Sitemap

Become a Member, It's Free!

Fishing Guide Reviews

Forums

Free Email Newsletter

Free JHO Decal

Gear Reviews

Hunting Guide Reviews

Hunting for Women's Hunting Clothes at the 2008 SHOT Show

Holly Heyser - JHO ProStaff - Sacramento, CA
March 18, 2008

LAS VEGAS – Camo panties. Camo teddies. Camo pajamas. No, no, no, no, no!

Is this the state of hunting apparel for women? It’d be easy to think so walking through the massive SHOT Show in Las Vegas, where nearly 2,000 exhibitors hawked their wares to nearly 31,000 buyers Feb. 2-5.

Everywhere I went at the SHOT Show, I asked exhibitors, “What have you got for women? I mean hunting clothes, not camo bikinis.” All too often the answer was a big, fat, goose egg.

What could be more depressing than that?

I’ll tell you what: Columbia’s answer to the question. Columbia actually produced a line of women’s hunting clothing. Sales rep Andy Harring said the retailers that carried Columbia were totally supportive, giving the clothing ample space on their racks and promoting it well. And what happened?

“It kinda sat there,” Harring said. “It didn’t sell.”

We (women hunters) didn’t buy it. So Columbia stopped producing it.

Fewer than one in ten hunters are women, according to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service data, so it’s not surprising that the market caters to men. Women also spend substantially less on hunting gear – less than 60 percent of the national average spent by all hunters. Given those facts, it seems amazing that anyone makes anything for us at all.

Yet in the maze of guns, camo and other toys at the Las Vegas Convention Center, my fellow JHO ProStaffers and I did find three clothing companies that catered exclusively to women hunters: SHE Safari, Foxy Huntress and Próis Hunting Apparel.

All three were founded by women who got tired of shopping for hunting clothes and having to settle for poorly fitting menswear. SHE Safari came first in 2005, followed by Foxy Huntress in 2006 and Prois just this year.

Each offers something a bit different. (View a comparison chart here.)

She Safari
Comfortable fit and great styling are hallmarks of She Safari clothing.

SHE Safari, as the name suggests, is big on safari wear – not surprising, given that the seeds for the company were sown when Pam Zaitz was preparing to go on safari with her husband Brian and couldn’t find any clothing made for women. If no one else could do it right, Zaitz decided, she’d have to do it herself. She started making her own hunting clothes, and when her friends started raving about them, a clothing line was born.

Now the Texas-based company is backed by a team of professional and celebrity huntresses, including Olympic shooter Kim Rhode, country singer Irlene Mandrell and Outdoor Channel personality Vicki Cianciarulo.

Its clothing line includes a full range of upland, big game and technical shooting apparel. Its shirts feature feminine lines, always tailored for a woman’s waist; the pants feature dropped waistlines to avoid binding.

Find it online at: http://www.shesafari.com

Foxy Huntress
Functional is the keyword when it comes to Foxy Huntress designs.

Foxy Huntress, also based in Texas, is on a different mission. Like Zaitz, Foxy founder Shelah Zmigrosky wanted to create a line of apparel that was both flattering to the female form and functional in the field. But from the start, she wanted a designer feel.

“I want clothes that look like they come from a couture shop,” she said. “Quality and functionality are our No. 1 goals.”

Zmigrosky’s clothing line features Italian fabrics and an exclusive camouflage design based on feather patterns. While it includes plenty of non-hunting wear for those who want to look good while they accompany husbands on safari, the hunting wear is still rooted in function. One pair of green camo pants includes a Velcro-release crotch for relief without the grief out in the field. And a waterproof jacket includes a hood with black netting that zips over the face.

Like SHE Safari, Foxy Huntress also features upland apparel.

Find it online at: http://www.foxyhuntress.com

Prois
Prois clothing is clearly designed by someone who has spent some time in the field.

Próis Hunting Apparel is the new kid on the block, founded by Kirstie Pike, a hunter and runner from Colorado who has drawn inspiration from the best of technical running apparel. “I wanted something functional and slim, not bulky,” she said.

Aside from the usual logo caps and T-shirts, all of her clothing is strictly for hunting. But having just launched, the Próis line is the most limited of the three, featuring pants, shirts, vests and jackets in two camo patterns. It does not include upland hunting apparel.

But the clothing Pike does offer is loaded with features clearly conceived by someone who’s spent time in the field thinking about what she wanted. The jackets include two pockets in the liner – one between the shoulder blades and one over the lower back – designed to hold heat packets. The pants include waistbands with elastic and adjustable straps on the side, and the pant legs include zippers and drawstrings at the bottom. Her long-sleeved T includes thumbholes to keep the sleeves taught – helpful for the bowhuntress.

Find it online at: http://www.proishunting.com

None of the three companies offers a line of clothing for waterfowlers, though all three plan to develop one. Foxy Huntress is also developing a European hunting line that will include breeks and other more formal hunting apparel.

The biggest problem is that none of these clothing lines is as broadly available in stores as men’s hunting apparel, although SHE Safari is stocked in many chain stores. Women who don’t live close enough to the right stores will have to make their purchases online or over the phone. That’s a huge issue for me; I normally have to try on a manufacturer’s clothing at least once before I know which size works best, and whether the clothing line is cut well for my particular proportions.

But ladies, if we don’t buy it, no one’s going to keep making it for us. So perhaps it’s worth a try.

Male readers may be wondering why women hunters need their own clothing.

To you, I say this, "Just imagine having to wear women’s underwear. Not made for you, is it?"

That’s our problem with your clothes. We don’t need the room you are given for your gut – we have waistlines, and all that extra fabric gets in the way. Conversely, we do need room for our hips and thighs, and to get that room in your clothing, we get waistlines so big that the pants fall right off of us. Not too cool out in the field.

And yes, many of us actually do want to look like women in the field. While we pride ourselves in being as tough as men, none of us particularly likes being mistaken for one.

So while we appreciate your hand-me-downs, we’d really prefer a gift certificate for one of these women’s hunting apparel companies.

Next month: JHO ProStaffer Holly Heyser field tests pants from each company.