leader tagged posts

Thanks for taking me hunting, Mom

Guest Post

The temperature outside was eleven above. The wind chill was eleven below. To a seven year-old, it was perfect. Snow scuttled across the highway in streams and waves. The small boy in the backseat peered eagerly through binoculars for the better part of the drive.

I put the truck in 4-wheel drive as I turned off the road. Snow-covered tracks lead up to the first draw, where we’d begin. After donning coat, gaiter, hat, snow pants, and gloves, the small boy jumped out of the truck and raced to the back for his bb gun. I put the eager boy in charge of the backpack filled with essentials, prepped my rifle, and we started across the field.

The draw was steep. Arched tufts of grass bore the weight of the snow, rebounding from our steps as we made our way down...

Read More

Seeing the Light (Even if it’s Really Early)

Guest Post

By Jodi Stemler

I have a confession to make – I’m not much of a morning person. It’s not that I like to sleep late, (typically I can’t stay in bed later than 8 a.m. and most days I’m up by 7) but I definitely am a creature of the sun, and if it isn’t up then neither should I be. At least that’s my rationale...

Read More

The Privilege

Guest Post

By Land Tawney

The sky was blue, sun was hot, and water was clear.  I could see the rainbow colored Rapala lure working to perfection five feet below the surface of the water and then it happen.  A big juicy trout gave chase and in an instant attacked with veracity.  The line went taught and the fight began, the mighty fish was played to perfection, reeled to the dock and deftly guided into the net.  Cidney had caught her first fish!  When I asked her if she wanted to “keep it or put it back,” she exclaimed beaming with pride, “eat it Dad!” 

Colin and Cidney with a big Montana fish

Colin and Cidney with a big Montana fish

As a young kid, I remember yearly, week long sojourns to the Bighole River in southwest Montana, timed to perfection at the peak of the salmon fly hatch...

Read More

Just a Hunter

Guest Post

By Rachel Dawson

rachelRecently, there has been an inspiring groundswell of public dialog on women:  our pasts, our modern experiences and our futures.  Like many, I’ve been drawn to this narrative.  Via social media, we are connecting on a global scale unheard of less than two decades ago.  On Twitter, while perusing the burgeoning #YesAllWomen hashtag, I stumbled across a post by a young woman who implored her peers to stop calling her a “female engineer.”  “I’m just an engineer,” she said.  I was struck by the simplicity and poignancy of it.  Indeed, in many male-dominated professions, interests and communities, there is a tendency to label a woman’s participation as atypical, a GIRL-fill-in-the-blank.  This got me thinking about my life as a “sportswoman.”

I was raised to h...

Read More

Guest Post: Kate Taylor

Guest Post

kateRecently we returned from an epic trip down to Louisiana where we absolutely crushed big Redfish on the fly. Frigate Travel took a group of guests and we fished with Capt.Greg Dini and his crew at Flywater Expeditions. Many fish over twenty pounds, some over thirty, and a couple pushing forty. All sight fishing and some popper fishing as well.

It was a grand time to include amazing food in the Big Easy. As the photo above showed, the girls boat (k8 and Remi) kicked some butt one day and landed this fish among many many others. Thanks to all the guides for their patience, great attitudes, and winning personalities. We will be back!

 For more photos, check out Frigate Travel’s Flickr Page.

When Kate isn’t guiding in Alaska and Oregon, she runs Frigate Adventure Travel with her boyfriend and ...

Read More