Author: Elizabeth Lanier

I can’t believe it’s July already! June was steamy hot on the East Coast and July looks to be as bad. The bright side of being smack in the middle of all this summer heat is that we are getting that much closer to the fall, my favorite time of year for several reasons.

Happy June everyone! I am not sure where the time goes, but it sure flies by. My May was so full of travel, weddings and celebrations that I am not 100 percent certain what day it is right now. My middle child graduated from high school, my daughter had her junior prom and one of my best friend’s daughters got married. There have been a birthday celebration (ugh), athletic banquets and baccalaureate services. This is a long way of saying there has been less shooting time than we would have liked around here. But alas, we must have our priorities.

As I stood yesterday looking at the big looming facade of Gold’s Gym, dreading the forthcoming workout, I thought “Damn all that meat and Malbec!” Yep, it happens every year! We go to Argentina and we become gluttons. We eat too much, drink great Malbecs and a few (or several) cervezas and shoot until we cannot hold the gun up anymore.

The last few years have seen a jump in the number of women getting involved in the shooting sports and the shotgun sports are seeing a surge in women participating. So much so that gun manufactures are even marketing guns specifically for women. For me, whatever gets them out there enjoying a morning or afternoon of shooting is fantastic.

Well for us here from the Mid-Atlantic up to Maine, the winter hopefully is having its last hurrah and Spring is coming! I guess ol’ Punxsutawney Phil was right when he said six more weeks of winter, and boy have we had it! Good grief, we are so ready for some good weather and with that comes shooting fun again.

February is upon us! Where does time go, truly? The older I get, the faster the days seem to fly by.

January has been full of action in the shooting world. There has been the Dallas Safari Club Show, The Shot Show in Las Vegas, and now the Safari Club International show in Las Vegas is just around the corner. From all I hear, the first two were a great success. I’ll be attending SCI in Las Vegas and hope to see many old friends and meet new ones there. I always look forward to seeing all the new offerings the shooting world is bringing forth gear, lodges and trips and these shows are a great place to seek them out.

For those of you who happen to look at Lanier Shooting Sports or GRITS on Facebook, you’ll see that I’ve recently become a self-professed “Quack Addict.” Now, as with all addictions, there were outside forces that played a part in this as well as apparent pre-disposed genetic traits that have lead me to love shooting in general.

With the holiday season upon us, I’m often asked about the gift of shooting products — questions about vests, pouches and certainly guns. Even though I kid about it all the time, it’s certainly true: “It’s all about the gear!”

Last month we mentioned how much we love the fall shooting season! It’s the season where we finally get to pull out the Dubarrys or other favorite boots, tweed vests, and scarves for some driven shooting, or our favorite upland field pants and jackets for a great day of walk-up hunting over dogs. I’m looking forward to some excellent duck hunting as well, so here comes the CAMO. Yes, I admit it I’ll be sporting the camo for some duck hunts this year ranging as far south as Louisiana and North to the Delmarva Peninsula as well.

With the surge in popularity of shotgunning among women, gun manufacturers are realizing there is definitely a need for better fitting guns for women right off the shelf. This is a tall order to fill. Why? Because I am not sure there is such a thing as a perfect fitting gun off the shelf, but we are getting much closer.