Colorado blogger brings her family into hunting & the outdoors
Mia Anstine runs Wolf Creek Outfitters with her husband Hank. A constant source of hunting fun and information on the social media circuit, I had hoped to interview Mia during the 2012 SHOT Show. That never happened. Not to be deterred, I decided to employ the social media engine and perform that interview via Twitter.
Here's the transcript from yesterday's Twitterview:
Tell me about your first gun
I was 7 when I shot my first .22 pistol. But I got to shoot an Ouzzie when at 8! That's when I learned to love & respect firearms. My first gun that was "all my own" was/is a Winchester .270. I was 26 and decided I was going to put food on the table. Family & friends pitched in to buy it for my birthday!
Why the drive to put food on the table?
I got tired of pitching in for a side of beef and getting all the hamburger. I went hunting with dad and friends as a kid and always enjoyed it. But I wasn't allowed to hunt ... just the guys were. I helped field dress animals and pack them out. He's amazed by me now.
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Prois Hunting & Field Apparel focuses on the female market
As it says on her website, Prois Hunting & Field Apparel CEO Kristie Pike is proud to NOT be one of the guys. It’s not required in our sport. After all, hunting is a discipline that can be mastered by all … especially if you have the right gear. With that mission in mind, Prois unveiling their new Elevation Series here at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas Nevada.
“We’re really excited about the new Elevation Series,” said the Colorado based Pike. “It answers the call for the more performance, aggressive hunts that take you up into high altitude for sheep, goat, elk and muley. The kind of hunting we do in our neck of the woods. ”
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 Our Women’s Programs Department just added an exciting new event to their agenda that helps women discover the fun of the shooting sports and the outdoors - the Women's Outdoor Adventure! Scheduled for April 30-May 7, 2012 at the Rockcastle Shooting Center in Park City, Kentucky, the inaugural Women’s Outdoor Adventure is an eight-day shooting and outdoor event aimed at introducing women to a variety of firearms, exciting outdoor activities, and fun, relaxing social events.
“The Women’s Outdoor Adventure is an opportunity for ladies to foster their interest in shooting and the outdoors, all while enjoying the camaraderie of like-minded women,” said Bill Poole, Director of NRA’s Education & Training Division. “We want the attendees to leave with a well-rounded knowledge of firearms and the desire to continue participating in the shooting sports.”
Attendees will enjoy the thrill of learning to shoot on the world-class ranges of the Rockcastle Shooting Center while receiving instruction from the country’s top female shooters and firearms instructors. From trying their hand at shooting rifles, pistols, and shotguns during exciting multi-gun competition, to the fun of sporting clays, attendees will have the opportunity to explore a wide variety of shooting disciplines in a supportive, encouraging setting.
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I don't know about the rest of you hunters out there, but I'm ready to get back out in the field! And for my fellow huntresses, our friends in the Women On Target® Hunt Program have some exciting new excursions planned for 2012 and even 2013!
 First on the schedule is a Whitetail Buck and Doe hunt at the Celebrity Ranch in Mingus, Texas from October 8-11, 2012. Whether you're a seasoned huntress or a beginner, this hunt will help you find the trophy buck of your dreams thanks to favorable hunting conditions and experienced guides.
The very next week from October 19-21, Women On Target® is returning to the Oak Creek Sporting Club in Brainard, Nebraska for a Pheasant and Chukar hunt. Featuring plenty of upland game birds, eager bird dogs, and incredible hospitality, this is one hunt you won't want to miss. First-timers will receive helpful instruction and practice and experienced wing-shooters can enjoy the fast pace of plentiful birds.
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Diane Danielson, our Female Instructor Development Coordinator, has some exciting news about an upcoming NRA Certified Pistol Instructor course just for women. With more women learning to shoot every year, we're looking for more women to become instructors. If you're in the Southwest, then consider attending this course later this month. And sorry, fellas. This one is just for the ladies.
Are you going to SHOT Show? Are you looking for a way to extend your trip through the weekend following the show while the guys are playing golf? Or are you just looking to get away to Phoenix, AZ in January and spend some quality time at the range to become an NRA Certified Pistol Instructor? Join us at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility on January 20-22, 2012 for the next NRA Pistol Instructor Course for women – by women.
More and more women are registering for firearm training than ever before and it's a fact that they prefer to be taught by other women. If you feel you have the qualifications to become part of the growing number of Female Certified Pistol Instructors – come join us.
This is an excellent opportunity to become part of the Female Pistol Instructor cadre and become a teacher and mentor for the thousands of women who are learning to shoot every year.
The Arizona Women’s Shooting Association and Ben Avery are hosting this course as part of the Women’s Instructor Development Initiative by the NRA. For more information, please go to www.nrainstructors.org and search for the Phoenix, AZ course. You can register online for one of the few remaining seats for this course.
If you have questions on future events, including the NRA Pistol Instructor Course for women we’re offering at the 2012 NRA Annual Meeting in St. Louis, please contact us at femaleinstructors@nrahq.org.
With Christmas just a few days away, many of us are so busy preparing for the holidays that we aren't focusing on personal safety and the safety of our home. As an Instructor for NRA's Refuse To Be A Victim® program, I've got several tips from our personal safety program to help keep you, your family, and your home safe this holiday season.
