It’s Never too Late to Start Smoking … Meats that is

Smoking meats, what an interesting process to learn! Since I hunt and usually freeze or can my venison, I wanted to try something new. My research showed many different opinions on the smoking process, both personal preferences and safety. Historically, it’s an interesting subject. Well before the invention of refrigeration, people preserved their meats with salt, drying and smoke. The smoking process dries the meat and emits acids which cling to the meat, forming an outside layer. This acid preserves the meat by slowing down the growth of bacteria and preventing mold from forming. Smoking also improves the flavor and color of meat, making it more appealing.

There are two different methods for smoking meat. Cold Smoking (sometimes called Hard Smoking) does not cook the food. It is required when the meat is being smoked for preservation without refrigeration, something early hunters did to extend the length of time meat could be eaten after the hunt. It is dried rather than cooked and includes curing the meat. This process is similar to dehydration but uses salt, spices and smoke.

Through my research, I discovered cold smoking is truly done in temperatures at or below 100°F, from several days to several weeks. Since these temperatures are in the rapid microbial growth range of 40°F- 140°F, cold smoking is NOT recommended as a home process. The National Center for Home Food Preservation says, “Most food scientists cannot recommend cold-smoking methods because of the inherent risks.”  Perhaps our ancestors had stronger stomachs or maybe that’s why they died younger. Leave the cold smoking up to the professionals.

If industrially cured, smoked and stored properly, this meat will keep indefinitely, although it should be eaten within a year. The other method, Hot Smoking, cooks the meat gently and slowly. This method is usually done at temperatures 150°- 225°F and used for tastier flavor and richer color. It will need to be eaten, refrigerated and stored in the same timely manner as any cooked meat.

Curing meat is an important step in the smoking process. It is done with either a Dry Cure or a Brine (wet) Cure. When preparing meats with a dry cure, the salt, sugar and spices are sprinkled directly on the meat and refrigerator for a minimum amount of time. A brine cure has the salt, sugar and spices mixed into water. Whether using a wet or dry cure, it’s important to use a container made of glass, plastic or enamel, never metal.

Just as there are many different processes and recipes for smoking meats, there are numerous smokers on the market. Some are electric or gas, while others use charcoal or wood. They may use wood chips, bisquettes, chunks, powder, pellets, and so on, depending on the smoker you purchase. I chose the Bradley Digital Smoker. It’s electric, has 12 flavors of wood bisquettes and is super easy to use. Remember, I’m trying to experience new things. Why work harder when I can work smarter?

Smoking to Make Jerky

Using the leanest cuts of meat, remove all visible fat. Slice the meat evenly, no more than a quarter inch thick. Slice across the grain for tender bites, with the grain for tough, chewier bites.

Purchasing a ready made cure was the way I prepared my meat. There are many different brands out there with numerous flavors available. The sodium nitrate it contains is primarily used to prevent botulism, but also add flavor and an extended shelf life. I used the dry method to cure the meat, and stored it for 24 hours in the refrigerator, per the manufacturers suggest. This amount may vary depending on the cure you use, the amount of salt it contains and the thickness of the meat.

With the curing process compete, I set my electric Bradley Smoker for 150°F and enough smoking bisquettes for 2 hours of smoke. There is a fine balance for the amount of smoke you want in the meat. For the most part it’s trial and error, a matter of taste. Since drying is the process that makes jerky, I didn’t add water to the drip bowl. Once the 2 hours were done, I increased the temperature to 180°F and continued cooking (about 4 more hours) until I liked the consistency of the dryness. This part could also have been done in my oven, since the smoking was complete. Again, there are many different recipes with various temperatures and times. It’s just a matter of finding the process that you like best.

Smoking Fish

Smoking fish has long been used as a way of temporary preservation. Again, as with meat, the only safe way is to use the hot smoked method with a brine.

Although fish preparation varies by species, there are principles that apply to all types. Always use quality fish. Smell it, touch it and look at it. Thaw frozen fish in the refrigerator or fresh water. Keep cool until ready to smoke. And be sure to cut fish in uniform pieces for equal salting.

Salting fish should be done in a non- metallic bowl with a brine that is 1 part table salt to 7 parts water for at least 1hour in refrigeration. Once competed, rinse the fish surface and air dry in a cool place.  Now the smoking. Once your smoker reaches 100°F, add your oiled racks of fish and set temperature to 225°F. Once the thickest part of the fish reaches 150° it should be held for 30 minutes. I only smoked my fish for the first 3 hours.

Smoked fish can be stored in the refrigerator for almost a month. Properly wrapped, it will last in the freezer for 1 year.

Smoking Flavor

There are many different woods that can be used for smoking. It is suggested that chicken and fish are better with apple, pecan, cherry and alder wood. While pork and beef are complimented with hickory, mesquite or oak. With all the choices in wood, meat and spices, there is an infinite number of flavors that can be created when smoking meats. However, there are a few things to keep in mind during the process. Since you want the meat to stay moist, be sure to maintain water in your drip pan. This will add moister to your smoker throughout the process. Wrap meat aluminum foil and let it rest for 15-20 minutes after smoking to allow the juices to re-distribute before carving.

