The Women’s Outdoor News is proud to announce SportDOG, creators of the industry’s best canine training and tracking collars, in-ground fences and nutrition products, will henceforth sponsor The Writing Huntress’ column, Ask Writing Huntress.
Combining outdoor advice from a waterfowl-fanatic huntress with a great company is a better combination than peanut butter and jelly; and no one is more excited about this combination than I, simply because of my love of big purses.
What does an affinity for cute bags have to do with waterfowl hunting or the outdoors, you ask? Simple, SportDOG makes my absolute favorite blind bag.
As many a huntress can attest, hunting involves a lot of gear.
Akin to a celebrity tour rider, filled with all of the things a performer MUST have in order to even contemplate stepping on stage, we huntresses have a lot of objects that simply must come along on our excursions. My “hunting rider” includes, but is in no way limited to the following items: Carmex lip balm, face paint, hand lotion, water, hair ties, hair clips, headbands (essentially everything I may need in terms of hair), camera, extra camera battery, extra camera battery charger, additional camera SD card, two camera lenses for long as well as short distances, headache relief, face wipes, Neosporin, ketchup packets (what are those doing in there?), hunting license holder, two well-filled pens or sharpened pencils, phone charger and, of course, at least one knife for field dressing purposes.
Obviously, one cannot tote all of this in one go, without some sort of bag. Many eons ago, I used to carry, much to the mortification of my husband, my camo purse, because, well, why not?
Writing Huntress shows off her SportDOG pride. And her “guns.”
Why not, is because purses are not waterproof, nor can you easily throw a purse into a dirty and wet boat and expect the contents of said carrying case to stay within the confines of the cheap fabric. Many trips down this unfortunate lane is precisely why I was so excited to discover SportDOG’s Wetland Camo Gear bag. Retail $59.95
The interior of the bag is roomy enough to contain all of the necessities of my huntress rider but is durable enough to keep everything dry, as well as contained. The many pockets within and outside of the main compartment help me, a slapdash huntress by nature, enjoy a semblance of organization afield.
More reasons why I “heart” SportDOG
Not only am I looking forward to my future as SportDOG’s sponsored WON columnist, but my dogs are as well!
SportDOG is primarily known for their canine training tools — from collars and check cords to doggie supplements. However, they also craft a stellar in-ground fence system to keep wayward pups, much like my rescued brood, inside the yard.
Avery, our black lab, was destined for waterfowl greatness from early in her puppyhood when we rescued her from a shelter in North Carolina. She began retrieving ducks in Beanie Baby form at 12-weeks old, and fell in love with water shortly thereafter. However, as she grew, her adoration for retrieving ducks transformed into an all-encompassing hatred directed toward squirrels.
Avery takes a break from her rodent pursuits to show off her favorite accessory, her SportDOG collar!
This was not the best news in the world, considering I had fallen so madly in love with waterfowling. I could not fathom my newest rescue to not follow in kind.
In our old house, Avery jumped 6-foot tall fences to reach the squirrels beyond. She’s been known to leap off of 2-story porches in a single bound and, moments later, look bewildered as to how she ended up there..But, she also is known to chase squirrels to the ends of the earth; that is a problem for our new abode.
We currently live in the middle of nowhere, North Dakota. Our nearest neighbor is more than 3 miles away. When Avery, as well as her brother and one of her sisters, went after a particularly big porcupine, I knew we had to keep her and her posse contained. That’s where SportDOG’s In Ground Fence system came to the rescue. Retail $239.95
Thank goodness for SportDOG’s In Ground Fence system!
With the speed of a perfectly trained Chesapeake Bay retriever on opening morning, the fence arrived at our house with three collars, training instructions and everything we needed to get our pincushion pooches to stay within the safe confines of home.
After weeks of training, the dogs have yet to leave the yard. Avery, to her credit, has resisted the temptation to chase one succulent squirrel after the next, and we have SportDOG to thank!
Please check out SportDOG’s website and keep their brand in mind any time you’re in need of canine training tools, blind bags or sharp upland or wetland-inspired gear!
Ask Writing Huntress is sponsored by SportDOG.
