in sensory overload! As this Tennessee girl traveled to the West, it was if she had found her home. Wyoming became the place that every chance I got, I would go there, place my feet into the vast forests and just be on cloud nine. The grand mountains would bring my creativity out like flowing lava from a volcano! I spent several summers in the Teton National Forest on Horseback and I never returned the same person. I am so thankful for these days in the woods.
As I traveled, I became the Platinum Princess on Delta Airlines. Spending over 200 nights a year in a hotel was quite and experience. I never knew what I would receive from all these frequent flyer miles but I found out a little over four years ago¦the award was my darling and precious soul mate. As we sat side by side on a flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta (thank you Delta) we talked about deer hunting, which I had never done, but my Dad loved to deer and turkey hunt. I told him about the back strap my Dad cooked every Christmas morning. Needless to say, this was love at first flight!
We married 2 years later on the Bell Tower of the Hotel Colorado ( Interestingly, this hotel became the White House of President Teddy Roosevelt, while he bear hunted¦I think I must have felt his love of the West) then we jumped in our jeans and headed Elk Hunting for our Honeymoon. My hunting buddy taught me to shoot my first gun and ultimately harvesting my first deer. We make being in the WILD a priority for our extra curricular activities. I escorted my husband on this 50th birthday celebration to Namibia, Africa where I watched my mentor focus and harvest. We have Elk Hunted together in Colorado and Wyoming. Our most favorite place is our hunting camp in Georgia where we work on the many aspects of the Whitetail Deer. Living now in Merritt Island, Florida, we are anxious to someday find a little cabin hidden in the woods where I can sit on my porch and listen to the creatures sing their songs.
Once again my experiences would take hold of my creativity and I from this my company Doeville would be born. This is a place for women to come and capture items created by women and made in the USA. The products and artists are a direct result of my many years of traveling and meeting people all over the world. Our tag line is Accessorize Your Spirit which is what the places in the wild have done for my spirit!
My message to all women is to explore, not only places but also within you. There are many treasures to be found!
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December s Woman of the Wild-Holly Heyser
Holly A. Heyser, hunting blogger and college lecturer
I am pretty much the last person anyone “ including myself “ would have expected to take up hunting. I was born in Southern California and have spent all of my adult life in urban areas. After college, I spent 19 years as a newspaper reporter and editor (Orange County Register, San Jose Mercury News, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Virginian-Pilot, Sacramento Bee) before leaving the business in 2006 to teach journalism at my alma mater, California State University, Sacramento. Reporter. Professor.
Urbanite. Not someone you think of as a gunner.
But I have always craved unusual experiences, and hunting started worming its way into my realm of possibility back when I was in my late 30s. I was living in St. Paul, Minnesota, with my boyfriend Hank Shaw, and we were both working for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. We had befriended the hunting and fishing writer there “ Chris Niskanen “ and what he did was really piquing Hank s interest. One day Hank announced that he wanted to take up hunting. That s fine, I said. He s a cook, so I knew he d eat what he d kill, which was my threshold of acceptance for hunting.
He was really getting into it, spending a lot of time out in the woods, and pretty soon he started asking if I d like to join him. I didn t, because I was busy training for marathons at that point, and I rightfully concluded that I couldn t fit two activities that intense into my weekends. But a couple years later we moved to Sacramento, and I stopped running, and I finally said I was ready to join him. My first hunt was a pheasant hunt, but what really grabbed me was duck hunting. Half of the ducks in the Pacific Flyway spend their winter in the Sacramento Valley about an hour north of us, and the duck hunting can be amazing. I will hunt anything that I m willing to eat “ pheasants, turkeys, wild boar, deer “ but there s just something about ducks. They re fast, the marshy terrain is challenging and the worse the weather, the better the hunting. I love a challenge. And ducks taste divine. Duck is by far my favorite meat, followed closely by wild boar.
I very quickly dedicated myself to my new pursuit. I had just started my teaching job and was overjoyed when I realized my winter break covered the last six weeks of duck season, so when Hank was working, I d drive up to one of my favorite wildlife refuges and head out into the marsh myself, determined to teach myself how to actually hit these birds. (Three years later, I m sorta kinda getting the hang of it.)
