When Rolling Stone magazine lectures gun owners on the evils of firearms in society, it’s laughable. In an article titled “The Gun Industry’s Deadly Addiction,” published by the magazine in its March 14 issue, Tim Dickinson wields a dull machete through a field of misstatements about gun owners and how we yield, scrape and bow […]

The National Wild Turkey Federation celebrated its 40th anniversary last weekend in Nashville, Tenn. I was at the convention to witness thousands of turkey enthusiasts jamming the exhibit rooms of Opryland and to hear hundreds of turkey callers, duck callers and goose callers competing for air space in the hall. My ears hurt a little […]

When a five-year-old girl in Pennsylvania told her friends that she would shoot them with a Hello Kitty bubble gun, and wound up being suspended for it, well, it begs the question … If this is how our school administrators handle problems, then God help us, what will they do when a real crisis arises?

It’s a review! It’s a story! It’s about how Babbs went all Pioneer Woman on her first successful muzzleloader hunt and filled her freezer with two bucks, thanks to the fine equipment she used afield.

I’m reaching into the cedar chest at The WON and pulling out this retro-blog, done a couple of years ago and refreshed because I noticed that my neighbors put out their standard manger scene, along with some deer that are way-out-of-proportion too big for the setting. And this year, their dogs got into the act, […]

If you want to see the future of shooting sports, read this interview with Amanda Furrer – a 50-meter, three-position rifle shooter on the U.S. Olympic team. She tells us what it was like to compete in her first Olympics last summer, and about what her aspirations are for the future. You’ll smile and you’ll […]

Outdoor writer and Alaskan Christine Cunningham waits for her first book, “Women Hunting Alaska,” to be released in January 2013. In the meantime, we asked this new writer and fairly new hunter some questions about her foray into the world of publishing and about her lifestyle. We think you’re going to like what you learn […]

Hey Madonna, stop being “like a virgin” when it comes to gun handling! Since you’re a “material girl,” let’s get this whole how-to-handle a gun down, shall we?

Talk about a midlife crisis. Have you been following Madonna’s trial and errors lately? Let’s see, first she pranced around with a fake gun and put it to her head, then she bared a nipple in Turkey and just last week, she pointed a fake gun at an audience in Denver. Talk about class. Talk about timing. Talk about not understanding the basics of firearms safety.

I don’t get easily offended. Not anymore. Not after raising three sons and living a military lifestyle that took us everywhere. But I am disgusted during the month of October when people try to be oh-so-clever with the breast cancer awareness campaigns that use edgy, vulgar and/or juvenile slogans. You know what I mean: using words like tatas, rack, boobs. All inserted in cutesy slogans that Madison Avenue feeds us. The type of phrases that 7th grade boys would wear on their bracelets because they can now get away with wearing the word “boob” in school.

Last spring turkey season, I hunted 19 days to get one turkey. You may read about it here if you want, and thanks to my buddy Marti Davis, I managed to put one in the pot. And to get a cool fan so that I can attach it to one of those fancy schmancy Carry-Lite decoys […]

Once in a while, we need to look back and see what happened while we were busy with the present and trying to avoid the future, or planning for it – whatever your mode was recently. Memorable news items in September Or … Four things I noticed last week  My favorite post of the week: […]

When there’s gunpowder in the air because hundreds of rounds have rocketed downrange, and when the sun is beating down on you and your black gun, and your instructor is commanding you to push those shots faster and faster, it gets intense. Some people might cringe. Some might be driven to compete more against others […]

Brenda Valentine recently returned from a tour to meet our women and men in service in Afghanistan. Officially on an “Outdoor Legends Tour,” along with other notable legends in the industry, she journaled her experience and shares it with us here at The WON. As a mom of an Army platoon leader, I am delighted […]

Jana Waller is a mademoiselle in motion. When she’s not on camera, hunting or fishing for another episode of Skull Bound TV, she might be in the production room or setting up yet another globe-trotting trip. Or, she might be adding art-deco to another skull, for her Painted Skulls business. So, we caught her on […]

Uh, no. I would not wear tee shirts that brag about hunting, racks, big ones, you name it. They might be all right for some, but not for me. I’ll tell you why. I’m not an in-your-face kind of hunter. I’m more of a reverent hunter. I don’t think the field is the place for […]

One melted marshmallow can bring back so many memories. I walked by the old stone grill and noticed a jumbo marshmallow lying there, partially melted and covered in soot and ashes. I thought about the night it got left there – almost 10 days ago now. It actually started as a Tweet. In May, some […]

Move over, Princess Merida. You may think you’re the summer’s sensation, but we have our own claim to princessdom here at Women’s Outdoor News. Why, our Little Gal is now a princess! In fact, she was recently crowned Princess of the Archuleta County Fair in Colorado. Little Gal, aka Lea Leggitt, is an eighth grader at […]

What a whirlwind day. What a dusty whirlwind site it was at the Green Valley Rifle and Pistol Club in Hallsville, Mo. Despite dry, hot winds, temperatures in the 90s and a schedule that dragged late at times, shooters from around the globe patiently waited their turns to shoot fast and accurately at moving targets, […]

With this first in a series on female gun bloggers, we visit with Gracie McKee, a firearms instructor who pens “Packing Pretty” from her home base in Portland, Oregon.

