Photo: Jason Baird.
It’s almost too late to get standard shipping on anything for Christmas, and if you’ve waited this long, you missed out on all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales that seemed to last for three weeks. You may be stuck on “pause,” trying to think of what to get your “girl” this Christmas—something she won’t forget.
Here are a few ideas for the woman who shoots and/or hunts, or who has expressed a desire to learn to do either or both. Give her the gift of an experience that involves shooting. Dress it up in a lovely envelope with a handwritten note and put this in her Christmas stocking or under the tree. (You could throw in a diamond eternity ring, too. It never hurts.)
When was the last time she trained on her gun—whether it’s her CCW handgun or her pheasant hunting shotgun? Why don’t you give her a trip to train with the best?
Shotgun Training
I’m hoping to get down to Texas this coming year to train with Gil and Vicki Ash, shotgun instructors extraordinaire at the Optimum Shotgun Performance school. If you can’t swing the ticket to Houston, then take a peek at their “Knowledge Vault,” which is chock full of videos and other instructional materials that she can try at home and on her own range. You can purchase that right now. It would make a super gift.
If shotgunning is her thing, she might enjoy a membership in G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Really into Shooting), which has chapters around the country and runs special events.
Handgun and Rifle Training
You may want to check to see if there are any of these women’s shooting organizations in your neck of the woods: A Girl & A Gun, DIVA WOW (Texas based) and The Well Armed Woman. Ask other women who belong to these organizations about them. Ask your local gun club/range if it has one and about what it entails. Ask how often they meet and what they do during their meetings. It’s only $50 for a starter membership at these organizations.
Or, if you think she would like an intensive experience on a range, check out the classes at Gunsite Academy, which offers classes onsite in Paulden, Ariz., and offsite throughout the country. NRA board member Il Ling New is a rangemaster and instructor here. You can purchase a gift certificate online. Better yet, purchase the experience for both of you. My husband and I took the Pistol 250 course a few years ago together and we are still talking about it and practicing what we learned.
Hunting Together
Have you hunted together somewhere with an outfitter? I highly recommend hunting with Wildlife Systems in Texas (for mule deer and dove), and have been impressed with its services. If you know of a well-reputed outfitter, now is the time to book for next season. What are you doing for New Year’s Eve?
Ultimate “Girls Outdoor Trip”
I’ve heard, yet I’ve not witnessed, that the NRA’s Women Women’s Wilderness Escape offers a smashing time afield and on the range with excellent training. Last year’s experiences included long-distance shooting tactics under the guidance of NRA board member and long-range shooter Kristy Titus, a weekend of sporting clays at Silver Springs Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania, a Sig-Sauer MPX carbine class in New Hampshire and the mother of all events: a week of rifle, shotgun and pistol instruction at the NRA Whittington Center in New Mexico. Check the NRA’s website for this coming year’s events.
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