A year to the day after I fired my shotgun for the first time ever, I started a blog about hunting, NorCal Cazadora (www.norcalcazadora.com). NorCal stands for Northern California, and cazadora is Spanish for huntress. I figured no one would care what a novice hunter had to say, but boy was I wrong. I quickly found that even the most veteran hunters enjoyed the frustration-filled tales of trying to learn how to do this hunting stuff right. Since, then, I ve expanded a bit and have begun writing for magazines including California Waterfowl, Delta Waterfowl and Turkey Country, and I ve done quite a few hunting stories for the Sacramento Bee, which has shown amazing openness to hunting.
I ve also taken up photography, and do a lot of food photos for my boyfriend, who started a blog shortly after I did “ Hunter Angler Gardener Cook (www.honest-food.net) “ and writes for a variety of food magazines. I ll be doing photography for his upcoming book as well.
Writing and photography has opened many doors. I ve begun doing a lot of volunteer work for California Waterfowl, which graciously honored me with its Artemis Award this year. And I ve made friends all over the country and world, which means if I can afford a plane ticket someplace, I could probably find someone to hunt with there. I feel incredibly blessed.
Probably the biggest blessing, though, is having been able to enter the hunting world in the first place. I was not naïve about where food came from before I started hunting “ I spent some time in the country as a kid, and my family raised a lot of animals for meat. But participating in food, nature and the cycle of life at this level has been a revelation, and it has improved both what I eat and how much I appreciate it exponentially. So many things had to fall into place to get me here: meeting Hank, moving to Minnesota, befriending Chris. There are any number of different choices I could have made that would have put me on a different path. But I got lucky, and I m incredibly grateful for that.
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Free Shipping!¦Our Gift to You!
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Battle of the B.O.W.-Another Pass on the 9pt. Buck
We have totally regrouped. Washed all of our hunting gear again and going after the big guy. We decided to try going after the split-tine since the wind was right for the stand. We got in around 4:30. It was pretty quiet initially.
All of a sudden I feel a tap on the head. Joe is pointing directly behind me and saying buck. I am looking back to see what, and where, when I realize he is 10 yards from the stand, and looking right at us. We sit like statues. Apparently we passed inspection and he walks around the stand doing a scent check. I turn slowly to my right side to watch as he walks right by the stand. I am struggling to get a good look at his horns.
It is the 9pt I passed on the first week. He is bigger than I remember and my heart is pounding wildly again. He gives me several perfect broadside shots, he is taunting me. I am very tempted to shoot since he is bigger than anything I have on the wall, but I know he is still hanging out with the split-tine. He stays there for 1/2 hour eating. It is getting too dark to video but we can hear another deer coming. This one comes from the left of the bait from across the creek. It is too dark to shoot into the woods but we can see flashes of horn and it is a very big deer. We know it is Split-tine.
We have coyotes start howling very near and the deer disperse. This gave us a perfect opportunity to get out. A few rocks out of the Grab-it bag to make sure and we are on our way.
OMG, what an awesome hunt that was. The only thing better would have been better lighting to film a shot at the split-tine. We were well within shooting hours. We checked the trail cam pictures and found that both bucks had both been there at noon. Unbelievable!
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Próis Pro, Kirstie Pike goes on a Gator Quest!
Próis Hunting Apparel owner, Kirstie Pike, writes about her 
GatorQuest
Air Sickness and Air Boats¦what s a girl to do?
Gator Quest¦day 1! We flew into New Orleans late last night following a vomit inducing flight from Gunnison to Denver¦ok, didn t really vomit, but wished I had. As with typical travel days, we experienced near homicidal frustration with all proveyors of transportation. So- did you realize that you can be charged $30 for a 10 minute taxi ride by a non-English speaking cabbie who does not use a meter? Nether did we. As well, upon our late night check-in to a rather sketchy hotel- I got the unique opportunity of visualizing a cockroach that was literally the size of a mouse¦need I mention my dismay that the hotel room smelled of Raid.
It was all absolutely worth it! We arrived in Springfield around noon, at which time we teamed up with Chad and Dana Wall of Gatortrax tv. We had the unique opportunity of touring their gator farm which is nothing short of amazing. Within a couple of hours, we found ourselves on Tickfaw River in an airboat cruising deep into the swamps. As a homegrown Colorado girl, I found myself utterly slack jawed at the beauty of the swamps. Cypress trees, Spanish moss, lilly pads and lush folliage thickly surrounded us. The airboats can go ANYWHERE, and we quickly learned that Chad was NOT kidding when he said they can cross dry land¦they can! We also had an interesting experience involving a boat, a trailer and near capsizing¦I d love to divulge the facts but I was pinky-sworn to secrecy.