GREAT LAYERING PIECE! Compressed fabric is what Prois was seeking…and compressed fabric is what we bring. The Pro-Edition Pullover is constructed with 3 ply bonded fabric with windstopping laminate- this provides the protection you need without the bulk you don’t need. Functional for earlier/warmer season hunts. Form fitting, but built with plenty of room for […]

It looked like a catalog from … J. Crew or Express. It did not look like L.L. Bean. I mean, L.L. Bean? I used to wear those clothes when I taught Sunday School to six-year olds. I liked their fantastic quality, classic lines and vibrant colors. … This is not your mom’s L.L. Bean. Sure it still has poplin and linen and cotton and outdoor-related items, but I know what it is … they changed models. Instead of sensible thirty-somethings, they now shoot catalogs with twenty-something models that look like they just came from a session for Abercrombie & Fitch.

Meet Michelle Brantley — wife of Realtree.com Editor Will Brantley, but an avid outdoorswoman before her marriage to Will. In fact, Michelle epitomizes the word outdoors and her accomplishments are many and varied. She shares her lifestyle everyday when class is in session in a fourth grade classroom in Kentucky. And in her spare time? She hunts, fishes, competes in archery tournaments and noodles. Yes … and we’re not talking about pasta!

Babbs in the Woods: Getting Ready for the Battle of the Bugs I itch. Badly. Already. And I haven’t even been out in the woods for hours upon hours turkey hunting yet. I’ve just been out in the woods, walking trails, looking for turkey signs, busting flocks of them and setting blinds. And already I’m […]

So, I was talking to Stacey Huston last week, and mentioned that I was going to start reading the first book of the trilogy by Suzanne Collins, titled “The Hunger Games.” Stacey said, “The Hunger Games? That’s what I’ve played all my life!” Meaning, she has been trapping and killing her own food for most of her life.

I remember like it was yesterday, our youngest son (whom I call “Baby Boy” in this blog) and his intense look as he told his friends about his new puppy. He said, “We just had to get her because she was going to get ‘gassed’ at the pound.” To this day, I do not know where Baby Boy heard that animals were exterminated in this manner at the local pet society. Gassed or euthanized by injection – it didn’t really matter. Her time was limited, and so we brought her home. Because we fell in love with her on the spot. She came to us while in the pen and her siblings ran around like crazy puppies. But, she wanted us.

It’s been called a meditation. It’s been called an unflinching account. I’m going to call it real life, a thing that happens when someone comes to terms with his mortality, his need to sustain himself and perhaps, a realization that he is genetically wired to hunt.

Lately, I’ve been walking deer trails in woods looking for antlers, or sheds, as we like to call them in the industry. Imagine my surprise when a young man at Trader Joe’s told me that he did not know deer dropped their antlers!

It was a big day in gun world this week, on March 7, when Julie Golob appeared on Top Guns. Julie, always poised under whatever pressure is thrown at her at the time, explained three competition guns made by the company she represents (Smith & Wesson), talked about the guns’  histories and capabilities and then, […]

They are petite, but powerful. Randi Rogers and Tori Nonaka, athletes on Team GLOCK, took a few minutes to talk to me at the SHOT Show last January, and in particular about the Gen4. And in a surprising twist, Tori reveals who’s following in her footsteps.

For years now, I’ve surprised some editors and publishers and a few good old boys in the system by saying that women just want gear that works for them in the field and on the water. That’s it. Some of us may want to accessorize it, or brand it with all pink or a bit of pink. Pink is a color. First, a woman decides to shoot or hunt, and then … she decides if she’s going to color it with pink.

Blown away! Two words that come to my mind after watching a film now in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, mentioned by fellow WON blogger Mia Anstine. “The Debutante Hunters” features five women from the lowcountry of South Carolina, from their 20s to 50s, who take us hunting with them. We also get a glimpse into their personal lives, which is generous of them, considering that Sara Frampton says, “The fact that I hunt is something that I’d rather people find out about me as they get to know me rather than ‘Hi, my name is Sara Frampton and I’m a hunter.’ I don’t advertise it.”