bird tagged posts

By Rachel Dawson

Recently, 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...

Hunting Unseen – The Benefits of Hunting Blinds and Tree Stands:

Typically, tree stands and hunting blinds are desirable for archery or crossbow hunting. However, they have also become increasingly popular when hunting with a rifle. Let’s assume you have done your pre-season scouting and already picked out a good location of your game’s traffic. Perhaps near a watering hole, or a well-worn game trail. Perhaps you want a good clearing near a tree line. Think of the maximum distance you are capable of shooting. Since you will require a good vantage point, the following factors should all be considered when picking out a tree stand or hunting blind.

A Deer Blind from Redneck Blinds

Tree Stands – There are numerous designs available, so make sure you know what features you are comfortable with...

Stuck in a rut or don’t know what to read?  Get ready for the next season with these great reads:

Call to the Mild by Lily Raff McCalou
A story of transformation from big city dweller to country gun-slinger.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed
One woman’s powerful story about finding herself while solo hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.

A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
One family’s history is intertwined with fly fishing in Montana.

Beyond Fair Chase by Jim Pozewitz
A to the point read about the ethics of hunting from preparation to shooting to care after the shot.

The Total Outdoorsman Manual by T. Edward Nickens
A how-to manual for everything in the outdoors from tying a cleat hitch to flagging geese.

Girl Hunter by Georgia Pellegrini
A chef becomes a hunter and catalogs her adventures...

Hunter Identity, by Katie McKalip

Katie McKalip

I was paying for my new shotgun, several years ago in a sporting good store, when it hit me.

Hunting had become part of my identity. But I wasn’t sure exactly how it happened.

Growing up, I had few opportunities to get afield, even though both my parents came from hunting and fishing families. And my upbringing in the suburbs of a city that severely restricted personal firearms ownership was hardly one that celebrated sporting pursuits.    

But then I moved out west after college and had the good fortune to fall for a man who appreciated public lands and open spaces and opening weekends of various game species. I started going hunting, with him and then with other friends, for deer and elk and waterfowl but mostly upland birds...