Kudos to Terry Scoville, who occasionally pops into The WON with a gear review in Gear Court, on being named to the team at Cabela’s as a Field Tester. It all happened because of a post titled “Cabela’s, Please Return My Call!” at her blog, Women’s Hunting Journal, where she railed on about Cabela’s not offering breathable waders for duck hunting in women’s sizes.
Cabela’s heard her and voila! She is now a field tester. She says it wasn’t as easy as voila, but you can read about the process at her blog. And, you may follow her adventures afield at her blog, or catch up on who she is in a feature we did on her here.
Another of my outdoor pals, Holly Heyser, aka NorCal Cazadora, complained to Cabela’s back in Oct. 2008 on the topic of its store in Reno not having women’s duck-hunting waders. Consequently, Cabela’s asked Holly and her friend, Sarah, to field test a women’s wader prototype. Hence, the Cazadora wader was born, which is sold out presently at Cabela’s online store.
Holly Heyser hunts ducks in California. Photo by Andrew Nixon.
Terry doesn’t like Holly’s waders. Here’s her rant at her blog in the post addressing the lack of a breathable women’s wader:
I am frustrated, angry and mad about the fact that there is not a single company manufacturing or offering, a quality Woman’s Breathable Camo Chest High Wader. Yet there are well over a dozen different styles and price points for men to choose from in a breathable camo chest high wader.
As a woman hunter having spent over 35 years in the field chasing ducks, geese, pheasants, quail etc. I endure 1/2 as many gear choices as the men. Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, Macks Prairie Wing, Dunn’s Sporting Goods, Drake Waterfowl and Gander Mt. are all guilty of ignoring women. In any of these catalogs there are but a few choices of women’s boots, be it knee high rubber or leather field boots and many pages of men’s boots. The same is true for clothing and waders.
That girl can write … also, Terry created a “Hunting Gear Needed for Women” page at her blog. My first item on the list? A turkey vest that does not knock around my knees when I walk (and I’m 5’7″ tall!) … or fit so wide on my shoulders that it gets in the way of shouldering my shotgun, like it always does. Some day I’m going to cut that sucker down and redesign it. I have two sewing machines and it would be a snap to do.
Anyway, kudos to Terry. We’re waiting to read about your new lifestyle and kudos to Cabela’s for paying attention to the women’s market. You know, maybe we do hold the purse strings? And, Holly, way to get the ball rolling, Girl.
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Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
It’s great to hear that a MAJOR outdoors supply company is paying attention to what their customers’ needs are! Way to go Terry and Holly, and to Barb for letting us read about it!
BLESS TERRY!!!! I am in the same boat as she is.. there just aren’t any good waterfowl clothes out there for women.. I have been whining and fussing so much the last couple of weeks about it that everyone is ready to club me. The chest waders are particularly a pain..I’ve tried hem all and nothing is right – although Holly’s -(I will always think of them as “Holly”s” ) are darn close. Somebody please make some for short, slight chubby women with – dare I say it – a bustline!
It doesn’t make sense to me why they wouldn’t develop more women’s hunting gear… we all know women like to hunt/fish and shop! It’s crazy that this is still such an untapped market. Love the autumn WON logo, btw!