I recently asked Texas hunter Pam Zaitz, founding owner of SHE Safari women’s camo company, to describe the process of creating an item of hunting clothing. Started in 2005, her business now manufacturers 53 styles of field wear (with more to come), in seven patterns, all designed with input from 27 female pro staffers. Three collections--Safari, Upland, and Camouflage--include items from pleated, vented shirts to fleece, water-repellant outwear. Here’s Pam’s behind-the-scenes description of how a piece of her company’s gear goes from concept to clothes rack. -- KH

Like many women, I was frustrated with the lack of hunting and field wear in designs we need. For years I wore small men's clothing or larger children's clothing, but was disappointed with the fit and style. I was determined to create a fashionable women's clothing line that would meet the demands of actual field use. Here is a brief look into the design of a single style such as the SHE Safari Pro Hunter Series Pants.
First we determine its primary uses since the garment's function plays a vital role in its design. A style number is assigned to ensure everyone will be referencing the same specific garment.

After a sketch is completed on a tablet, it is transferred to large easel paper then to computer aided design (CAD) software program. All measurements, trim, appointments and detail with multi-dimensional views are discussed prior to samples being made. This may take days or weeks depending upon input from the team. Once completed, patterns are made for a single size and a fit-check garment is produced. Adjustments to the pattern are made then transferred to the CAD program.

The final sample is graded, which involves sizing the garment for all size ranges. Material selections are made, keeping in mind the intended use. Samples from selected materials in various sizes are sent to the SHE Safari pro staff for extensive field testing. We then incorporate their suggestions into what becomes the final version.

Sound simple? This was the condensed version of the process. In fact, there are many more details involved in bringing a garment from original thought to store shelves. Overall it can be a time consuming process, but the results are well worth the effort to provide women with clothing they like while pursuing the outdoor sports we love. --Pam Zaitz

We’ve been a little gear heavy for the past few posts, so now for something different, we have an entry from a guest blogger—outdoors writer Kathy Etling. She’s written a stack of books and magazine articles (see her bio below), and is a passionate outdoorswomen. Here are her thoughts on being a huntress… KH

When I started hunting I’d attract a milling, somewhat amazed check-station crowd whenever I brought in a white-tailed deer or wild turkey I’d bagged myself. By the time the Missouri check station tradition ended a couple of years ago, it was common for my daughter, who’s also a hunter, and I to meet other successful female hunters frequenting the same check stations. What has been so gratifying is knowing – and seeing – the results of what would become a personal lifelong mission to spread the good word about hunting to other women while also doing my best to convince men that yes, women belonged beside them in the field.

Those hunting genes that helped our ancestors survive, during that past 2 million years, weren’t selectively handed down only to men. Women also received those genes, and sometimes more than a mere dollop of them along with patience, fortitude, cunning and endurance. Readers who have borne or raised children will recognize the latter qualities as essential to being a good mother, one with effective parenting skills. Add those qualities to our hunting genes and females become a force with which to be reckoned when they take to the hunting woods.

Hunting and bowhunting rely not so much on brute strength as on stealthiness, intellect, perseverance, woodsmanship and sheer physical endurance. A game animal is gender neutral. Whether hunted by man or woman it will use the exact same tactics in an attempt to escape.

Hunting is a great equalizer. The sport is fun, healthy and relaxing. Healthy because a hunter must engage in physical activity to hunt, an activity one can make as strenuous and arduous as she wants. Healthy because a successful hunter harvests her own sustenance -- wild meat that not only contains little saturated fat, but is devoid of the antibiotics, steroids and hormones that lurk is so many of today’s domestic meat products. Fun because when you’re hunting your mind is released to experience nature as few other people ever will. Relaxing because hunting is often a solitary pursuit, one which generally takes place far from the madding crowd.

Women have recently flocked to hunting in droves for another reason, too: they have learned that it’s a great way to forge strong bonds with the man in their lives, their children, family and hunting sisters.
I now have a granddaughter. My fondest hope is to someday take to the woods with both her and her mother where together I foresee enjoying outings as memorable as those I enjoyed with my daughter when she began hunting with me as a child.

I know already that when my life is over my last thoughts will be happy ones of the many days spent afield with my family and the tired yet contented feeling of coming together to share our tales of the hunt in our cabin or in a tent pitched near timberline.

I can only hope that those now reading these words have found – or soon will find the same joy and fulfillment in hunting as I have. If so, your life will have been good, indeed!

