Babbs in the Woods: The launch of the ‘MITI’ program

The football season is over. The big game has been played and lots of people are full of chicken wings, nachos and beer. What’s next?

Perhaps it’s time to pause and contemplate instituting a new program that a few of my outdoor pals and I have been mulling over in our minds for a few years – a “Men in the Indoors,” aka the “MITI,” program. There have been various forms of women and outdoor programs for years. We appreciate it. This is the perfect time of year to launch the program. After all, there aren’t many seasons open now for hunting and fishing. Read more

Babbs in the Woods: On lacy camo things and ‘Hatchie Bottom’ lounge pants

My pal NorCal Cazadora sent me an ad for camo underwear, and railed on just a little bit about the advertiser proclaiming this is “the best looking camo ever!” I looked at it, and its online sales flyer touts a Weber’s Naked North Pink Camo Baby Doll Set and Hatchie Bottom Men’s Lounge Pants.

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Babbs in the Woods: Freezing her, uh, waders on the Little Red

I pushed the wheelbarrow out to the woodpile and the air felt like it does before snow comes in – heavy, wet and still. And it made me think of fly fishing Read more

Babbs in the Woods: This blonde has a lot more fun

Who needs to read fiction when real life can be so interesting? I caught up with Rebecca Francis, winner of the Extreme Huntress contest, this week at her home on her birthday in Woodland Hills, Utah. After talking to her, I sat back, looked at my notes and wondered where to begin. This blonde powerhouse embodies an Extreme Huntress, and then augments the description with her own life story. Read more

Babbs in the Woods: ‘Baldly’ going where she bets everyone goes while sitting on a hard pew

You know how you can be sitting there in church thinking that someone needs to turn the ventilation system up a bit, and then, something will come to you? Maybe it’s a scripture passage or even a few lines from the pastor’s sermon and your mind just flies away thinking tangential thoughts stemming from one phrase? For a short while, last time I went to church – which was recently – I thought about two mornings I spent photographing bald eagles at a local trout park in Missouri.

When we sang the words, “I will rise on eagle’s wings,” that’s what did it. Actually, if I were to rise on eagles’ wings it would be plural and I reckon it would take at least 35 of them. Read more

Babbs in the Woods: Moving pictures, Gear Court update and no SHOT for this gal

When the video industry downsized the bulky video camera from “I-work-for-a-local-TV-station” size to “hold-in-one-hand” size, more outdoors lovers jumped into the production mode, filming their forays. Unfortunately, a lot of the outdoor TV shows still have that amateurish quality to them. On the topic of good footage, we’ve watched as Babes with Bullets ™ evolved into a website that features its own video clips and we’ve admired the work done by Marilyn Vogel and her brother, Bob Martin. The WON is happy to announce that we’ll be including video tips from these two in the popular Shoot to Thrill category. Read more

Babbs in the Woods: You can’t make it go away with a court order

Some of you may know me as a wacky, if-you-can-do-it-so-can-I outdoor writer. And, indeed, I’ve had women come up to me and say things like, “Hey, I read that piece you wrote about gigging for fish on the river and figured if you can do it, I can, too!” I don’t mind having that reputation.

But, as there are always two sides to the coin, there are usually two sides to the writer, and my passion, my other side, is the Second Amendment; it is getting to be more so as I age and see our liberties eroding. Read more

Babbs in the Woods: That grass thing

I like to chew on dried grass when I’m in the field hunting. No, not like a cow in the field munching on it, but plucking one piece at a time – one with a nice tender green thread at the end, inserting it between a couple of molars and working on it throughout the morning. Or flossing my teeth with it. Hours can get long out there. Read more

Babbs in the Woods: R.I.P. WBT

On January 4, 2010, BASS lopped off the women’s pro bass fishing circuit. Here’s what BASS issued:  “Despite BASS’ best efforts to grow the WBT [Women's Bassmaster Tour], participation levels were declining, especially heading into the 2010 season.  This was a very tough decision and we understand the timing wasn’t ideal and we are aggressively working to accommodate all WBT anglers who were registered for the 2010 season into other tournament venues they are eligible for, such as the Bassmaster Opens, if they desire to compete.” Read more

Babbs in the Woods: A New Year’s resolution, a woman trapper and interesting neckwear

Time for a resolution … I want to revisit the days of The Accidental Ozarkian, a self-syndicated column that I wrote for about eight years that appeared in various magazines and newspapers in Missouri. With nostalgia of the good old days of writing that column in my mind, I promise to bring you more of the quirky, interesting people of the outdoors this year in this blog. You know, the ones you couldn’t-make-this-stuff-up-about-if-you-tried folks.

And so, I give you freelance writer and Arkansas trapper of the year (2008) Jill Easton Spencer, who probably can be found in the woods checking her traps almost every day near Calico, Ark., and who also is a woman with a most interesting hobby. She crafts ‘coon-pecker necklaces.

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