Showing posts with label shannon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shannon. Show all posts

Monday, January 30, 2012

R&R - After All The Trade Shows

January is a big, chaotic month in our industry. With the ATA, SHOT, SCI and the distributor shows, I am on the road for the better part of the month. By the end of January, I am in serious need of recharging my batteries. One thing I look forward to is my annual “de-briefing” duck hunt.

I love living in the pacific flyway, not to mention, living 15 minutes away from a prime waterfowl hunting honey-hole. Sunday was the last day of the season. I met up with the usual suspects before sunup. We motored out to a modest blind and set up for the day. In the distance, you could hear the birds start to stir. About 10 minutes from shooting light, I could hear the teals starting to whiz by.

I was excited for the day’s potential, but more importantly, I felt myself relaxing from the month-long trade show tour. My heart would race as we called in birds. At this point, these birds have seen decoy spreads, heard every call in the book and shot at all season. Many circled high, leery to come in.

When birds finally committed, we let them have it. A friend, Randy Hynes, describes it best:

“The whistling of wings at the first light, the landing gear down when they come into sight. The smell of the powder and getting your limit, you wouldn't understand...unless you just did it.”

Friday, November 4, 2011

South Dakota – The Waterfowl Sleeper State


A few years ago, on a Winchester Ammunition ladies hunt, I met Heather Reddemann. Heather is a prostaffer for Winchester Ammunition and SHE Outdoor Apparel. She is a person I instantly clicked with and stayed in contact with over the years. She is a dog trainer at Oak Tree Farm in South Dakota, as well as a full-time pharmacy PhD student. She has been hounding me to get out to South Dakota for not only pheasants, but ducks as well. This year I was fortunate enough to draw a limited tag for waterfowl.

I have always known South Dakota is notorious for pheasants, but what about ducks? Our first adventure out was started with an argo ride (which is now on my must-have list). We found a nice waterhole and hid in the cattails. We saw and heard so many ducks that morning. It became clear to me that South Dakota is a sleeper state for waterfowl.

I could tell it was my first duck hunt of the season, my shot was lousy, but I still had a lot of fun and managed to shoot a nice bufflehead, something I haven’t shot before. That afternoon we got in some pheasant hunting at Oak Tree. I was thrilled to finally say that I had hunted pheasants in South Dakota!

I have always hunted behind German Shorthair Pointers; this was my first time behind flushers. I always thought I liked pointers, but Heather’s labs changed my perspective; I think I am a flusher kind of girl! Her dogs can go from a duck blind in the morning to a pheasant field in the afternoon and perform like rockstars.

The next morning we got back into the waterfowl frame of mind and hunted a little waterhole right behind Heather’s house. We had action all morning! We had pintails, teal and every duck imaginable come into our little spread.

My favorite moment was when I heard a WHOOSH…a small group of green winged teal came firing in like a bunch of fighter jets. I couldn’t believe how quick they were. I was able to drop one of them. I was super excited! The thrill of hearing those quick birds and being able to bring one down picked up my shooting confidence.

I was bummed my trip was so short, but I am glad I got to experience South Dakota. Working with Heather’s retrievers was a treat. They are such versatile and smart hunting dogs. The hunting was great. I can now finally say that I have pheasant hunted in South Dakota, as well as waterfowl. I am also glad I got to share that time in the field with a dear friend.


Monday, October 17, 2011

The Best Warranty For Safes


Chevalier Advertising has handled the marketing, PR and advertising for Cannon Safe for many years. We have always promoted their warranty as “the best one in the industry.”

I challenged their warranty and put it to the test. In the PR office we have a 2004 Dangerous Game series safe. This safe is opened and closed multiple times throughout the day, much more often than your typical residential safe. Recently, the safe would not lock consistently when closed. The safe worked, just caused a minor inconvenience to my day. As it was Friday at 4:30pm, this was the perfect opportunity to challenge Cannon’s Lifetime warranty.

Disclaimer: Not once did I specify who I was, or what my relation was to Cannon. I wanted to experience this as an average consumer.

I called the 1-800 number on the door panel of the safe. No automated menu to navigate, but instead, a real live person picked up on the second ring, “Cannon Safe, how may I direct your call?” I was immediately connected to a “Level 1 Customer Service Representative.” They were very patient and clear with their trouble shooting directions. We did the obvious: new battery on the keypad and made sure the door was clear of obstructions. When the problem was not solved, I was transferred to a “Level 2 Customer Service Representative.” After additional troubleshooting, it was determined that an authorized locksmith would need to come see the safe in person. The customer service rep took down my information and told me one of their locksmiths would be in touch with me to schedule an appointment. The call to Cannon took all of about 10 minutes.

Shortly after, I got a call from the local locksmith. They were available immediately and offered to be at the Chevalier office in 15 minutes. Now being 4:45pm on a Friday, I asked if we could schedule an appointment early the following week. The locksmith happily scheduled an appointment at my convenience.

On Tuesday morning, the locksmith and his apprentice got to work on troubleshooting the safe. They pulled off the door panel and exposed the inner workings of the safe. I learned that Chevalier’s safe had endured so much wear and tear, that one of the bolts was slightly rubbing against another part, which was why the safe had a difficult time locking consistently. The locksmith told me he was going to have to order the right part from Cannon, as he did not have one in stock. Before leaving, he made sure the safe could still unlock, open, close and lock.

The local locksmith called throughout the week to let me know the status of the part. A few days later, the same locksmith was back with the new part. It was installed, tested and ready to go within an hour. Also while working on the safe, he never once asked for the combination. I did not have to pay for any of his services either, it was all covered by Cannon.

A nice touch to everything was the follow up call I received from Cannon two weeks after I placed my initial call to customer service. A customer service rep called from Cannon to make sure I was satisfied with the repair.

Overall, I was very impressed with Cannon’s lifetime warranty. They were courteous from the first call and followed through with a great local locksmith to fix the safe in-house and free of charge. I am proud that Chevalier Advertising represents a company that stands behind their warranty and products.

For more information about Cannon Safe’s warranty, go to http://www.cannonsafe.com/warranty.html

Friday, September 16, 2011

Photos - SHE Media Trip - South Africa

Afton House - Johannesburg

Jeffreys Bay

Karen, Hilary and Shannon - Jeffreys Bay

Sea of Seashells

Tollie's B&B - Jeffreys Bay

Jeffreys Bay

Karen, Tollie and Shannon - Jeffreys Bay

Shannon & Brittany on a game drive

Sunset - game drive - Jeffreys Bay

Up close with Rhinos

Nyala - game drive

Bontebuck - game drive
Momma & Baby Rhino - game drive
Cape Buffalo - game drive

Warthog - Addo

Tollie Our Tour Guide - Addo

Obey the sign
Kudu - Addo

Zebra - Addo

Elephant - Addo

Emu - Addo

Love this sign

The Lodge

Backyard - Lodge

Hilary feeding Bonty and Ears

The rooms

These thorns were EVERYWHERE

Beautiful Sunset at Tollie's

Chuckie

Hilary and Shannon participating in a tradition at Tollie's


Traffic Jam

Family meals

Karen's Blue Wildebeest

Tons of glassing

Hilary's Springbuck

Hilary's Impala

Termite Hill!

Giraffes

Karen's Impala

Sherry's Springbuck

Dawn's Black Wildebeest

Amazing views

Shannon's Black Wildebeest

Shannon's Impala

Cape Buffalo

Taking a quick nap

Sherry's Blue Wildebeest

Karen on a stalk

Karen's Springbuck

Hilary's Red Hartebeest

Shannon's Springbuck