Here’s Kathy’s bio and a link to some of her books…

Kathy Etling has been writing about the outdoors since 1982. She's been on Buckmasters magazine’s masthead since its inception, has been the Field Gear Editor for Petersen's Bowhunting magazine for over 15 years, and was Outdoor Life's Missouri Editor for ten years. Kathy has written numerous features for the NRA's American Hunter, Petersen's Hunting, and Sports Afield. Her books include Hunting Superbucks: How to Find and Hunt Today's Trophy Mule and Whitetail Deer, The Quotable Cowboy, and Cougar Attacks. She collaborated with Montana’s Susan Campbell Reneau to write The Thrill of the Chase: Women and Their North American Big Game Trophies. Kathy’s most recent book is Bowhunting’s Superbucks. Scheduled to be published this fall is Kathy’s biography of Denise Parker, the youngest American woman to win an Olympic medal in archery.

Kathy has hunted elk, bighorn sheep, whitetails, mule deer, antelope, wild turkey, and upland game all over North America. She’s also taken blesbok, greater kudu, and a record book impala in Africa.

After a long wait, the winner of the Field & Stream Women Hunters Web Poll photo contest is Marilyn Hughes of Wilkes-Barre. Pa. She sent some great photos of herself with two of her partners in the field: her son Alex (during a mentored youth hunt for squirrels) and her Weimaraner named Huntzer (with his first bird). Marilyn has been hunting since she was 12, and even hunted for small game when she was about 7 months pregnant with her son. Here’s what she had to say about a recent sporting goods store misadventure:

“I had just gotten a muzzleloader from my husband for Christmas and couldn’t wait to use it for the extended season. While I was at the store, the man asked if I’d gotten everything that my husband needed. I laughed and said that this was for me—that last year I’d had to use my dad’s muzzleloader, and got a deer, and fell in love with the season and the gun (the smell after you shoot, the snowy time of year when not a lot of hunters are out). The man just looked at my like he didn’t believe me, and I paid and went on my way.”

For winning, Marilyn has received Cabela’s Women’s Revolution Fleece pullover in Mossy Oak New Break-up. It’s “designed for the outdoorswoman” with 150-gram Thinsulate™ insulation, a front pocket with dual zippered openings, high-count tricot lining, and a Dry-Plus® waterproof barrier. Thanks to Cabela’s for providing the prize, and congratulations to Marilyn for winning it.

As Long As We’re On the Subject of Gear…

There’s currently a lot of women’s hunting clothing in the Field & Stream office left over from the photography we did for the magazine feature. Most of the manufacturers have nicely agreed to allow us to give it away on the blog. It’s a pretty random assortment of camo (jackets, coats, pants, etc…) and sizes, but it’s all high quality and brand new. So here’s the deal, each Friday, the person who posted the best blog comment or sent the best discussion suggestion of the week will “win” a piece of gear. Of course, this is just while our inventory lasts, but I think we’ll be able to keep it up for a few months at least. Thanks for helping us clean out our closets!

Some women are perfectly happy with men’s clothing, or prefer saving money by wearing youth sizes, but the majority of respondents to our poll said finding the right camo was a real problem (more so than finding a gun or people to hunt with). So we did some digging. The companies listed here (with examples of each of their clothing) have the most extensive women’s lines out there. They include well-known mega-manufacturers and smaller businesses owned by women. Whether you’re outfitting yourself or buying for someone else, consider this your starting point.

Cabela’s
The world’s foremost outfitter has catered to female hunters on and off throughout the years and formally launched its current line of quiet, rugged hunting clothes for women in 2000. Twelve styles are available in five camo patterns, including quick-dry tops and pants, packable rain gear, and insulated outerwear. There are upland and shooting vests, too. (Women’s Dry-Plus Silent Suede Insulated Jacket pictured here, $130); sizes S–XXL; 800-237-4444; cabelas.com

SHE Safari
In 2005 Texas hunter Pam Zaitz set out to make “the largest women-only line of hunting clothes known to man.” She might have actually done it: Her company manufactures 53 styles of field wear (with more to come), in seven patterns, all designed with input from 27 female pro staffers. Three collections—Safari, Upland, and Camouflage—feature everything from pleated, vented shirts to water-repellent fleece outerwear. (Hunter Fleece Zip Jacket pictured here, $90); sizes XS–XXL; 936-756-7169; shesafari.com

Bass Pro Shops RedHead
The RedHead line for women is fairly extensive, with eight different hunting boots and 18 styles of clothing in Mossy Oak and Realtree patterns such as rain gear, polyester-cotton insulated coveralls, and non-insulated bibs. (RedHead For Her Silent-Hide BDU Pants pictured here, $40); sizes S-XL; 800-227-7776; basspro.com

