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, ranging in age 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.”

Sara’s mother, Susan, is seen digging in her garden on her hands and knees. She looks at the camera and states, “I think gardening, like hunting, is a very hopeful activity. You do it for tomorrow. If you hunt the way you should hunt, you are nurturing the animal population so that they’ll be there and be healthy tomorrow or when you come back, or down the road or for your children or for your children’s children.” Later, you’ll see Susan and Sara getting ready to head out for a deer hunt. They don their pink and white pig socks, just in case they have an opportunity to take a feral hog.

Why do I like, like, like this movie? It’s real. It’s like the women I know who hunt. It’s like the women I love from the South, some of my best friends.

“A lot of hunting isn’t about shooting and killing things … it’s as much about being a part of nature. If you’ve never listened to the woods wake up, I strongly suggest you do it,” Sara Frampton.

Some impressions from the film that I’ll remember:

• The mom, who has her daughter’s back to protect her when she shoots a feral hog.

• Red fingernails on beautiful young hands loading a rifle.

• Kristy Smith, a beautician, cutting an older woman’s hair and saying, “I got some new camo last weekend.”

• A line of trophy bucks in a living room, wearing lovely scarves around their necks at a get-together for women.

• And finally, Kacey Patrick, a young pregnant hunter who says she can hardly wait to take her little one hunting, just like her daddy took her hunting.

Voting has ended. Even though I didn’t see the other films in contention, I’m still hoping this one wins. I’m sure there were no others like it and it is edgy.

Thanks to Maria White and to all the women for telling their stories and inspiring us. See “The Debutante Hunters.”

Note to Bachelor Ben Flajnik. If you’re going to take a bunch of novice fly fishers out to Park City, Utah, to fish on a group date, make sure you get them the proper fishing attire. Including wading belts.

I don’t get cable TV. I decided that was one thing we could live without a year ago and frankly, that decision freed me to read more books and uh, to set up Timeline on my Facebook page. But, occasionally, something from modern culture and TV news floats across my view in Google Alerts and this one piqued my interest. I checked out the fly-fishing date that the current Bachelor took with the women he’s courting in the popular reality TV show on ABC.

What jumped out at me, like a mad brown who missed another midge hatch, was the lack of wading belts on any of the cast in the river. At least in the photograph I saw online they weren’t wearing belts. Now, granted … they were standing in ankle-deep water and it looks like they’re holding adult beverages in the stream. So, strike two. I watched a snippet or two of the show online and saw no belts anywhere.

It’s like this in the gun world. If you’re going to photograph shooters, make sure they’re wearing eyes and ears. If you’re photographing fly-fishers, for goodness sake, make sure they’re wearing wading belts.

Why? Let’s let Orvis give us the run-down on why we should never enter a stream in waders without our belts on … and guess what? It’s not because the belt keeps the water inside your waders from dragging you down. According to Dan Gracia, over at Orvis:

Also, I checked the show online, and gasp, there they were … paddling a canoe. With no PFDs on their bodies. Add this to the list. Hey, ABC, call me. I am available for consult, and I’m a mom of four kids that I took to the river — safely.

Katherine Grand, the real deal on the water, Damselfly Fisher here at The WON, always wears her special waders with a belt. She's a guide in Colorado. Guess she knows what to do. And, that's her new hubby, Eric, holding the fish! Submitted photo

WON Guns Julie Golob, Mia Anstine and Barb Baird at SHOT Show last year. Photo by Anne Vinnola

So, our stories and reviews will now be read by another market, most likely that mainstream market where millions of women are still pondering how (or why) to learn to hunt or shoot. And, we’re delighted, just delighted to be in this position. Recently, Mike not only picked up my Chicks with Guns interview with Lindsay McCrum, which is a very hot topic, but also, Julie Golob’s New Year’s post that ran here earlier that week.

See Julie's teaser in the top left slider? So sweet!

