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Education, learn to hunt, Plan to Hunt, Topics

Be Loud

Field Dressing in Bear Country

Being quiet in the woods and hunting is definitely different than hiking. But once you have an animal on the ground, it’s time to Be Loud.

CARRY Bear Spray – each person in the hunting group should have a can.

When you have an animal down, there are different ways to minimize bear attraction depending on how you plan to pack it out. Keep your rifle and bear spray close at hand. And Be Loud during processing – talk, clap your hands, and keep watch.

1 – Gutting the deer/elk: Once you remove the offal, move the carcass 100 yards away from the pile (or vise versa) to break down the animal to pack out or drag out. (The theory is the bear will be more attracted to the stinky gut pile, than the meat.)

2 – The gutless method is skinning and removing the meat (4 quarters, back straps and tenderloins) in the field and leaving the skin, bones, and guts in the woods. Bag, then pack or hang the meat away from the carcass as soon as you have it removed.

If you have to make more than one trip to pack out the meat, first, hang the meat you can’t carry. Then on your hike out, hang a piece of flagging tape 100 yards down your path, where you can still see the hanging meat. This is for when you return. You will stop at the flagging tape and observe the meat for 5-10 minutes to see if there are bears or other predators there. Be Loud and have bear spray ready as you approach your meat.

If a bear has claimed your meat – take pictures, mark the location, and report it to FWP Game Warden (1-800-TIP-MONT). They will investigate and you may be eligible for a new tag.

How to stay safe afield, from MT FWP:

Pack meat out as soon as possible.
Avoid cutting up carcasses at dusk or night. If you kill an animal at dusk, be prepared to cut up the carcass in the dark by carrying strong headlamps. Be extra vigilant and watch for bears.
Properly hang meat until you can retrieve your downed game.
If you must leave your animal, return to the site carefully. Leave it in an area that is easily observable from a distance.
Drag gut piles into open areas, if possible, and at least 100 yards from your carcass as soon as possible.
If a bear has claimed your animal, do not attempt to haze or frighten the bear away. Report any lost game to FWP.

Here is a very informative video – https://youtu.be/tihgSHMHVhA

Education, Events, learn to hunt

Rifle Ready

Venery presents Rifle Ready, rifle instruction for women, by women.

Have you ever wanted to learn to shoot a rifle but didn’t know where to start, or didn’t have anyone to teach you ? Or maybe you want to improve your skills and learn more about your rifle. Now is your chance for both!

Venery presents Rifle Ready, rifle instruction for women, by women. A class for the never-evers, novice, and the experienced gun handler and hunter.

Rifle Ready is a rifle handling series where our time on the range will include in-depth instruction on Rifle Safety, Ammunition, Sighting in your Rifle, Rifle Cleaning and Care, Hunting Licenses and Regulations, Ethics and Conservation.

All geared towards keeping you in the field, increasing your odds of success while hunting, and ensuring your safety and the safety of others.

Space is LIMITED – Register TODAY and we’ll see you at the range!

Scheduled Topics: All sessions include shooting practice, plus
Session 1: Rifle Handling + Ammunition
Session 2: Sighting in your Rifle + Rifle Cleaning and Care
Session 3: Effective Range + Hunting Regulations, Ethics, and Conservation

~~All In One $115 – August 7, 2022 9am-2pm~~ completed
September Tuesday Night Sessions (Sept 13, 20, and 27 from 6-8p)
- Full Series $115
- Single Sessions $48

Equipment:
Participants are encouraged to bring their own rifles, ammunition, eye and ear protection or reserve ours by adding on the equipment fee.

Equipment fee includes eye and ear protection, rifle use, ammunition, cleaning supplies and targets.

All-in-One $45
Full Series $45
Single Session $20

Education, learn to hunt, Plan to Hunt

Regulations and E•Scouting Explained

Join us on March 29th. Venery’s all female crew is hosting Regulations and E-Scouting Explained. While you’re enjoying wild game appetizers, we’ll explain MT licenses, permits, and the new regulations, plus offer an E-scouting tutorial. This is a class for women to ask questions about MT FWP’s big game regulations and application process.