Brine chicken, turkey and other lean meats overnight in the refrigerator, before smoking to retain moisture. Other cuts of meat, beef, ribs, and chops can be rubbed with spices or mopped. When smoking for flavor, the temperature of the smoker should be between 200-300 °F and always make sure your meat is cooked to the proper internal temperature for safety.

Smoking meats is an enjoyable process with fantastics smells and delicious results. Do your research, decide what smoking process will work best for you and find some recipes.  Get going and start smoking!

Chukar Hunting in North Carolina

The story of my chukar hunt experience originally written for NRA Family in the spring of 2016 …

A hunting preserve can be the perfect place to bring new hunters and youngsters. The benefit of this type of hunt is that everyone is guaranteed to see game, and if your fast enough, be afforded the opportunity to get some shots. Also, hunting over dogs, makes for a much more controlled environment allowing for a better learning experience and tremendous fun.

With overcast skies on the verge of rain we drove down the long gravel driveway of the Blue Horizon Quail Preserve in Asheville, NC. My own excitement grew as I caught a glimpse of a lone pheasant scurrying through the tall, wet grasses. Having never hunted field birds, that pheasant communicated I was in for an exciting adventure. Another first for me would be hunting with a dog. A rare, red labrador retriever, Larry Darryl is a personal friend.

When we pulled into the lodge, we could hear the excited barks and howls of the facilities hunting dogs in their kennels. After parking I walked over to get a closer look at them and their exhilaration took over. I’d never seen hunting dogs in their environment. Crazy is the best description, as the dogs began jumping, wagging their tails and barking. Obviously they wanted to get out and go on a hunt. Certainly they were disappointed when they found out that we didn’t need their help because we had brought Larry Darryl.

There were rules to discuss before walking the field. Hunter orange and eye protection were mandatory. Trying to keep in a straight line, shoulder to shoulder, is how we would walk. Of course everyone needs to mind where their muzzle is pointing at all times. In the excitement of a bird flushing, we would need to be careful to not shoot over or across another hunter. Also, the retriever had to be taken into consideration. To be sure the bird was far enough above Larry Darryl, no shots should be taken below the horizon. At all times, guns were to be kept on safe. Some hinge action shotguns were kept broken open if that hunter was working with the dog or taking pictures of the group. With all that taken care of, I was ready to hunt.

Walking the rows, I kept a watchful eye on Larry Darryl as he darted and pounced, sniffing at the air. Even hunting dogs wear hunter orange vests. Larry’s even has a reflective stripe around it, making him much more visible in the tall grasses. I intently watched Larry, waiting for him to show signs of winding a bird. His owner, Dick Jones, uses the term “winding” to describe when Larry gets the scent of the bird. After Larry’s first point and flush, It didn’t take me long to learn how to read his movements.

The biggest advantage of hunting with a dog is being able to walk primarily on the clear cut paths without having to stomp grasses and “beat the bushes”. Even with the dog it didn’t take me long to figure out why bird hunters wear brush pants. They sure come in handy for the times you need to walk in brush that was filled with burs and prickers. Larry, on the other hand, runs in a zig zag pattern, beating the bushes and dealing with the briars for us. When he would venture out a little too far, Dick would say, “Close. Close Larry.” and he would come back toward us.

When Larry winds a bird, he circles an area, closing in as he sniffs. Once he locates the bird, he moves closer until he’s standing right over it. It’s absolutely obvious when Larry goes on point. His posture is perfectly still.  Hunters quickly move forward, getting as close to Larry as we can before the bird flushes. It’s quick to the shot as the bird flies away. It’s usually obvious who gets the first shot and who will be back up in case of a miss.

Once the gun shots are heard, Larry waits for Dick to point to the area were the bird fell and announce the command to “Fetch it!” He quickly runs in the direction Dick pointed, locates the bird and carries it to us. It’s pretty amazing how he can find those birds. Larry did a fantastic job by locating and retrieving every bird we shot.

Ricky Nixon, the owner of Blue Horizons, has a beautiful piece of property. At the request of my husband, Chris, he walked with us during our entire hunt. Larry’s “daddy” Dick Jones, raised him and trained him well. Larry Darryl is a very hard working and well behaved retriever. He never stopped moving and always wanted to search a little more for another chukar. He didn’t stop until Dick finally told him we were done. Once Larry got into the van, that tired boy instantly fell sound asleep. It was pretty cute.

My first bird hunt was beyond successful! Only one chukar we flushed managed to get away. As tradition at the Blue Horizon Quail Preserve, there is always a photo on the front porch with the day’s bag. Chris and I gladly had our photo taken for their Facebook page. A smile was easy to conjure as this day was a real treat.  Surely a hunt I will never forget. The next time we’re in North Carolina we will come back to see Ricky for another bird hunt or maybe even pheasant tower shoot.

