OK, so I don't intend this to become one of those blogs that just does news roundups all the time, but dang, there's a lot going on out there. Here's what I mean:
ABC jumps on the bandwagon
After the recent Wall Street Journal story about women hunters, everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon: The latest is a piece on ABC News.
What makes this story interesting to me is its apparent confusion about cause and effect.
The story is about the recruitment of women to bolster the number of hunters, but it counts among those efforts pink camo clothing, "fashion lines with names like 'Foxy Huntress' " and pink rifles.
Unfortunately, capitalism doesn't work that way. Entrepreneurs like Keli Van Cleave (Pink Outdoors) and Shelah Zmigrosky (Foxy Huntress) create products to cater to a demand, not to create social change. And from the consumer side, geez, you don't take up hunting because someone has finally made hunting pants for you. That just makes it easier once you've taken the plunge.
Oh well. Guess I should be grateful for the fact that it's at least a positive story.
Speaking of huntress entrepreneurs...
My old friend Chris Niskanen at the St. Paul Pioneer Press did a story this weekend about a Minnesota woman with an online business specializing in women's hunting clothing, called shehunts.com.
Eileen Hachey's story is familiar: "The company was born out of Hachey's frustration with finding properly fitting hunting pants and shirts," Niskanen writes.
My favorite line? "One thing Hachey does not sell is frilly camouflaged undergarments," Niskanen writes. "She said she takes her clothing seriously. Besides, it is men who buy most camouflaged bras and underwear for their wives and girlfriends."
You'll notice that Hachey's company is now on the women's hunting clothing list on the right side of the page here on this blog.
Denver Post weighs in
The Denver Post also had a piece this weekend about Gunnison, Colo., hunter Kirstie Pike and her clothing line, Prois Hunting Apparel.
Apparently, the Post was so smitten it devoted three whole paragraphs to its native daughter.
Holy cow, there is just a tiny handful of women's hunting clothing companies in this country, and that's the best the Post can do? I'm sure Kirstie appreciates the ink - free publicity never hurts - but dang, that's lame.
Speaking of women's hunting clothing
I wore the fleece Trailfeathers pants and jacket that I previewed last month on my first deer hunt ever this weekend.
But telling that story now would probably exacerbate the insomnia that's got me writing at this hour, so I'll save the hunting story and the preliminary gear review for tomorrow.
© Holly A. Heyser 2008
2 comments:
Aww shucks - no frilly laced camo undergarments? Well, bummer.
Just kidding - that's great that so many ladies are getting into manufacturing women's hunting clothes. My wife has been real upset that the big chains don't offer her more selection, for sure. Her small frame makes it difficult to find clothes anyways - let alone hunting clothes that generally don't exist. Bravo to these entrepreneurs!
I purchased a few things from shehunts.com a few months ago was very impressed with the prices and customer service.
Love the blog NorCal. Looks like I have a lot of reading and catching up to do on it. :)
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