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If you have last minute shopping to do, be vigilant both in stores and in the parking lot. The holidays have high occurrences of pickpocketing and theft, so be sure to keep an eye on your wallet and/or purse. Men should carry wallets in their front pocket or an inside coat pocket to help prevent theft, and women should carry their purses on their body rather than sitting them in shopping carts. Purses with zipper closures help prevent thieves from taking your wallet, and wearing your purse across your body will help prevent it from being snatched.
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When walking to your car, try not to be overloaded with purchases. Carrying numerous items prevents your hands from being free to protect yourself and can make you a target while you load your car. Try to park in a well-lit area within plain sight of the public where you are less likely to be victimized. If you feel unsafe when leaving the store, ask to have a store employee help you to your vehicle with your purchases. More...
Ruthann warned me this would happen. Put up a few posts about a few of her instructor's Refuse To Be A Victim® classes and the others would start crawling out of the woodwork. Isn't it great when a plan comes together?
So who do we have here? That would be Patrick Fuller and students from one of his Refuse seminars. You might think this class is small, and some are, but there is great significance in what Patrick is doing. Not only is he spreading the ever valuable personal safety strategy word, but he's doing it in an important place — New York City.
In fact, Patrick's classes are the first of their kind to be taught in the Big Apple since 2005. Right there on 5th and 20th at the Westside Pistol and Rifle Range. Pretty significant, aye?
Another interesting piece of trivia about Patrick relates to HIS instructor. None other then Gun for Hire's Anthony Colandro. Anthony has long been an NRA instructor in a wide variety of NRA disciplines. He teaches, his wife Pilar teaches, his friends and family teaches at one of their four Gun for Hire locations. And in his spare time, Anthony has played host for Gun for Hire Radio and two record setting New Jersey Friends of NRA Banquets.
I'd say Patrick couldn't have made a better choice when choosing his instructor. So far, he's doing a bang up job with all that Anthony and the NRA has taught him.
The December issue of Shooting Sports USA, NRA's Competitive Shooting Journal, features a special competition clinic held at the Scarborough Fish & Game Association in Scarborough, Maine deisgned specifically for women. Aimed at bringing more women into the world of competitive shooting, this successful event shows that recruiting new shooters can be as simple as making the classroom fit the student.
Just For Women Competition Clinic
Written by David Petzal with photo by Bruce Fleming
As any firearms instructor or coach can tell you, women shoot as well as men and are often easier to teach. So why aren’t there more of them in the shooting sports? Because getting women and guns to mix in this day and age takes some special effort. [Editor’s note: In our 2010 review of NRA Classification data, 9.12% of competitive shooters were women.]
A prime example of how recruiting more women shooters can be done successfully was provided on May 14, 2011 at Scarborough Fish & Game Association (SF&GA) in Scarborough, ME. Incorporated in 1958, this NRA-affiliated club has grown to 177 acres with ranges for ATA trap, sporting clays, 5-stand/ wobble trap, high power rifle, IDPA action pistol, bullseye pistol and archery. There are also 25-, 50-, and 100-yard utility ranges, all run and maintained by the 750-plus club members.
But back to recruiting women shooters: As anyone who shoots competitively knows, it’s hard to break into a specialized sport without someone to coach you through the early stages. It’s tough for men. For many women, it’s even tougher.
SF&GA has an excellent 52-point pistol range and no shortage of female and male members who know how to shoot bullseye pistol. But, the first challenge was how to attract 30 women for a competition pistol clinic. The club followed the golden rule of successful sales: Don’t wait for them to buy, go out and sell it. This involved a concerted effort by two club members: Karen Lesniak, herself a new bullseye shooter, and Suzanne Hamilton who launched a public relations promotion that included:
- Publishing an illustrated tri-fold brochure of the 2011 pistol program
- Personally handing out flyers at a local sporting goods store
- Running a booth at Ladies’ Day at Cabela’s and similar events
- Announcements during regularly scheduled classes and on the club’s website.
- Recruiting by the club’s bullseye shooters. This was particularly successful, proving once again that there’s no substitute for personal contact.
The women who showed up were from all walks of life, including health and business professionals, educators, housewives, students, and rescue squad volunteers. They came for all sorts of reasons, ranging from trying to figure out what their husbands & boyfriends were up to on the weekends, to overcoming a fear of guns, to looking for a shooting sport that was a little less punishing than trap or high power rifle. More...
The Wall Street Journal has a great article up about the rise in popularity of shooting sports among women through the help of the Women On Target program.
Women Pulling the Trigger
 GHENT, N.Y.—The vegan, the yoga instructor and the former Peace Corps member mingled with other women at a recent retreat in upstate New York, sharing advice: Keep both eyes open when firing a shotgun. Ear plugs are essential to mute the blasts. And when women shoot, the butt of the gun needs to sit between the shoulder and collar bone to cushion the recoil, an adjustment to the typical male shooting stance.
Even as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has emerged as one of the most vigorous national voices for gun control in recent years, one group of local shooters is quietly thriving: The Women's Shooting Sports League, a Manhattan-based group that for nearly a decade has been gathering once a month to shoot at a range in Chelsea.
Earlier this month, the club organized an excursion to the Kinderhook Sportsmen's Club, drawing nearly 20 women, many of them first-time shooters.
Many said they signed up for the trip to satisfy their own curiosity on a controversial subject, about which few had first-hand knowledge. Others relished the chance to spend the day outdoors experimenting with an unusual new skill, while longtime members toiled on perfecting a sport that demands precision and Zen-like concentration.
Read the rest of the article on The Wall Street Journal's website here.
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