Huntresses: Skip the hand-me-downs

When the Alberta government honored Canadian huntress Kelly Semple with its Order of the Bighorn award, she used the opportunity to send a message to other potential huntresses: Skip the hand-me-downs from men and use gear that fits.

"If you don't have equipment that fits, you it really takes away from the overall experience and it can turn a lot of people off very, very quickly," she told Edmonton Journal reporter Hanneke Brooymans in an article published today (click here for the full story).

Interesting timing, for me personally, anyway. I've been field testing women's hunting pants for Jesse's Hunting & Outdoors, and I have to say it's been a bizarre treat. Not only do I tend to wear men's clothing when hunting, but I wear men's jeans normally because I hate how women's pants are cut these days - only an anorexic 12-year-old could look good in them.

But the clothes I'm testing? Three out of the four pants come from companies that were started by - and are run by - women I've actually met (Prois Hunting Apparel, Foxy Huntress and SHE Safari). And all of the clothes I'm testing - including the new collection from 100-year-old Filson - are made for real women, not the absurd waifs of the designers' runways.

Every time I put on these pants, it's a happy little surprise that they're actually comfortable - they have room where I need it, and no extra space where ... ahem ... I don't need it. I could get used to this.

© Holly A. Heyser 2008