Have you ever gone chukar hunting?

A Tour of Faulk’s Game Call Company

On a recent trip to Louisiana, I paid a visit to Faulk’s Game Call Company in Lake Charles, LA. Established in 1951, Faulk’s is a family owned, internationally known manufacturer of hand crafted game calls. I had no idea how much I was about to learn.

It all began in the 1930’s with Clarence “Patin” Faulk, a hunting guide and trapper, crafting his own duck calls out of bamboo. His calls were successful and other guides and hunters soon wanted him to make calls for them. Patin’s son, “Dud” Faulk, learned how to make calls and it was he whom established the Faulk’s Game Call Company. Using those calls, Dud won the International Duck Calling Championship and the World Champion Goose Calling Championship twice. These accomplishments were great for promoting his business.

A backyard garage of a residential area in Lake Charles, is where Faulk made his calls. Although it has expanded some, Faulk’s is still in the same building where the laundry was once washed by Patin’s wife. Owned now by the daughters of Dud Faulk, it was a treat to tour the shop where it all started.

For the past 48 years, 71 year old Art Le Jeune has worked for the Faulk’s. Art worked the power lines before he was hired part time by Dud at age 23 years. His skills have kept him at Faulk’s all these years and he tells the company history as well as he crafts calls.

Always looking for a less time consuming way to make calls, Art engineered many of the machines in the shop. He and a coworker make as many as 60,000 calls a year! I experienced first hand how every one is handcrafted and tuned.

Each call starts as a solid piece of cut dowel and is formed one step at a time. A variety of patterns are used depending on which call is being made. A lathe is used to make this concave profile, making the call easier to grip. Specific cuts or designs are also added to distinguish one type of call from another.

Quan is a loyal employee who came to Faulks many years ago as a teenager. He is LeJuene’s only partner. During my tour, he constantly worked at his machine, dropping each part into the basket where it awaited the next step of the building process.

Almost everywhere I looked there were stacks of baskets. Each containing hundreds of call parts in various stages, waiting to head to the next machine.

Staining is all done by hand. Calls are placed on homemade boards with specially set pins. Two passes with a sprayer and they are set to dry. The boards eventually get a thick build up of lacquer. Every other year Art uses a hammer to beat the lacquer off.

Hand cutting reeds seems like it would be a daunting task. However, with so many years of experience under his belt, Art rhythmically cuts a long strip, with a die leaving very little waste. The reed’s shape varies depending on the type of call being made.

Throughout the tour, Art occasionally blew a call so I could hear the different sounds being created. He keeps a book near his desk that plays electronic calls. He uses it as a reference if a customer phones him with a concern. Art’s ability to call is amazing. He knows the calls of birds and more matching them perfectly.

What started as duck and goose calls only, has blossomed into what is now over 50 different types. From the Wood Duck Squealer call, to the Predator calls and everything in between. Boxed up and ready to go, these quality, hand tuned Faulk’s Game Calls are heading all around the world.

Before leaving the shop, I purchased a few Faulk’s Game Calls which Art signed for me with an engraver. When I asked about his last name he explained that Le Jeune means, “the young,” in Cajun French. Perhaps that’s why this 71 year old artist/craftsman is still making games calls for the 4th generation of the Faulk family.

Faulk’s Game Call Company

Women of British Special Operations in World War II

Meet the women of the British Special Operations in World War II. Although their stories are rarely told, their actions had a profound effect on history.

Lise de Baissac, Special Operations

Lise de Baissac was born May 11, 1905, to a wealthy French family. When the war broke out, she eventually made her way to England with the help of the U.S. Consulate. She joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), and was soon recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE), England’s wartime spy organization.

On September 24, 1942, she was one of the first female secret agents to parachute into France. Posing as a poor widow and amateur archaeologist, Lise searched for suitable landing strips and drop zones. Soon, she began receiving parachuted containers of weapons. These were left under the guard of local farmers and used for sabotage. Her mission lasted 11 months, at which point she was ordered back to England because the Gestapo was onto her.

In April 1944, after waiting for a broken ankle to heal, Lise returned to France. Soon she joined her brother in Normandy, where she disguised herself as a refugee from Paris. She helped set up several more resistance groups and communicated messages by bicycle. Lise and her brother delayed the arrival of German reinforcements to the Normandy front by organizing sabotages and attacks.

Lise died at age 98 on March 29, 2004.

Andrée Borrel, Special Operations

Andrée Borrel was born outside Paris on November 18, 1919. Along with her friend Maurice Dufour, Andrée organized and operated the first underground railway into Spain, from July until December 1941. They used the escape line to evacuate downed Allied airmen from occupied France. Eventually, after the network was betrayed, she fled to Portugal and joined the SOE.