We hit the hunt at 6am tomorrow and we re ready to roll! I wonder if I can find Starbucks on the way¦
I have to say, when I accepted Chad and Dana Wall (of Gatortrax TV) to head down to the swamplands of Louisiana, I was more than just a little intrigued. Being from Colorado, I had all sorts of images in my head of what the swamps and gator hunting would be like. Of course, my primal fear of bugs came to mind. Oh, and my fear of snakes. Can t forget about murkey water, leaches and aligators (which I have learned ARE the top of the food chain in the swamps). OK, and let s face it¦who HASN T seen the movie, Deliverance ? I came to Louisiana equipped with all sorts of cliche d propoganda in my head..
As we set out in the morning, I was taken by the absolute beauty of the surroundings. The cypress trees, spanish moss, saw grass and lillies were beautiful. As well, there is a unique slant of the sun at sunrise through the swampland that casts an unparalleled. I had never really heard the sound of bullfrogs in the caucophony of noise that comes from everywhere. Now, the only way I can really explain it is this¦if you have ever ridden the African Queen boat ride at Disneyland and recognized the canned jungle noises along the lazy river¦well, now you got it! OK, but as Chad and Dana will attest, despite my appreciation for the beauty of the swamps, I may have still reacted like a school girl in response to the baseball size grasshoppers that seemed to have quite an affinity for the boat.
Ahh, but what about the hunting? All I can say is that it was a thrilling experience! Day 2 provided us with numerous gators. I am heartily humbled by the difficulty of the hunt in terms of hitting a very, very small killzone. Slight deviation in any direction will result in bullet placement into the animals inpenetratable armor. As well, only a very small fraction of the animal s head will surface which may or may not provide a shot to the hunter. Clearly, there is a reason why these pre-historic animals have survived for millions of years! Chad, a 5th generation Springfieldian who has hunted these waters since he was a child, spent endless hours teaching us the patterns and habits of the aligators. We encountered a number of gators, but after some heavy rains and a 45 minute staredown with a sizable gator, I was able to get a kill with my CVA muzzleloader!
We ended the day with 3 gators and a cantankerous boat motor that threatened to strand us in the water. We made it safely to the landing (as we knew we would) and beat a hasty retreat to the ladies room as we determined that under NO circumstances would we venture off to take care of business in the swamps.
Day 2 of the GatorQuest started out just as early as day 1¦We launched out to another gorgeous sunrise as we ventured out to the swamps. I was still utterly awestricken at the beauty of the area. I have to also admit that I was more than just a little bit excited that we didn t have Gigantor the Grasshopper and his closest friends on the boat this day!
Today was action packed and we spotted numerous animals. I must admit that it took me some time to differentiate the splashes of jumping fish vs. movement of gators. More than once I performed a spastic bout of arm waving and finger pointing at jumping fish that I was certain was a passing gator. After two days of this, Chad and Dana just ignored my fits to save me the embarrassment.
Jennifer got on the first animal of the day and pulled a nice gator. He was pulled aboard and we moved on for the next gator¦or jumping fish depending on who you ask. We set about the various waterways and it was my pledge to not drink a sip of water today for fear of having to go to the bathroom. Chock that up to another valuable lesson learned. As the day drew to a close we pulled in some nice gators and headed out to beat the heat. Jennifer and I discovered a long lost love in Springfield, Louisiana¦Strawberry Slurpees! Giddy with anticipation (and some pretty severe dehydration!) we indulged not once, but twice in these delectable treats! OK¦so they weren t as good as we remembered, but hey¦ who couldn t get excited about a frozen treat chock full of high-fructose corn syrup!
Our experience was awesome as was the company of the Walls. We look forward to another adventure with Chad and Dana¦maybe in Colorado¦if we can cure Dana s fear of Mountain Lions. If you ask me, they aren t nearly as scary as leaches and ginormous grasshoppers! Until then¦bring on the GOAT!
Do me a favor. Check out www.gatortraxtv.com to find out more about Chad and Dana Wall and their tv show, Gatortrax Outdoors. All fair chase, all fun! Oh¦and did I mention they are quite entertaining as well!?
