Raini's First Turkey

Raini Glades with her first turkey shot this past weekend in Kansas!  Awesome job Raini!

Becoming a Huntress

By Katie Shackelford

If someone had told me a year ago I would ever find myself sitting in a blind, giddily anticipating hunting a wild hog in Oklahoma, I probably would have said they were crazy. Yet this is what I did a few weekends ago with several experienced huntresses. And it was FUN.

My adventure started when the fabulous Tracey Splechter from Outdoor Connection contacted me with interest in learning more about GG2G and to tell us about her company.  She thought, rightly so, that rather than simply having phone conversations, an actual hunting experience would be best. Lucky for me I would be going with 5 other women – honestly, other than going with my dad or brother, this was the best way for me to jump in! What kind of hunt would I be going on? A wild hog hunt!

Er. Not quite.

It was going to be a weekend experience Gray Ranch in Oklahoma – just a few short hours from my home state of Texas. And I was nervous. Not about the hunting part, but more about the going hunting with 5 experienced women part. Yes, it was like making friends in grade-school all over again – Would I look too much like a city girl? Would my gear work for the job? Would they like me? Would I be the only one who didn’t take a hog?!

What I found were 5 incredible women who I now call friends and with whom I absolutely hope to hunt again. And it was a lot like summer camp – just with guns and hunting and some beer and wine thrown in for good measure (after the firearms were safely put away, of course)! Two are from Prois Hunting Apparel – Kirstie Pike, the founder, and Katherine Browne, her awesome colleague. They kindly provided me with some Prois gear for the weekend and let me tell you – it was fantastic (I’ll have a review soon). Ladies, if you need camo that’s made for women by women, definitely keep Prois on your shopping list. Another fabulous female huntress who was with us – Mia Anstine – runs Wolf Creek Outfitters with her husband as well as keeps her fans informed with her personal blog, My Many Outdoor Adventures. Oh, and she’s hilarious. Hearing her stories of her pet turkey, Tom, kept us laughing at all hours. And finally Tracey – the woman who put it all together – and her sister. OK, I did learn that her sister was somewhat of a newbie like me, but still, she had done this at least one more time than I!

Fortunately, despite my anxiety about hunting, Tracey kindly accompanied me to our stand on the first night and after sharing stories and giggling for a couple hours, she actually spotted a group of hogs coming our way!

Since it was my first hunt, Tracey also let me take the first shot. OK, actually she had to walk me through it a little bit so I wouldn’t freak out. Here’s the thing: I don’t take this “killing a living creature” thing lightly and I wanted to ensure that I had a humane kill. I also wanted to get one that would provide me with good meat to eat. I only support hunting for sustenance and fortunately the majority of hunters are the same way.

In any case, I lined up my shot, took a deep breath, and after I had let all the air out squeezed the trigger and BAM… I got one! Although I was shaking from all the adrenaline and freaked out because the hog I got ran for about 5 seconds before toppling over, I was also happy to have gotten one! My first hunt ever I got a hog on the first night!

When the guides came by to pick us up just after nightfall, we brought the hog (which turned out to be a boar) back with us and the guys weighed it and field dressed it.  And they also soon told me it was, in fact, a humane kill.  Whew!

Posing with my 118 pound boar!

Although I realize that field dressing is something I’ll eventually have to learn, I left it to the experts this time.

The rest of the weekend was, in a word, fabulous. I immediately felt like “one of the huntresses” with my very own hunting success story and despite the 4:30am alarm clock looming above us the next morning, we happily ate, drank, and told stories late into the night. The next day Katherine, who I’ve decided is my sister from another mister and one of the first women I will call when the zombie apocalypse happen, and I got to do a little horseback riding with the guides. We were officially just riding unofficially in search for hogs, but we only saw traces of them. Oh well, we both had a blast and looked awesome while doing it.

Katherine geared up for some hogs complete with rifle, sidearm and knife.

Although only Kirstie also ended up getting a hog, I think we were all happy by the time Sunday afternoon hit and we were all packing up.

Posing with all the ladies. Yes, I'm the giant among them all.

———————-

So ladies, if you’re interested in trying out hunting for the first time – definitely consider an all female hunt. And check out Outdoor Connection (www.outdoor-connection.com)– they can pretty much arrange for the hunting or fishing trip of your dreams, as they have trips literally all over the world. And since one of the top folks there is a woman, you know you’ll be getting something that’s female arranged & approved on many levels.

 

New Mexico Antelope Hunt

Costa Rica Tarpon Fishing by Anthony Reiss

I would like to take a moment to comment on our trip this past month to Costa Rica.  Outdoor Connection did an excellent job of booking our trip.  What an incredible place in the middle of the jungle.  The staff, food and service were extremely good.  The rooms were very roomy and most definitely comfortable.  I landed a 130 pound tarpon along with countless others that were above the 100 pound mark.  My son and father were fishing together and between the two of them they landed over 2,000 pounds of tarpon in 4 days.  The largest being 180 pounds on conventional tackle.  The trip did not leave us disappointed or with any additional energy.  We appreciate Outdoor Connection helping us select such a wonderful spot to chase such a fascinating sport fish.