Grab a Ticket Here

New to hunting? We’ll help you navigate the 2022 regulations.

Interested in applying for Special Limited Licenses and Permits? We’ll guide you through the permit request process and help you apply for the tags you want, just in time for the Deer and Elk application deadline on April 1.

Plus, we’ll hear about the $4 Block Management donation program from State Representative Marilyn Marler.

Want to know “where you stand?” Sarah Allen will walk us through using online maps to learn an area and to find likely hunting spots.

Regulations and E-Scouting Explained will:

Help you determine a hunting strategy that is right for you
Boost your knowledge of how the Montana permit process works
Answer questions about e-scouting and online maps
Connect you with other like-minded women

Special guests:
Rep. Marilyn Marler, Montana State Legislature (HD90)
Sarah Allen, E-Scouting Mastermind

Want to learn more about hunting?

Check out for Venery’s upcoming Turkey Tactics skills class and Turkey Camp.

We are currently planning more hunting, scouting, and camping events, not to mention we will also have workshops to practice our rifle readiness together.

All skill levels welcome!

Education, Events, learn to hunt

2022 Spring Events

Wow, January went by so quickly and before you know it deer season will be here. So, before we get distracted by talking about deer hunting, here’s what we have going on in the next couple of months.

We are a group of women teaching womxn the hunting skills they need to harvest local, organic, sustainable meat. We host skills clinics and hunting camps throughout the year.

Here are a few Spring events and classes to mark on your calendar:

Free Events:

February 22, 5:30p – 7:30p Hunter Happy Hour at Dram Shop Central (near the mall at 2700 Paxson St, Missoula). Come and get to know us, ask us questions, and meet like-minded people.

March 7, 8, 14 ,15 – 6p-9p Womxn’s Hunter’s Education Class –free (Missoula FWP office 3201 Spurgin Road) This in-person class is free however, registration with FWP is required https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/177655
MT Fish Wildlife and Parks requires Hunter’s Education certificate if you were born after 1/1/1985.

Registration is OPEN

April 9, 9-11a Turkey Tactics Saturday

This in-person class is an introduction to Spring Turkey Hunting in partnership with Artemis Sportswomen and National Wild Turkey Federation. We’ll discuss scouting, habitat, biology, and behavior, followed by a calling demo and practice, then discuss gun safety and specifically talk about shotguns with a chance to shoot and pattern them. Register Here

April 12, 6-8p Turkey Tactics Tuesday

Save the Dates:

May 6-8, 6p Thursday – 12p Sunday Weekend Turkey Camp

This Womxn’s Turkey Camp will connect you with mentors, putting your Turkey Tactics skills to use as you pursue wild turkeys in western Montana. Turkey Camp is an opportunity for womxn from all over the country to come together, share stories, learn from each other, and form new friendships. (fee and registration required)

November 11-13, Womxn’s Weekend Deer Camp, Montana

This is a rifle hunt weekend on public lands and Block Management Access with opportunities for whitetail and mule deer. This Womxn’s Weekend is not a guided hunt. It is not guaranteed success. It is, however, guaranteed fun. (fee and registration required)

We hope you’ll join us. Veneryᵀᴹ is a hunting community where all are welcome. We are women, LGBTQ+ individuals, other marginalized genders, and People of Color, we have a variety of ages and abilities.

Public Lands

But the fish have no song for us to hear.

Musings by Jen Davis

There is a foam running rampant and not looking like much of a threat, but it is breaking my heart. I am an outdoors woman and this feels like the place where the foam is hurting me the deepest, but I’m not so sure that is true. You see I am also keenly aware of my connection to all other beings. I am the granddaughter of a pike and the distant cousin of freshwater snails, I have several aquatic plant sisters and my great great aunt is an egret, silently stalking the littlest fishes and frogs at the edge of that river over there. Yes, I am worried about my drinking water, but why on this mad spinning blue ball would I sleep better at night because some smart politician is running the water through a charcoal filter before it comes out of my tap? When I know that the rain on my garden and the fish in my river and the plants on her shores and my auntie egret get no such filtration. And where do the filters go? Where does the smoke from the incinerator go? If this foam is forever, how can you pretend to work on solutions? When do we say it is time to stop making this poison all together? Where is the army of voices demanding that we stop this hazardous material’s production, now? A silent spring can rally us for the birds, but the fish have no song for us to hear.