Original Post found at www.Proishunting.com
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Are you a Wild Kinda Gal?
Snuggle up with this warm, fun and fashionable Jacket after the hunt or wear it just because you are a wild kinda girl! Our CampWildGirls.com logo adorns the back of this cute and functionsl piece. This is a Timberline Ladies Priscilla Jacket with double needle heavy weight stitching with a princess cut for feminine fit. The 440 gram microfleece will keep you toasty warm. The microfleece wind flap keeps the wind out while the 2 concealed front zippered pockets will keep your valuables in. It also sports a 2 sided cinch cord around the bottom. It comes in Raspberry Pink or Navy Blue. Sizes: XS-XXL Just $75.00
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Frankly My Dear, I don t Give a Damn!
In this day, some say sex sells everything. I have been involved in some interesting discussions with both men and women about that very subject. We discussed such things as hunting or fishing product and sites using Booth Babes and scantily dressed women, to promote their products and or some of their outdoors sites.
Websites, and companies that say they are now welcoming and encouraging women and kids into their outdoor community, are using these beautiful half naked girls to sell their sites/products to whom? I know as a woman it just irritates me and I certainly would not send the kids to get a peek!
I have found some really great websites that I would like to frequent, and because of these pictures, I do not. In turn I don t promote these sites to anyone else either, male or female. I would like to join the e-mail updates on one website, but I am afraid I will get the Model of the Year Calendar. In turn I will not stop at the booths, featuring half-dressed, well endowed bimbos that know nothing about hunting or fishing, at the trade shows, no matter how great their products are. It s so demeaning.
It s not that these girls aren t beautiful, they certainly are gorgeous. I am sure a lot of these chicks work very hard or pay dearly to have bodies like that. These pictures would be great shots for Maxum or some other men s fantasy magazines.
It s that women have worked so hard to be seen and treated as equals in our industry and it is like a slap in the face to see how some companies still portray the women that hunt or fish. These pictures do not encourage women to participate in the outdoors. It sends a message that women are only good at one thing, and it isn t our sport. More times than not those using this selling tactic turn away a good majority of the women they are trying to recruit to use their sites or products. These customers leave in silence never to return.
Women usually don t want to make waves so they stay quiet even when offended. They do however, keep it stored away. I happen to be one of the more vocal women about this subject, and when I mentioned it on Twitter, it started a flurry of fury. On this particular day these gals had had enough and all that had been stored came brewing out.
On the other hand, I had some of the men say to me They didn t hold a gun to her head or You re just jealous. Those guys are missing the point. I agree that those girls have every right to sell their goods to anyone who wants buy them. Am I jealous? Sure, I would love to still have the body I had at their age. But the point is, even when I had a body like that, nobody ever knew it, when I was hunting or fishing! It s about hunting and fishing not the chick!
I don t want to look at women in bikinis or underwear, making women that hunt and fish look stupid, every time I check out new hunting gear or go to chat with someone that hunts. This is what real women hunters look like! http://www.campwildgirls.com/photo-gallery/
I know that this post may upset some people that like the Booth Babes and the risque pictures and¦Frankly my dear, I don t give a damn!
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Hunting Clothing for Serious, Dedicated Women Hunters
Anne Vinnola says: “Just ask any woman hunter, and she will tell you, the most difficult part of hunting? Her wardrobe. Finding well fitting, hard working, layerable, hunting pants and shirts. Some mainstream clothing companies are slowly beginning to work women’s sizes into their lines, but mostly they are cut like a man and just sized smaller.”
As a woman, I am always trying to find resources tailored for women. I constantly battle the cold because of having a thyroid problem. I decided to do some research on ways to keep warm and here is what I found!
According the Wikapedia, layered clothing is a manner of dressing using multiple garments that are worn on top of each other. Some of the layers have different, largely non-overlapping, functions. Using more or fewer layers, or replacing one layer but not others, allows for flexible clothing to match the needs of each situation. Two thin layers can be warmer yet lighter than one thick layer, because the air trapped between layers is a good insulator
Layered clothing is particularly relevant in cold climates, where clothing must at the same time transfer moisture, provide warmth, and protect from wind and rain. In a hot and dry climate, clothes have very different functional requirements: they must block the radiation from the Sun, and allow for sufficient air circulation. Therefore, layered clothing in the sense used in this article is largely irrelevant to hot and dry climates.