Check out The Daily Caller. We think you’ll find it refreshing and edgy. Something you don’t always see in mainstream publications or those other ones that are constantly preaching to the same choir.

And, thanks, Mike!

Later, after reading the book (also impressive because it is so real), reading numerous interviews and reviews of Lindsay and her book and listening to several radio interviews – including NPR and Gun Talk – I talked with Lindsay a few times on the phone.

Background on Lindsay McCrum

Lindsay McCrum is a fine art photographer residing in New York City and California. Ms. McCrum received her undergraduate degree from Yale University and her Masters of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute. Trained as a painter in oils, she switched exclusively to portrait photography in 2003. Her photographic projects include 25/50, an exploration of aging in the faces of men; Superheroes and Commandos, a study of boys, costumes and popular culture; and Dress Up, an examination of young girls and the shaping of contemporary notions of fashion and beauty. These series and other work have been exhibited in galleries in the U.S. and Europe.

Lindsay McCrum. Photo courtesy © Kurt Mangum

We clicked. We connected. You will soon be seeing Lindsay’s contributions as a Shoot to Thrill contributor here at Women’s Outdoor News. We know that she will bring her background in portraiture to her photography tips and that we all will be the richer for that experience. We can hardly wait.

Until then, you may get to know her a little better – the woman behind the Chicks and Guns concept – through this Q&A:

Babbs:  Chicks with Guns … why the word “chicks?”

LM: The title of the book evolved over time. Since I’m a fine art photographer, my original intent was to take twelve to twenty photographs for an exhibition.  Initially ‘Chicks with Guns’ was just an offhand, shorthand name for the series. Surprisingly it was the women I photographed who loved the working title. Even when the project expanded and became a book, I never expected or planned for the working title to stick.  In 2010 when the book was being pitched to publishers, there was a buzz – according to my agent – about the project, so the title became attached to the book.

Babbs: Did you have certain expectations going into this project? And … were they met or were they not met?

LM: Because I never had any involvement with firearms prior to photographing the book I didn’t really know what to expect when I started the project. What I learned from the book, is there’s an extraordinary breadth and diversity of women who own guns in the US and the role that guns play in their lives is complex and varied.

Babbs: You mentioned in a phone conversation earlier, that you tell your friends that if they want to meet some incredibly grounded, self-assured women, they need to connect with women who shoot! Please will you explain some of the qualities you find among women shooting enthusiasts?

LM: I found the women in the book to be an impressive group.  Whether they were competitive shooters, hunters, collectors or had firearms for self-defense, they were focused, responsible and self assured.  I was also struck by how accomplished and capable they all were.

Babbs: You have also stressed that this book is not political. We all know that guns and in particular, the weaker sex and guns, can tend to be a little on the, uh, explosive side. How do you keep the topic from getting political?

LM: In order to get the talent, I made it clear from the outset there was no political or ideological agenda with this body of work. Since the book doesn’t advocate or represent any particular ideology, my approach to the text was more biographical. I was only interested in each woman’s individual story and the role guns played in their lives.

Babbs: Youngest participant? Oldest?

LM: The youngest girl I photographed for the book was eight at the time and the eldest was eighty-five.

Babbs: What about the women who didn’t make the cut for the book? I know it was stated at photo sessions that they might not be included, but any blowback from them?

LM: The most difficult part of the project was editing the photographs. Over the course of three-and-a half-years, I photographed 280 women and only 81 women were selected for the book.  I made it clear to all the women when I photographed them, that it was a matter of numbers and just because I photographed them didn’t necessarily mean their portraits would be included. All the women were incredibly gracious and understanding about the editing process.

Babbs: Were most of the settings in the book of your choice, or did the women suggest … hey, let’s take this shot in my bedroom or in a field somewhere?

LM: Most of the photographs and photo shoots were a collaboration with the women. I welcomed their ideas and suggestions.

Chicks with Guns. Available online. Published by Vendome Press.