Along with Lise de Baissac,  Andrée was one of the first female agents to parachute into France. She joined the resistance in Paris and eventually became second in command. In June 1943, Andrée was arrested with three other members after having attacked a power station and other infrastructure. When she would not give up information during interrogation, Andrée was taken to a concentration camp. There she was given a lethal injection. Horribly, she regained consciousness before her cremation. Andrée fought the doctors for her life, but was eventually overpowered and cremated while alive.

Pearl Witherington, Special Operations

Cecile Pearl Witherington was born in France on June 24th, 1914, to English parents. The eldest of four daughters, Pearl had to being working at an early age to support her family because of her father’s drinking. In the spring of 1940, as Germany began invading Western Europe, Pearl began organizing her family’s escape to England. Soon after arriving in England, she began working for the Air Ministry. Soon afterward, she was accepted into the SOE for training because of her fluent French.

At age 29, after only three weeks of training, on Sept. 22, 1943, Pearl parachuted into France and posed as a representative for a cosmetics company. She spent 8 months delivering coded messages to radio operators. When the leader of SOE was captured, Pearl found herself in charge of 1,500 Resistance fighters. This unit, code-named “Wrestler,” blew up 800 stretches of railway lines and supply routes. 18,000 Germans gave themselves up as the Allies advanced out of Normandy.

In April of 2006, at age 91, Pearl was awarded her parachute wings. She died on February 24, 2008.

Phyllis Latour Doyle, Special Operations

Phyllis Latour Doyle joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force in 1941 to work as a flight mechanic at age 20. Soon, she was offered a job as a spy by the SOE. Phyllis began an intensive training program where she learned surveillance and encryption, and had to pass challenging tests.

On May 1, 1944, at the age of 23, Phyllis parachuted from a U.S. Air Force bomber into occupied Normandy. She traveled on bicycle throughout France, pretending to sell soap. Using coded messages, she was able to give information to the British on Nazi movement in preparation for D-Day. Although at times, she was able to stay with Allied sympathizers, she often slept in the woods, finding her own food. By the time France was liberated in August 1944, Phyllis had secretly relayed 135 coded messages to the British military.

In 2014 she was awarded France’s highest honor, the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, at the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Normandy. She was 93 years old.  She now lives in Aukland, New Zealand.

These ladies from British Special Operations lived amazing lives, doing heroic deeds.

Hopefully I have inspired you to pursue information on the lives of other historic females.

Meet Historical Huntresses Delia J. Akeley and Mary Kingsley

Writing about early female big-game hunters, aka historical huntresses, was not as easy as I thought it would be. I chose 2 women, Delia J. Akeley and Mary Kingsley, who I feel exhibited strength and who pursued their dreams despite what society expected of them. And although these ladies wrote many books, there is very little information available about them.

Delia J. Akeley

Delia J. Akeley (“Mickie”), born in Wisconsin on December 5, 1875, worked, alongside her husband, Carl, as a respected taxidermist. In 1905, The Chicago Field Museum commissioned Carol and her to Africa and collect examples of elephants. Delia had never fired a gun before, but she quickly learned how to shoot and hunt in order to assist her husband. Among the many animals collected during the expedition, Delia successfully brought back 2 of the finest elephants.

The couple returned to Africa in 1909, this time on an expedition for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. When an elephant injured her husband, Delia took charge of the exhibition for three months. She hunted every day, also observing the behavior of monkeys. The museum still displays one of the elephants from this trip in its Africa Hall.

1924 found Delia divorced and led a small expedition in the Congo to hunt and photograph animals. While there, she began studying reclusive Pygmy tribes.

Throughout her life, Delia traveled many times to Africa, studying both primates and indigenous people. She is remembered as a hunter, an author (her books include 1928’s J.T. Jr., The Biography of an African Monkey and 1930’s Jungle Portraits), and one of the first westerners to explore the desert between Kenya and Ethiopia.

Mary Kingsley

Mary Kingsley was born 1862 in London. Although she came from a wealthy family, the only education she received came from her father, a doctor. Self-taught, she read books on natural history found in her father’s library.

In the early 1890s, after both of her parents passed away, Mary traveled to West Africa to continue her father’s study of early religion and law. Alone, in her 30s, dressed in Victorian gowns, she traveled throughout the jungles, collecting specimens for the British Museum and studying cannibalistic tribes.

In 1895, Mary returned to England and began writing her book Travels in West Africa. She also began a lecture series based on her findings of more than 100 specimens. Her first travels to Africa were quite eventful: She fell into a game pit filled with spears, she was caught in a tornado while climbing the slopes of Mount Cameroon, and she even battled crocodiles.

Mary fought to free African culture from the influence of missionaries and settlers. She returned to the continent twice more, her final time a visit to South Africa, in the middle of the Anglo-Boer War and an outbreak of typhoid. She served as a nurse in Cape Town, but after two months contracted typhoid. At the age of 37, she died of enteric fever; she was buried at sea.