Outdoor and sportswear manufacturers favor layered clothing because, among other reasons, it allows them to offer so-called “technical” or “functional” clothes which are optimized for the particular demands of a specific layer. Such clothes are often made of advanced synthetic materials.
With that being said I was on a quest for clothing that not only kept me warm but was made for a woman and had many thin layering options. Impossible you say? I thought so too until I ran into Kirstie Pike from PróisTM Hunting Apparel.
Kirstie states “PróisTM Hunting finally answers our “Quest” for great Women’s Hunting Clothing and Gear. Throughout our years of hunting, we at PróisTM were amazed at the fact that there was literally nothing on the market for women who hunt.”
This “Quest” for Women’s Hunting Clothing soon became an obsession; they thought women’s huntwear must be something of a myth! While they attempted to avoid sounding like a frustrated feminists, they found it unreasonable that successful women hunters could not find appropriate gear for their sport.
Simple concept, the PróisTM Hunting team thought; Combine technical hunting components, functional fabric and an athletic composition, and unite it with patterns that are engineered to the female form…Voila, PróisTM Hunting Apparel!
This new women’s hunting clothing concept takes layering to a new art form. The PróisTM shirt is a cross between the finest athletic wear, and a comfortable favorite shirt. Polyester wicking fabric keeps moisture from your skin and allows you to stay dry and warm. Thumbholes help the shirt to stay in your gloves and it is perfect alone for cool fall mornings of archery or layered for those cold winter rifle hunting trips.
PróisTM Hunting Pants are crafted using 100% polyester brushed tricot for warmth and durability. They are snag resistant and silent in the woods. Each pair is fitted just below the waist for comfort and fits a woman’s form perfectly. There is plenty of storage room in the deep cargo pockets and thoughtfully pleated knees for kneeling comfort. They are boot cut to fit over bulky hunting boots with elastic cuffs and cord lock to cinch close to your boot. Add in their vests, jackets and rain gear and you are set for all occasions.
PróisTM Hunting Apparel is taking the industry by storm with their “made FOR women” hunting clothes. Women are not interested in merely looking like hunters; we are hunters that demand the best quality hunting clothing. We fully understand that fit, warmth and durability makes a huge impact on our hunting success. PróisTM Hunting Apparel is serious clothing for serious, dedicated women hunters.
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New women s hunting gear takes extreme measures against cold
Coming to our Camp Store Soon!
The experts at Próis® Hunting Apparel create every detail of their high performance clothing lines to provide the ultimate in comfort and utility. Let’s face it – if you’re a serious hunter, at some point you’re going to be out in the cold. Now you won’t have to feel the bite of Mother Nature’s chilly teeth during long hours in a blind or stand, or while trekking across icy terrain – thanks to new Próis Xtremeâ„¢ pants.
These ultra-tough, super-heavyweight pants are precisely designed to stand up to extremely cold conditions. They’re constructed with a 100 percent polyester 8000/5000 waterproof, breathable shell – it’s whisper soft and silent, insulated with an industry-leading 200 Gram 3M Thinsulate, and lined with sleek nylon tricot – so while you might be braving the elements, your mind will be on the game, not on your goosebumps.
These custom designed pants feature an elastic waistline with an additional elastic drawstring and cordlock to keep them right where you want them. Próis Xtreme Pants are built for long days in the field, with roomy cargo pockets complete with pillow top enclosures, along with 9″ boot zippers to make them as easy to get in and out of as they are to wear for hours on end.
Próis designs are specifically created to meet the needs of serious women hunters – so every detail, from the incredible fit to the extremely durable, high performance fabrics and styles – anticipate the conditions you’ll face in the field. These unique pants come in Realtree AP HD® and Advantage Max-1 HD® in sizes from XS through XL – so a wide range of hunters can fit into them, and then slip into the background while waiting for the moment of truth. The Próis Xtreme Pants are available as of August 2009 and, like all Próis gear, they are proudly manufactured in the U.S.A.
For more information about the Próis Xtreme Pants or any of Próis’ innovative line of serious, high performance hunting apparel for women, contact: Próis Hunting Apparel, 28001-B US Highway 50, Gunnison, CO 81230 ¢ (970) 641-3355 ¢ Or visit www.proishunting.com.
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