| WomenBowhunters | WomenHunters |

I would like to start by saying thank you to WomenHunters and my husband Jim who nominated me. I would also like to thank my family, friends, and our sponsors for their support. I feel very honored to be featured on Women Hunters.

Hunting, shooting sports, fishing and the outdoors is not something I do, it's who I am. My Dad started taking me with him to scout for deer sign when I was three years old. I was on the bank fishing in a trout stream at five.

Living in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, being part of the outdoors is a way of life. Seems everyone I knew growing up went fishing, hunting and camping. We didn't see it as special at the time, but things have changed in a hurry.

I started training dogs when I was 18 years old, the 5-week-old Labrador Retriever puppy I received as a gift from my Dad really opened my eyes to a brand new world. I decided I would start training her and that's also when I started hunting. "Star" was the greatest gun dog I have ever owned. Thank goodness she was smarter than I was. She taught me more than I ever taught her. She was one of the non-existent pointing Labs you hear about. She was awesome. I taught her to hunt quail, grouse, and ducks. She pointed, flushed and retrieved. She did everything, but pull the trigger. Star taught me to trust her and her abilities and that you don't have to yell, blow your whistle till everyone else wants to strangle you, or use a shock collar. The things we learned together I use everyday in all that I do. Because she taught me so much I have titled in obedience, shown in conformation and field trials, and spent many hours afield. I am now a professional Dog Trainer and own and operate Super Dog Obedience Training. I have been training and teaching others for 22 years.

I met my husband Jim in 1986 and we were married in 1993, he is the only person besides my Dad that truly understands me. For birthday, anniversaries, etc, he gives me shotguns, rifles, and muzzleloaders, but his most fatal mistake came in the fall of 1994 when he bought me a bow for my birthday. I loved it, but had a terrible time judging yardage and wanted to bowhunt. I had been hunting with a rifle and shotgun for years, but wanted the challenge of hunting with a bow. Jim suggested we go to a few 3-D tournaments and that would help with yardage and shot placement. The first tournament we attended was in January on the side of a mountain. There was 12 inches of snow on the ground and it was 17 degrees. It took us all day to shoot 25 targets. I missed seven and came off the course with a score of 150. For those of you that know how 3-D shoots work, that is a rather poor score. I was on the top of the world. I won the shoot and was tickled pink. After the shoot, Jim and I got in the truck. Needless to say, we were two huge ice cubes. He had a very serious look on his face when he asked, "What do you think of this 3-D business?" I just grinned and replied, "When is the next one?"

Since then, Jim has coached me to five local 3-D Championships, the N.C. State Championship in 1998 and was ranked twelth in the world in 1999 with the Archery Shooters Association, a National Archery Circuit. Jim and I have been hunting buddies since the day we met. We have harvested over 60 big game animal, exotics, and birds. We have had a lot of help over the years and are very fortunate to have 38 sponsors in the hunting and archery industry and of those, we are on 25 Pro Staffs. I am also an outdoor writer and photographer. I have always loved to write, but never dreamed I would have the opportunity to write anything that would be published. A special thank you to National Bowhunter Magazine, WomenHunters.com, WomenAnglers.us, and WomenWhoHunt.com where Jim and I are also on the Board of Directors and Pro Staff.

Jim and I have also launched two new business ventures, The Outdoor Advantage Group, a division of Team Frady Archery Adventures. We will specialize in products for the outdoor industry and will work closely with WomenWhoHunt.com. Also Team Frady Angling Adventures another division of Team Frady Archery Adventures, will be another educational program for women and youth and will work hand in hand with WomenAnglers.us.

Success is great, but not if you are selfish with it. Jim and I knew there had to be a way to "give back" so others could get involved in archery and hunting. We started doing archery programs ten years ago and developed the "Outdoor Classroom". We decided in 1997 that we would start "Team Frady Archery Adventures". This program was designed to sponsor one high school student a year with products, lessons, annual hunts, and to introduce them to 3-D. At the end of the first year, we had 4 boys and their parents. We seemed to have a hard time saying "No" Our team is now 17 strong and we could not do this without the help of our sponsors, whose kindness we can never repay. Our archery and outdoor classroom programs were designed for children, youth and women to introduce them to archery, how to be safe in the outdoors, and hunting. We take our programs to schools, camps, 4-H Clubs, Boy Scouts of America troops, camps for the terminally ill and women's programs, such as Becoming an Outdoors Women and hosting all women's hunts. Our daughter, Leah, who is 14, is also a big part of all our programs and is the youngest instructor recognized by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission in their Becoming an Outdoors Woman Program. She has been shooting a bow since the age of four. We also have an enclosed 14' hauler we take to all events. We offer advertising packages for the hauler to our sponsors and others that believe in the importance of our programs. Jim and I also knew that our education was a key in helping young people and women. We are both certified Archery Insturctors and N.C. Hunter Education Instructors.

Our youth and women's programs have grown by leaps and bounds. By the end of 2003, we will have completed over 105 programs. I believe that success is the best when it is shared with others. We know that youth and women are the future of all shooting sports and hunting. We feel that it is our responsibility to insure our hunting and outdoor heritage. Jim, Leah and I will do all we can to keep these programs alive and growing.

I was told that this article was to be about me, but without the help of so many others I would not have had the success I have been blessed with. Everything we do is a "team" effort, and as far as I know there is no "I" in TEAM. There are very few people that taste success that can say they got there all by themselves; they had help along the way. My Dad use to tell me "If you can dream; it you can do it." No truer words have ever been said. I would like to thank all the people that have helped me make my dreams come true. My parents Arby and Sue Higgins have always supported me and never limited what I wanted to do or try because I was a "girl". It was because of their support and a "you-can-do-anything attitude" that got me where I am today. I was an active member of my Dad's Nascar Sanctioned Pit Crew for six years and sat in the driver"s seat myself for two seasons. My family was involved in racing for over twenty years. One of the highlights was racing at Hickory Motor Speedway with all of Dale Earnhardt's children. They drove the Late Model Stock Division with my Dad; Kerry, Dale Jr. and their sister Kelly. It was great Saturday night short track racing and of course, Kelly was the better driver. We all have great memories and stories from our race track days.

My husband Jim, who has always given me wings to fly and the confidence that he would be there to catch me if I fall. He promised me when we got married that our life would never be boring and he would make all my dreams come true. He has lived up to his promise. Our daughter, Leah, a.k.a. "Bud" for letting me see things through her young eyes and for being the best any Mother could ask for. I also want to express a special thank you to all of our friends that didn't laugh at us when we told them ten years ago what we wanted to do. Also, we have the best sponsors in the industry and without them our programs and dream would have never got off the ground.

I would also like to thank all of our active Team Members without them our programs would not run as smooth or our hunting camps as meaningful.