Other Huntresses

There are many more female historical huntresses whose books tell of amazing travels. For those interested, check out the following authors: Astrid Bergman Sucksdorf of Sweden, Courtney Borden from Chicago, Great Britain’s Joyce Boyd and South Africa’s Fiona Capstick.

Rosy Pickled Eggs: Hard-Boiled Eggs and Beets Recipe

My taste buds have had weird obsession with beets lately, that doesn’t seem to want to go away. Luckily, I’ve found a way to add these beets to another obsession of my pallet, pickled eggs.

Thankfully, a dear friend entertained my obsession with a mason jar filled with Rosy Pickled Eggs. Needless to say, “I’m hooked.” Luckily for me though, no one else in my family has the love for this mouth watering culinary delight.

So, I share with you the Rosy Pickled Eggs recipe I’ve adjusted a bit.

Rosey Pickled Eggs

What You Need:

• 2 -16oz. cans of small beets
• 1 cup of white vinegar (you can also try apple cider vinegar)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons of mixed pickling spices
• 1/2 teaspoon of non-iodized salt or sea salt
• 12 -18 hard boiled eggs, peeled. (Recipe for perfect hardboiled, easy to peel eggs to follow.)
• 1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings.
• 1 wide mouth, 2 quart mason jar (We buy those giant jars of pickles so I use those sometime.)

The Recipe:

In your 2 quart mason jar, combine beet juice, vinegar, 4 cups of water, garlic, bay leaf, pickling spices and salt; mix well. Alternate layers of eggs, onions, and beets; cover and refrigerate for several days. Enjoy!

Perfectly Easy to Peel Hard Boiled Eggs

Set your eggs on the counter, allowing to come to about room temperature. Find a pot that, when half filled with water will fit all the eggs you want to boil. Bring the water to a boil and reduce to simmer. CAREFULLY add your eggs. I use a slotted spoon. Set your timer for 16 minutes. Return water to a boil, cover and reduce back down to simmer.

When your timer goes off, carefully bring the pot to the sink and start adding cold water. You’ll want to cool the eggs off as fast as you can. I drain all the hot water, start adding cold and then some ice. Once the eggs cool down start peeling.

 

Nesting Ornaments: Giving Mother Nature a Helping Hand

Usually I am a very positive person when it comes to weather. Living in Ohio, it is the only way to survive. This year though, it seems like Spring may have a difficult time arriving. As I look outside, I see all the poor fluffy robins that have returned, only to experience another burst of cold and along with quite a few snowflakes. After eating all the berries from my holly bush, they hunker down in the branches, seeking some sort of refuge. What’s a poor bird to do when she should be out searching for her nesting supplies?

It is at this time, just before spring, that I like to give Mother Nature a hand. Whether the birds will make their home in one of the bird houses hanging in my backyard, or hidden deep inside an arborvitae, my feathery friends will begin looking for materials to build nests soon. This is where I can lend a hand.

First, I headed out in my yard with a basket and collected all the different natural nesting materials I could find. I tried to get a combination. Some suggestions are:

• Dried leaves
• Dead twigs
• Feathers
• Fluff, from ornamental grasses, cattails, cottonwood
• Pine needles
• Bark
• Dry grass
• Moss

I also searched in my house for manmade materials. Honestly, I just had to walk in my craft room where I found nesting materials galore.

• Strips of fabric, lace (cut to about .5 X 3 inches)
• Yarn and string (about 2-4 inches long)
• Stuffing material
• Human hair (I clean out all the hairbrushes)
• Pet fur
• Cocoa fiber (usually found in hanging baskets)
• Thread clippings
• Easter basket grass

There are some items you should avoid:

• Pet fur that has been treated with flea or tick spray
• Dryer lint, because of fabric softener and it crumbles when wet
• Fishing line

Once I collected my materials, I needed something to put it all in. Sure, you can drape it on shrubs, stuff it in the crotch of a tree, or pile it in sheltered areas, but I like to make nesting ornaments. The plastic mesh bags that oranges and onions come in work great. Large pinecones and empty suet cage holders are another choice. With all the supplies on my kitchen island I was ready to begin. Remember, it is still really cold here, otherwise I suggest you do this outside, it’s a bit messy.

With the bags stretched open, I added a little of each material at a time. Putting the stuffing and fluff near the bottom helped keep the material from falling out. I broke some of the twigs so they are smaller and cut my fabric and yarn into sizes that would be both safe an manageable to the birds. Once each bag was loosely packed, cinching the top with a string and making a hanging loop was all I had left to do.

Since there was quite a bit of nesting materials left, I used the large pinecone and suet feeder cage I found in my barn. Again, I loosely filled the suet feeder, leaving some ornamental grass sticking out the sides. For the pinecone I just stuffed some material between the seeds and added a string to hang it.