10% Discount on Colorado Fly Fishing Packages

NRA National Convention

Be sure to stop by OC's booth #310 at next weeks NRA National Convention!  We look forward to seeing everyone there.

Special offer to travel to Manitoba and take TWO whitetail deer...check it out and contact your local agent for more info!

Booking Agencies and Their Destinations

By Scott Marvin:

Here is a personal story. In 2007 before I bought a franchise with Outdoor Connection, I did my due diligence on this company just like all of you did. In that process, one thing that really caught my eye was the procedure in place for approving an Outdoor Connection destination. Enough so that it was a tipping point in my decision making. I had personal experiences with other booking agencies pre-OC so I had something to compare it to. In that process, I had found out that not all booking agencies inspect their destinations. In fact, often times, they sell the product using destination brochures and destination information given to them by owner operators….not information they 

personally gathered. Seems odd doesn’t it? It is true however and it should be known that we are talking about some of the biggest booking company names in the business right down to mom and pop operations. I know this because I had used their services and found out first hand how they represented their destinations. 

Knowing the above and knowing how Outdoor Connection approves and represents our destinations should prove to be invaluable to you. Think about it….could you sell a house that you have never seen? Could you market a destination you have never been to? More importantly, will your client recognize that you do not have accurate first hand knowledge? Of course you can’t and of course they will. The purpose of the above is to clearly point out that we are not all equal. Use that to your advantage!

Lake of the Ozarks Fishing Trip

No, not a cast and blast, this trip is a cast and cast.  If you never tire of casting an ultra light spinning gear set up at the bank in search of "slabs", then this is the trip for you.  Never tried crappie fishing in the Midwest this time of year?  Let's go.  The dogwoods and red buds are in bloom and that means one thing - the crappie and bass are both starting to move into the shallow waters on Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri.  I just spent the weekend on the lake with Capt. Jack and we just hit the start of the crappie run.  By Sunday, we were catching crappie in less than five feet of water.  We fished two, four hour days and as a group of six fishermen, boated 53 crappie on Saturday and 71 crappie on Sunday.  Don't worry about cooler space to get them home, we had a good ol' fashion fish fry Saturday night and had plenty of open space in the coolers for Sunday's catch.  You need to make plans to spend a day or two with Jack here over the next four to six weeks.  The water temp has hit 53 degrees and as good as it was this past weekend, it will get better from now until the spawn is completed.  The largemouth are starting to move up as well and they should really be "on" by the end of this month.  For a great fishing value, contact your local Outdoor Connection agent.

Nebraska Merriam Turkey Hunts

Just a quick e-mail to let you know that we had a great trip!  The accommodations, food, and service were excellent.  According to the locals, the fishing was off a bit.  However, we caught a number of sailfish, tuna and dorado - we had a blast.  I would recommend this resort to anyone and I would recommend Outdoor Connection for those looking for good fishing and hunting opportunities.  Thanks again for all of your help. 

Dennis Byrne
April 5, 2011

Outdoor Connection, Inc, providing high quality, approved hunting and fishing destinations to outdoors people, is currently seeking established, motivated sales consultants in select territories to represent the Outdoor Connection, Inc brand. If you are interested in selling the Outdoor Connection destinations in your area, please contact info@outdoor-connection.com or 888-548-0636.  

http://www.outdoor-connection.com/specials.php

Oklahoma Hog Hunt

This past weekend, Kirstie Pike, Katherine Browne, Katie Shackelford, Mia Anstine, Stacey Clark and myself met up in Oklahoma for some hog hunting and smallmouth bass fishing! It was a great experience!

NRA Women on Target Hog Hunt in Oklahoma

Join me on this hunt in March!  Only three spots open!

Pennington Creek Hunt Club, located near Mill Creek, Oklahoma, welcomes you on a two-day wild boar hunting adventure. Hunt these wild hogs from any of the hunting zones, each setup with a tower box blind for rifle hunters, quad pod for archery hunters, spin-cast corn and protein feeders. They feed year round, so these hogs know where their permanent food source is.

Dates: March 4-6, 2011

Accommodations: A clean, comfortable, easily-accessed, but secluded hunting cabin is located on the ranch. Capable of sleeping six, their hunting cabin has all the amenities of home. The cabin includes a fully furnished bedroom. It has two sets of bunk beds that will sleep four and then located in the living room is the third set of bunk beds. There is a full bathroom and full kitchen, as well as a fully enclosable (depending on the weather) outdoor pavilion just outside the hunting cabin. This pavilion has gas and charcoal grills, as well as a place to sit out around the fire. Meals are home-cooked and sure to please. No worries about going hungry here!

Total capacity of the cabin is six. Grab your hunting buddies and secure this economical hunt!

Cost: $552.00 – includes a comprehensive safety orientation; shotgun/rifle/archery, sight-in; 2:1 hunter to guide ratio; two nights lodging; two full days of hunting for two feral hogs; meals from dinner on Friday, to lunch on Sunday.

The cost does not include field dressing and cleaning. There is a $50.00 fee per hog to have it skinned and quartered.

Deadline to Register: February 4, 2011

To Register: Contact Field Hunt Coordinator, Tracey Splechter

tracey@outdoor-connection.com
office - 620-364-5500
cell - 620-203-0089