We welcome Lindsay to The Women’s Outdoor News, and we know that you, our readers, will enjoy her contributions and learn from them. Also, hopefully, you’ll get to know the woman behind the camera better, because she is a force to be reckoned with, a go-getter with class and charisma.

 For more information about Chicks with Guns, visit McCrum’s website.

Babbs: Tell us about the run-up to having your blog listed at BlogHer, which as anyone who is anyone in the blog business knows is a good thing!

Traci: I applied several times before I was accepted. Your blog has to have been in existance for at least six months, you must post at least weekly, and your blog is reviewed for content “compatible with BlogHer.”

Babbs: You’ve been blog dabbling now for how many years?

Traci:  Almost 2 years! I started on my birthday when I was feeling-um-less than spring chicken-like.

Babbs: Why are you a blogger?

Traci: It’s a creative outlet. It started as one of those memoir-type projects. I decided to quit my nice, steady job to try writing full time and blogging about it seemed the logical next step. (There’s still a big unanswered WHY on that one!) I never truly got away from outside work because I continued to teach at a local junior college. The other intent was to travel, which we did a lot the first year. That has slowed down a lot the second year as life has happened. And yes, (forgive me, family) I’ve been guilty of packing the iPad so I could blog from camp.

Traci Schauf on location.

Babbs: I like your comparison of a blog to childbirth. Wanna expand on that?

Traci: Oh – you mean blogging is like childbirth because you lose all modesty and you want to share your news with the whole world? I’m a very private person. Most of the people I work with don’t know I’m Mother Nature, and are always surprised when they find out, because I never discuss my home life outside of the blog. My husband is constantly exclaiming, “I can’t believe you’re telling the world about that!” (Whatever “that” may be at the moment.) There’s a certain anonymity to blogging, but it also allows me to release that writer who wants to brag, boast, gossip, be sarcastic, or tell bad jokes. It’s the real me that never gets to come out and play with others, because she doesn’t always play well!

Babbs: What are your responsibilities as a BlogHer blogger?

Traci: Advertising management. You have to agree to pretty stringent rules about advertising on your blog. And then of course, there’s meeting those requirements of weekly posts, which I can say has never really been a problem for me unless I was backpacking! 

Traci and hubby enjoy the view.

Babbs: Why BlogHer? Why did you want it?

Traci: It’s a huge network, with such a great variety of bloggers. It doesn’t lock me into a tiny niche, and I have met so many people from different parts of the country and in different lifestyles than my own it’s amazing. It’s a global community that broadens my horizons. They also offer a lot of things to their bloggers – workshops on all sorts of topics. 

Babbs: What’s the response been to it and how long has it been up?

Traci: The readership continues to grow steadily. Using Twitter as another platform for my blog has helped. I saw a jump when my blog was listed at the Women’s Outdoor Media Association’s website and The WON, and again when it went BlogHer. I notice that I get the most responses to the outdoor posts. All the more reason to get outside! 

Babbs: Where else do you contribute these days, other than The Happy Camper at The WON?

Traci: Occasionally on Whole Living. That’s the sophisticated world of blogging that Mother Nature is not!  I love vegan sharing recipes at WL, and I’ve made some great friends there. I’ve also been published in Women’s Adventure Magazine a couple of times. It’s an awesome publication.

Babbs: And in your spare time?

Traci: Backpack!  Kayak!  Kayak!  Backpack!  Hike, bike and garden! 

Babbs: What are your holiday plans?

Traci: We’ll be spending the first half – up through Christmas in Oklahoma with family, which will include a lot of shopping and eating. Then off to Kansas through the New Year, which will include eating, no shopping, and whatever outside activities we can fit in. I’m pretty sure that at least means fishing and photography.

Babbs: And we bet she’ll be blogging merrily throughout the season, too!

Please visit The Adventures of Mother Nature, and of course, you can read all of Traci’s blogposts here at The WON, too!