Now, time to hang up my nesting ornaments. Since my kitchen sink looks out into my backyard, I put the nesting ornaments where I can enjoy watching the birds pick through them. It is important to not only hang them high enough to protect the birds from any predators, but to make sure it is in an place where they will feel safe. Under my pergola, among the trumpet vines is another good area.

There are no hard and fast rules about setting out nesting materials. You might want to do a little research about the types of birds in your area, and what they use to build their nests. Weather plays an important role too. I watch for the robins to start arriving and pay attention to the forecast. It is suggested that nesting materials be set out in early spring. I prefer to watch the activity in my own backyard to determine when I will hang my nesting ornaments.

All my hard work pays off when the weather breaks and I can enjoy being outside. With a little snooping, I find some of the nests that were built in my yard. It is a great feeling to see pink Easter grass, fabric and yarn mixed in with all the other debris. I also get to enjoy the beautiful songs of the birds in my yard and watch as the mamas feed their ever hungry babies.

Yes, it is a great feeling to know I gave Mother Nature and my feathered friends a hand with my nesting ornaments.

Here is a great resource from the Ohio Division of Wildlife for attracting birds to your backyard.

Meet 8 Red Army Female Snipers of World War II

A sniper is defined as a highly trained marksman who operates alone, in a pair, or with a sniper team. They maintain close visual contact with the enemy and engage targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the detection capabilities of enemy personnel. Snipers wait for hours, sometimes even for days, to engage a target. When I searched the word sniper online, Chris Kyle (the subject of the Oscar-winning film American Sniper) fell in the top results; he had 165 confirmed kills.

Digging deeper, I discovered some famous female snipers: The Red Army Female Snipers of World War ll. The most common rifles for the Red Army during WWll were the sniper versions of the a .30-caliber (7.62mm) bolt-action rifle Mosin-Nagant, with a 5-round internal magazine, usually fitted with a 3.5X fixed-focus scope. Later in the war, some elite snipers received new semi-automatic Tokarev SVT-40 rifles, which fired the same cartridge but had a detachable 10-round box magazine.

Female Snipers

Lyudmila Mykhailivna Pavlichenko

Lyudmila Mykhailivna Pavlichenko was born in the Ukraine in 1916. At the age of 15, while living in Kiev and working at the Kiev Arsenal Factory, she joined a shooting club and became a sharpshooter. In June 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Lyudmila had completed her fourth year of studying history. She was among the first to volunteer for sniper training and requested to join the infantry. Assigned to the Red Army’s 25th Rifle Division, Lyudmila was credited with taking 309 Axis soldiers in just 14 months. After being wounded by mortar fire, she left the front line to train numerous other female snipers for the Red Army and become a public spokesperson.

Amazingly, she later traveled to the United States during the war, and was the first Soviet citizen welcomed at the White House by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She also met with Eleanor Roosevelt and attended fundraisers, where she was awarded both a Colt 1911 and a Winchester Model 70. After the war, Lyudmila finished her education at Kiev University and began a career as a historian. She died on October 10, 1974, at age 58.

Klaudia Kalugina

In June 1943, 17-year-old Klaudia Kalugina was one of the youngest females to attend sniper school. When asked in a recorded interview about the training, she said, “They taught us tactics: how to shoot, how to camouflage. Also ballistics, how the bullet flies. Here it flies, here it hits.” Klaudia was partnered with her best friend, Marusia Chikhvintseva, in the winter of 1944 as a sniper/scout team on the front lines. That summer, a German sniper killed Marusia from 200 meters away. Klaudia spent the rest of her life living for Marusia. She claimed an unconfirmed 225 kills.

Natalia Kovshova and Maria Polivanova

Natalia Kovshova and Maria Polivanova were both born in 1920. Together, they attended training for snipers and volunteered for the front. They dug antitank trenches, took part in the defense of Moscow and trained. Less than a year later, in August 1942, a battle occurred where many Russian soldiers were killed. Natalia and Maria were two of the few who remained alive, although wounded. They waited in their trench until German troops approached, and then detonated their grenades, killing themselves and their enemy. They were posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union commendation in recognition of their sacrifice.

Roza Georgiyevna Shanina

Roza Georgiyevna Shanina volunteered for the military after the death of her brother in 1941, and chose to be a marksman on the front line. Nicknamed “The Unseen Terror of East Prussia,” she specialized in shooting moving targets and making doublets (two target hits by two rounds fired in quick succession). Roza became the first Soviet female sniper to be awarded the Order of Glory. She is recorded as taking 75 enemy soldiers. Sadly, she died at the age of 20, defending an officer of an artillery unit.

Nina Pavlovna Petrova

Nina Pavlovna Petrova, nicknamed “Mama Nina,” was born in 1893 and was nearly middle-aged (48) when the war came to Russia. Volunteering for service, she went to sniper school and took 122 enemy soldiers in the course of her duties. Unfortunately, she was killed in a car accident at age 53, just 7 days before the end of the war.

