Toni - Featured Lady Archer/Bowhunter

From Toni: I have been a hunter since the age of 10; only recently did I take up bowhunting. In the fall of 98 I decided I wanted to give it a try. As with most of my outdoor activities, I usually get hooked using hand-me-down gear. It was the same with bowhunting. My father acquired a hand-me-down bow from a friend to get me started. He began teaching. Well, it was more like finding and retrieving my arrows-- then standing there patiently while I shot them over the 3D target for him to search out again. Patience! My father has probably used up a lifetime worth of patience teaching me about the outdoors and the joy of hunting. It is those times that we have shared that give hunting meaning to me. I can't do justice to it with words. If you are a hunter, I don't need to explain. With my newfound love for bowhunting I have three more months a year to share the woods with my Dad.

As a child and a young teen I could easily make do with army surplus fatigues or hand-me-downs from male cousins. As the years passed and my body changed it became harder and harder to find outdoor clothing that fit. I usually ended up wearing things that were several sizes to big. To have a piece of clothing fit me in one place you could have put two of me in some of the other parts of it. Oh, you could find a few things with fancy features just for women, but if you were as into hunting as I was, a second income would be required to afford them. Then, you would never have time to be in the woods.

Finally, one year I thought I had hit the jackpot! I found several items in a mail order catalog that were sized for women, or so that is what it read. I ordered it all, coveralls, bibs, pants, shirt, jacket. I was going to be ready for the season ahead. My order arrived and I couldn't wait to try it all on. What a disappointment. It was nothing more than men's clothing with the length cut off. I let out the straps on the bibs. Now they were long enough, but the crotch was nearly to my knees. Ok, maybe I got the wrong thing. I called customer service, only to be told that my boots should compensate for the short length in the legs of my new bibs, coveralls, and pants. I was furious! I packed everything but the jacket, and returned it. Another season I would just have to make do.

Sometime during that hunting season I decided that there had to be other women out there with the same problem that I had. They had to be just as uncomfortable wearing oversized men's clothing. Hey, how long would a man last in a deer stand if he had to wear women's clothing? The answer: He wouldn't go at all.

By season close I was ready to do something about it, so I set out to fit all women in as wide a range of sizes as I could, and most importantly make it affordable.

It took over a year to put together enough items to open Tomboy. Since then more and more items have been added. Tomboy now offers a wide selection of outdoor apparel and footwear for hunting, fishing, hiking, and shooting sports. Sizing ranges from size 2 to 26, and some items can be custom made. To make it affordable I decided on an online catalog. By not printing a paper catalog, considerable savings could be passed along to the customers. The best part is that new items can be added at any time; you don't have to wait till the next season's catalog comes out. Bookmark Tomboy on your browser and keep visiting to see what's new.