And here’s a supporting photo … of a trip I took a few years ago with my octogenarian friend, Ethelyn Ammerman, when we found the old graveyard where Valentine Branson lay at rest. Valentine was the founder of the popular tourist trap called Branson, Mo.

Ethelyn Ammerman finds Valentine Branson's grave. Photo by Barbara Baird.

Here’s the release:

MISSOULA, Mont.–A custom casket featuring hardwood inlay artwork of an elk and mountain scene, hand-forged elk antler handles and camouflage bedding is among many special items to be auctioned in Las Vegas, Feb. 2-4, 2012, to support the conservation work of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The auction will be held as part of RMEF’s 27th annual Elk Camp convention and expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Riviera Hotel.

Elk Camp is RMEF’s largest annual fundraiser. Proceeds help support a variety of initiatives to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat. Over the past year, RMEF passed the 6 million acre mark for habitat conserved and enhanced nationwide, supported elk restoration efforts in Maryland and Missouri, helped mitigate the effects of historic wildfires in Arizona, introduced thousands of youths to hunting and conservation, assisted with legal efforts to manage and control wolves, and much more.

The handmade casket, built from maple with walnut trim, is being donated for the RMEF auction by BNG Finish Products of Etna, Calif.

Company rep Nik Branson says coffin making began as an experimental offshoot of his custom cabinet business, “but now we do commissioned pieces for families around the country, and the biggest response has been from people who enjoy the outdoors, hunting and fishing.” Caskets with outdoor scenes and themes are the most requested, he said.

The coffins typically retail for $1,500 to $4,500.

BNG Finish Products and their "elk" customized casket. Photo courtesy of RMEF.

By the way, if you can’t get the coffin, you might bid on the pack mule named Possum. Yep. Check out the  www.rmef.org or 800-CALL ELK. Check out BNG Custom Caskets.

With a Realtree interior, of course! Photo courtesy of RMEF.

In fact, my deer tags have been retrieved from the trash from my husband at that other place I call home. I sit here with an expired trout tag and a migratory bird tag (that I mistakenly packed when I threw away the valuable tags) and three babies under the age of 15 months and their mommies and daddies and boxes all around me and no running water and generally, cheerful chaos. And the deer are in the rut and we see them salute us with white flags somewhere on the property almost every day. One baby daddy has already tagged a one-antlered buck.

When my husband brings me my tags, later this week – yeah, I know … I could get duplicates, but that means I have to quit unpacking and playing with grandbabies on the floor and start ignoring the contractor and worst of all, go stand in line at the Walmart, which is 10 miles from here – well, then I will put on my Próis, pick up my Ruger and get out there, with my Hunter’s Safety System vest and into my Summit tree stand.

One thing about whitetail season, and it is the most popular season in this country according the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Survey … it brings families together. Families that would not stay in crummy places, stay in crummy places. People settle (and pay) for third-world country accommodations in order to tag the ultimate in hormone-free, organic, free-range venison. (People stay in construction zones of old houses with no running water in the kitchen and mazes of boxes, too.) Say what you want about the therapeutic benefits hunting, it also brings people together. Families often have to share their adult children (Is that an oxymoron?) at other holidays, but every fall, if those children are hunters, they’ll come home to hunt if they can.

Just something to think about.  You might want to take your kids hunting.  Just do something with them that makes them  want to come home – golf, tennis, shooting sports, bird watching …

You know what you do best.

Sheryl has been in the bridal business for 30 years. (That’s a lot of bridezillas.) We sent her a little set of Qs to answer … because, we just had to know.

Sherri Russell in a fashion show that featured Sheryl Miller's creations. Submitted photo.

The WON: What’s the popularity range in camo formal wear?

SM: We started doing camo formal wear for prom about six years ago and it has moved to the bridal and bridesmaid attire in the last three-to-four years.

The WON: Are the women who want to wear this type of pattern outdoorswomen? Or is it a trend?