Gander Mountain
The well-developed Guide Series of women’s hunting apparel comprises upland and blaze orange clothing, basic camo tees and six-pocket pants, high-tech rainwear, and insulated waterproof outerwear—over 16 styles of field gear in all. (Guide Series Women’s Camo Fleece Vest pictured here, $35); S–XL; 888-635-2614; gandermountain.com

Foxy Huntress
After Shelah Zmigrosky was forced to wear men’s clothing on her first safari, she began her own line in 2006. The Huntress Collection is 18 styles in safari, upland, and signature camo designs, from lightweight mesh vests to rugged, waterproof, cotton canvas rip-stop fabric outerwear. (Predator pants, featuring a snap/Velcro crotch, pictured here, $145); sizes XS–XL; 866-370-1343; foxyhuntress.com

Mossy Oak
Created in fit sessions with female models, this growing line now offers four field styles for ladies and will be introducing four more soon. The collection includes pieces such as 7-ounce twill shirts and polar fleece jackets in Mossy Oak Break-Up. (Ladies’ Quest shirt pictured here, $44); Sizes S–XL; 800-331-5624; mossyoakapparel.com

High Maintenance Camo
This small Florida-based company was founded in 2005 by three sisters who wanted better gear. They throw in some hunting-themed sportswear (and intimates) but get serious with nine pro-staff items in Realtree patterns: cotton tops, insulated outerwear, and a patent-pending in-seam zipper bib. (Pro Staff Thermal Bibs pictured here, $120); sizes XS-2XL; 866-462-0913; hmcamo.com

Scent-Lok
The company that specializes in odor-eliminating products makes fleece outerwear (like pull-on pants with an elastic waistband), shooter’s gloves for bowhunters, and BaseSlayers tops and bottoms specifically for women, available in two camo patterns. (BaseSlayers Performance Top pictured here, $75); sizes S-XL; 800-315-5799; scentlok.com

Browning
In addition to shooting vests, Browning has four pieces of hunting camo specifically for women--mostly high-performance outerwear in Mossy Oak patterns, including packable, breathable rain gear. (Pac Jac for Her pictured here, $150); sizes S-XL; 801-876-2711; browning.com

L.L. Bean

L.L. Bean makes about four pieces of field gear for women--all upland designs, ranging from water-resistant brier pants to a tan-and-blaze orange jacket with a gamebag. (Pa’tridge Vest II pictured here, $69); 800-441-5713; llbean.com

F&S is currently amping up its coverage for female hunters, and I have to say, I’m so happy to be a part of it. For those of you who read the magazine, you’ve probably seen editor-in-chief Sid Evans’ calls for essays on being a female hunter, and by now you’ve likely read the July feature on outdoorswomen that resulted.

Helping to put that story together was one of my favorite parts of being an F&S editor—and it held the most surprises. While I expected that reading people’s essays and getting the results of the women hunters web poll would be fun, I never expected to find such a rich history of outdoorswomen in the pages of Field & Stream.

It turns out female hunters used to have a strong presence in the magazine. The 1890s through the turn of the century in particular saw a women’s column called The Modern Diana (named for the Roman goddess of hunting), and frequent features and columns written by the magazine’s “lady field rangers.” I spent a number of late nights in the office carefully going through those old, brittle issues, and reading 100-plus-year-old stories by women. The more I read, the more proud I felt to be a part of the continuing tradition of the American outdoorswoman.

That’s why one of my favorite features of this site are the photos, cartoons, and advertisements from the F&S archives we'll be running here. Like the two I've posted in this blog.

A few more things you can expect on this growing site: In addition to an ever-expanding list of recipes (please feel free to contribute), there are a couple of coming-soon’s that will be up by the end of the week, such as a list of women’s hunting organizations, a directory of women’s camo manufacturers, and your photos from recent hunts (I just received 2 great pictures from May bear hunts).

In terms of the blog itself, I’ll post as close to every other day as possible. And I’m looking forward to having a number of guest bloggers who will post opinions, stories, news, and even how-to pieces.

Lastly, feel free to email me! If you have any recipes to send, photos of a hunt to post, announcements, blog discussion topics to suggest—whatever—don’t hesitate to send it to [email protected], and I’ll get it on the site.

That’s it for the moment. If you have any comments on the magazine feature, ideas for the new site, or just want to put in your two cents to help kick off the new blog, feel free to comment below. I’ll sign off with a priceless piece of wisdom I picked up during my research on women hunters: While in the field always remember, “Draggy skirts are an abomination” (see photo)!.

--Kim Hiss

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