Nina Alexeyevna Lobkovskaya

Nina Alexeyevna Lobkovskaya was born in Siberia in 1925. She joined the Red Army in 1942, after her father was killed. She commanded a company of 100 female snipers from Feb. 1945 until the end of the war, including at the Battle of Berlin. Her company of female snipers served not only in the Army, but in the Navy as well. She is credited with 89 kills.

Tatiana Ignatovna Kostyrina

Tatiana Ignatovna Kostyrina was just 19 years old when the war broke out. In 1943, she assumed command of an entire infantry battalion after the commander and most of the staff had been killed. Tatiana had more than 125 confirmed kills in her career on the Eastern Front.

Of the estimated 800,000 women that served in the Red Army during WWll, 2,000 were snipers. Of those snipers, about 500 survived the war. All told, these female Red Army snipers are credited with more than 12,000 kills.

As far as I can tell, women are still not permitted to be a sniper in the U.S. armed services.

Women’s History Month: Move Over Annie Oakley, These Women Were Great Shooters, Too!

March is Women’s History Month. Trying to decide whom to write about, I first thought of Annie Oakley. However, since everyone knows about her, I dug a little deeper. Following are 4 great shooters whom you may not have heard of, and need to know more about, because they were great shooters, too.

Deborah Sampson was born in 1760 to a poor family in Plympton, Mass. At a young age, Deborah lived in various households. Her mother could not provide for the children after her father didn’t return from an overseas trip. She spent much of her childhood on a farm, spinning, weaving, cooking and learning how to handle a musket. In the spring of 1782, while working as a schoolteacher, the patriotic and adventure-seeking Deborah acted on her idea of enlisting in the Army dressed as a man, taking the name Robert Shirtliffe (the spelling in historical documents varies).

Five-foot-eight and broad-shouldered, she found herself assigned to the dangerous task of working with a scouting party, which came under attack. Later, she dug trenches, enduring constant cannon fire, and helped storm a British fortification. In 1782, Deborah received a huge gash from a sword and caught a bullet in her left thigh. To keep her gender concealed, she extracted the pistol ball herself. For more than 2 years her secret remained undiscovered, until she fell victim to an epidemic and was taken to a hospital, unconscious.

Deborah received an honorable discharge on October 23, 1783. She later married and had 3 children. She was the first woman in the country to go on a lecture tour.

Pauline Cushman was born Harriet Wood in New Orleans, in 1833. She changed her name when she began touring the United States, performing in a series of plays. In 1863, she was given the chance to spy for the Union army. Pauline began touring alongside Confederate forces. Her striking looks helped her obtain information and even discover battle plans. At one point, she was caught, tried and sentenced to death – only to be saved by an invasion of the Union troops. Her spying continued, and later, President Lincoln commended her for her service and awarded rank.

The war over, Major Cushman now toured the country giving lectures about her exploits as a spy. She was even featured in the P.T. Barnum circus show.

Elizabeth Servaty Toepperwein was born at New Haven, Conn., in 1882. At age 18, while working as a cartridge assembler in a Winchester factory, she met Adolph Toepperwein, an exhibition shooter employed by Winchester and a member of a vaudeville shooting act. After marrying a few weeks later, Adolph gave Elizabeth her first shooting lessons. When, after several tries, she finally hit a tin can, she exclaimed, “I plinked it!”which earned her the nickname “Plinky.” Soon she was shooting 1-inch pieces of chalk and crayons from between Adolph’s fingers and from his mouth, as part of his act. During the St. Louis World’s Fair they made their first appearance as a famous husband-and wife-team, The Famous Topperweins.

In 1906, Plinky won her first trophy in an open trapshooting competition, breaking 99 out of 100. She was the first woman in the U.S. to qualify as a national marksman with the military rifle and the first woman to break 100 straight targets at trapshooting; later, she scored 200 straight 12 times. In 1916 during an endurance shoot, she broke 1,952 of 2,000 targets in 5 hours and 20 minutes, the most ever shot by a man or woman in a single day. Although trapshooting was her main interest, she was equally proficient with rifle, pistol and shotgun. Can you imagine Plinky shooting 3-Gun?

Born in 1910, Alice H. Bull grew up in Port Angeles, Wash. Her father taught her how to shoot, hike and ski. At age 7, she riddled a neighbor’s washtub with BBs. Noticing her interest in guns, Alice’s father gave her a .22.rifle and told her the never-forgotten slogan, “A gun is always loaded.”

Much later, she became captain of the women’s rifle team at the University of Washington, while earning a degree in business administration. After college, Alice won her first trophy, shooting a .38-caliber revolver at a state pistol shoot-off. From there, she won many championships, including the national women’s high-power-rifle title. She competed in the National Rifle Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, in 1935, 1936 and 1937. In 1949 Alice became the first woman elected to the National Rifle Association’s board of directors. She also was the first woman to earn the Army’s Distinguished Rifleman Badge, in 1961, and serve on the federal government’s National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice, in 1972.

