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Artemis


Artemis endeavors to get more women in the field and on the water, to support women as leaders in the conservation movement, to ensure the vitality of our lands, waters, and wildlife. Artemis endeavors to change the face of conservation.

Sep 10, 2020

Sharenda Birts bought a gun, and then let it sit in her closet for a year. She wanted to learn to shoot, but just didn't know how people did that. Her fortunes changed when she met group called The Well Armed Woman. Shooting led Sharenda to re-loading her ammo, and then to hunting. She's hunted deer, dove, pheasant -- and totally has plans to keep expanding. Sharenda's story is a powerful testament to what you can accomplish when you take control of your own learning and experience.

2:30 Obligatory adulting knowledge: There are TWO cities called 'Kansas City' -- one in Kansas, the other in Missouri

5:30 How did 'cream of mushroom' get to be the secret ingredient in so many game recipes?

6:00 Idaho pheasant hunting 101

9:30 Learning gun culture when you come from a culture that's not into it... it's hard to walk into a gun range when you don't know how to handle a gun. And if nobody in your network is a gun person? Added obstacles.

10:00 Buying your first gun.... and then letting it sit in the box for a year

10:30 AND THEN... you get invited to a meeting to a group called The Well Armed Woman ... and all of a sudden, you have your people. It was a totally diverse and welcoming group of women, an 'in' to the shooting range

12:00 "Hey, you should probably get into re-loading." Yet again... how do you get that new skill set?

13:00 Then, a commitment: Even though I'm a beginner, I'm going to try to share what I know. The response? Oh boy.

14:00 "You can't be in the firearm community and not be sociable. Firearm people do not let you not be sociable." So true. AND, you also can't not want to try something because you don't have that skill set. Nope. Be a beginner. It's totally ok.

16:00 Back to the re-loading... calling a local Fish and Game department, "Hey, I heard you used to offer these classes. I'm interested," and having it snowball from there

17:00 Facebook communities to check out: "The Re-Loading Podcast" and "The Georgia Shooting Connection"

19:00 Re-loading know-how... there's beginner-level, and PhD-level

21:30 Shooting those first few rounds you've reloaded yourself. Please don't let it blow up my face.

25:00 Reloading ladies night - all the husbands are wanting to crash that party!

26:30 RESOURCES: Hodgdon powder company -- you can call and talk to a human with any questions; "The ABCs of Reloading" book; "Reloading with Rosie" series; Lyman series of books; and your local conservation office is priceless

32:00 Getting into hunting? Even harder than getting into shooting and reloading

34:00 Bore sight - total game-changer 

36:00 Learning the hard way... Wait... you mean other people are using gun rests? BECAUSE I WAS STANDING THE WHOLE TIME!

40:00 When the first hunt is a dud because of the crew... it's the worst. But we ALWAYS learn something (in this case, that you CAN put a scope on a shotgun)

43:00 Second hunt? Finding the she-crew you knew you needed to get into this sport

45:00 You NEED to hear this story of Sharenda's first deer hunt. It's amazing. 

52:00 Coyote fur hats... don't miss that ep with Cindy Barlow!

55:00 WildHERness - a skill-building organization for women and girls... ALL KINDS OF SKILLS - from driving/docking a boat to identifying migratory waterfowl (Find them on Facebook and Insta)

56:30 - Sharenda is @pinkshears on Insta

1:00:00 Vortex Fury range-finding binoculars or Maven Optics... and with those big purchases like binoculars? "Cry once, buy once."

1:06:00 Maggie Heumann's list of 'must-have' flies

1:08:00 Artemis Podcast Facebook group