Editors note: The hunters we are creating a community with care deeply for nature, and are concerned and practice conservation. This piece was inspired by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services warning.

Education, Topics

My journey as a hunter

I recently shared my hunting reactivation story with my close friend Marcia for an Artemis Sportswomen podcast. Have a listen, and while I didn’t have a closing thought at the time, I do want to invite you to take the time to keep our hunting community open to any who wander our way!

On this week’s podcast – Hunter Reactivation with Alex Stokman! Alex came to hunting in her 20s in the Florida woods. Then life happened and her journey as a hunter became a winding road. What takes women out of the field? What brings them back? What’s unique about their experience? Tune in for an awesome conversation about women hunters + field time.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts at https://artemis.nwf.org/podcast/

#R3 #reactivation #womenhunt #masterhunter

Education, Public Lands

Stonecrop, tastes like cucumber.

Montana Wildflower of the Day! Number 81: Lanceleaf Stonecrop
by Erin White

Stonecrop’s great advantage is in its preference for climates that most creatures shun: windblown, sun-parched, and craggy, where the winters are harsh. Unlike most of us, Stonecrop looks at a pile of scree and thinks, “Yeah! That’s where I’m putting my roots!” With succulent-like leaves, the plant can store volumes of water within a pretty small space and, for good measure, it closes its pores during the heat of the day and reopens them again to accept dewy contributions at night. Thanks to its high water content, Stonecrop brims with vitamins A and C and reportedly tastes like cucumbers. Though you can find it around town and in rock gardens, its leaves probably taste best if you scramble up a backcountry slope to join Stonecrop in the hinterlands.

montanawildflowers #stonecrop #wildfloweroftheday #publicland — at Mount Tiny.

Education, Events, Plan to Hunt

Train to Hunt & RevoMT

Train to Hunt

We have under 90 days until general deer/elk season!

How are your quads feeling about hiking in the woods and hauling that deer out? We want to help you have a good hunting season by helping you get ready for it.

Train to succeed. Training for the hunt should reflect the hunt. That’s why Venery is partnering with RevoMT to launch a 6 week Hunt Prep Class and Program.

RevoMT Hunt Prep Course –

6 WEEKS of two classes per week
HANDS-ON COACHING and programming
CUSTOMIZED to prepare you to perform in the back country
AEROBIC DEVELOPMENT to be done on the mountain or in the gym to ensure you stay alert and capable no matter the conditions

We have a class/program ready to launch to prepare for hunt season specifically, improving overall fitness and work capacity so that the Montana hunter can go further, maintain high energy levels, and stay resilient and composed in any situation. The design is two strength classes a week, and a written aerobic work program (mostly rucking/hiking with other stuff done in our classes) to do additional days of the week. Because smoke season is approaching, we are going to open up the option to hunt prep attendees to pop into some of our conditioning classes during the week for aerobic work in case the smoke gets bad in the following weeks.

Classes run August 13th-September 24th – Limited space available to ensure quality coaching. Mention Venery when you contact Mike@RevoMT.com to sign up and join us as we Become Stronger and Go Further!

Events

Hike + Social

Please join Venery for a Hike + Social on Tuesday, July 30.

We will meet at 6pm at the Pattee Canyon Trailhead parking area.

The planned hike will be approximately 2.5 miles, an out/back, returning to the parking area around 7:30pm.

Hope you can make it. As an added bonus, there are huckleberries along the way!

Education, Events, Plan to Hunt

Where to Start . . . permits

Interested in hunting, but don’t know where to start? Join Venery and our friends from Artemis Sportswomen for an introduction to the permit process – we’ll sort through the regulations together and help answer your questions – no experience necessary!

WHAT: Permit Potluck Party
(Bring hot soup, stew, dish to share. Venery will provide sides and dessert)

WHEN: March 12, 5:30pm – 6:30pm

WHERE: Missoula Public Library – Large Meeting Room

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