Alice received the Sybil Luddington Women’s Freedom Award for her lifetime achievements on behalf of shooting sports and the right to bear arms at the NRA’s 1996 national convention.

Fifty years from now, who will we celebrate during Women’s History Month? Who are the “Great Shooters” of today? Which women of today are setting records and making a difference? Do you know a strong woman who is making her mark in history?

This article about great female shooters first appeared March 12, 2015 in Women’s Outdoor News.

Sweetheart Grips: Soldiers Keep Their Favorite Gal Close By

It’s February and the perfect time to bring back my article about Sweetheart Grips, originally posted in Women’s Outdoor News.

In high school I despised going to history class. The only activity I recall was coloring a map and choosing purple for the Ottoman Empire. Later, in college I learned to appreciate the study of our past when I attended an Art History course. Objects from the past  tell so many stories. One just needs to do a little research (or have a great imagination) to let that article talk.

Now, as an adult, my love of history continues.  Photography, books and movies about wartime are a few of my passions. The ever present scene with the soldier looking lovingly at a tattered photo of the gal he left behind, always chokes me up. While touring the National WW ll Museum in New Orleans, LA I enjoyed seeing displayed many of those worn and faded photos within the glass cases. Who did these photographs belong to? How many times must a soldier gaze at the photo, longing to return home and see his gal again?

In most movies we see a soldier  pulling a tattered photo from his pocket or from under his helmet. How else might the soldier have held on to the image of a loved one left behind? How could he protect it from the elements of war? I began researching through history books, online, and talking to people in the field and at local gun shows. Eventually I found an interesting and artful way this devotion was expressed, sweetheart grips.

Throughout history, soldiers have created unusual souvenirs from battlefield debris. After World War I some used the word “trench art” to describe these creations made from carved bones, scrap metal or shelling casings, among other things. During World War II, some American soldiers even found unique ways of replacing the grips on their pistols. This form of trench art came about as a result of the invention of acrylic. New to this war was clear, lightweight acrylic that covered the viewing ports of warplanes. Known as Lucite, men salvaged the debris from downed planes. Soldiers used the Lucite to carve replacement grips for their Colt M1911A1 pistols. Removing the standard wooden grips from their Colts, they replaced them with handmade transparent grips. However, prior to putting the grips on, soldiers would place a photo of their gal where the grip attached. Thus, the “sweetheart” grips came to be.

Although many grips had photos on both sides, some soldiers kept one side of the grip clear, without a photo. This way, he would have a viewing port to see how many rounds he had left. Having a photo under the grip also made it easy for a soldier to identify his gun, should someone else pick it up. And as for finding enemy guns, many soldiers made clear grips for those too.

Once I found all this information, my quest began to find a set of these historical sweetheart grips? I started by heading to a local gun show. Some venders looked at me like I was crazy, having never heard the term sweetheart grips. Other vendors I talked to had seen a pistol come through at one time or another with a photo on it, but there were none in the building the day I went to search. Although photography was prohibited, one vendor kindly allowed me to take photos of a war era gun with the original grips.

 

Luckily, Garrett, who owns Garrett’s Gun and Ammo eBay store, found a pistol for me at another gun show. Although this French Unique 25 auto (1920-1930) is not what you would have found the soldiers carrying during WW II, it does show the spread of the sweetheart grip outside the war. According to Garrett, the elderly man who sold the gun said his wife was the gal in the photos. Whether this is true or not, I enjoy a good love story so, I’m going to believe him.

 

Just like the soldiers in WW ll, many people still enjoy customizing their firearms, and grips are an easy, non-permanent way to make that change. There are many colors, textures and designs to choose from. You can even use your own photo to have a custom set made. Rio Grande Custom Grips manufactures premium custom grips for many models of handguns with removable grips. They have a library of more than 80 designs that range from skulls and camo to animals and flowers. If you find a design that you like, they can even add a name or date to personalize them. If you want a completely customized grip, they can do that, too. Using a personal photograph of a loved one or a pet, Rio Grande Custom Grips can create your very own custom Sweetheart Grip, much more durable than those our soldiers carried in World War ll.

I had a set created for my husband and found the process very easy. I e-mailed a few high-resolution images to them; they picked out the one that would fit on the grip the best, and confirmed their choice with me. A week or so later, the grips arrived. Not only do custom grips show a little of your personality, it also gives others a glimpse of something you hold dear to your heart.

The tale of the sweetheart grips; true or exaggerated love stories? Some say, There is no way these grips were made from wind screen of a Japanese Zero. They either burned on impact or crashed in the ocean.

I, on the other hand, believe in the love story. An exhausted, muddy soldier carved the grips of my French Unique 25 as he sat in the trenches with bullets flying overhead. They carry the photos of his sweetheart, whom he later married upon his return. Oh, and they lived happily ever after.

Who would you put on your sweetheart grips?