SM: Some of both, some are hunters themselves and some have boyfriends or fiancés who are hunters. Some want something unusual and different. The winter fall satin camo makes a beautiful gown for brides and we also do a winter fall pink satin for maids. Mossy oak is also a popular choice for wedding and prom gowns. Sometimes we make sashes or trains from camo to trim more traditional wedding and maids’ dresses.

Sherri Russell models a winter white, Mossy Oak wedding dress by Sheryl Miler Bridal. Submitted photo.

The WON: What type of formal wear in camo is most popular?

SM: Men’s tuxedo vests in both Mossy Oak and winter fall are the most popular items, but we do at least four or five camo weddings a season. We have made Mossy Oak flower girl dresses as well. Brides do wear camo. This past wedding season we made six bridal gowns, four prom dresses, trimmed at least 24 maids’ dresses, and two flower girls’ dresses.

The WON: What do these brides choose for veils, etc.?

SM: We make veils trimmed with satin camo ribbon … and feathers are big.  Pheasant feathers can make a fantastic looking headpiece for a Mossy Oak gown.  Tiaras are also another choice that is popular.

The WON: The cost?

SM: Cost of custom-made camo prom starts at around $300 and camo bridal gowns start at around $700.00.  So, it is comparable to traditional bridal wear and can be a little less expensive because custom made dresses require no alterations.

Visit Miller Bridal and Sewing to check out the lovely creations there. And thanks, Sheryl. We should have asked … are brides who choose camo a little less stressed than the others?

Then, your super son sends you a photo of that moment, and well, it all comes back to you.

Photo by Adam Baird.

Moral of the story? Go outside if you can this weekend. Kiss someone you love. Lay a slobbery smacker down. Expect joy.

I’ve heard my sons talk about shooting spudguns; in fact, I used to act as range safety officer off our back deck for them (See photo below). Frat Boy brought home a spudgun once that he built and let Baby Boy shoot it off the deck into the woods of Possum Holler, behind our place.

That's Baby Boy in front. He's in the Army now (Combat Engineers ... hmmm). And Frat Boy behind him. He's a mechanical engineer, dealing in barricades and such ... double hmmm. Maybe the training on our deck served a purpose. Homemade spud gun. Photo by Barbara Baird.

But, I had never shot a spudgun, till this day. Mark McDowell, Head Spud Stuffer and Hair Sprayer, ran the show. You paid five dollars for two tater tries. You shot at a box located about, oh, 25 yards downrange.

Tapping the taters. Mark McDowell brought some frozen little reds to use as ammo for the fundraiser. Here's Babbs holding the weapon as Mark loads it up for her shot. Photo by Jason Baird.

Tater ammo has no set course after leaving the barrel. It can go right, go left, go up, go down.

Mark McDowell adds the propellant to the tater gun for Mark Thomas. We wonder ... did it have extra body or hold? Photo by Jason Baird.

The closest I witnessed anyone get a piece of potato close to the cardboard target box was Mark Thomas, of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. He said he’d never shot a tater at anything, either.

Mark Thomas, National Shooting Sports Foundation's managing director, marketing and communications, lined up the site (?) for his turn at the tater line. The shoot was held to raise funds for the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association at its annual conference, held this year in Branson, Mo. Photo by Jason Baird.

The spudgun, aka spudzooka, operates on air pressure and a propellant (such as hairspray) to launch the spud downrange.

Ready, aim, fire ... and it shot just to the left center of the target. Photo by Jason Baird.

I think most folks just build their own contraptions out of PVC. However, there is a Spudgun Technology Center online, the Internet’s “premiere website” for these types of devices. The “Stimulator” is on special, for $45.

What a great idea for a fundraiser at your shooting range. After all, you’re already employing safety measures, anyway. I wouldn’t recommend conducting a fundraiser of this type anywhere BUT a shooting range!

It's so important to look good for photo "shoots." Mark McDowell adds a bit of hairspray to my power pony before I take another shot at the cardboard box downrange. Photo by Jason Baird.