Discover A Woman Who Loves To Hunt And Instruct With Sallie Doty

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Discover A Woman Who Loves To Hunt And Instruct With Sallie Doty

We’re going to head up to Pierre, South Dakota and meet up with Sallie Doty. Sallie is an interesting lady. She was a competitive swimmer in college and now she’s out stalking mule deer and whitetails with a bow. Sallie, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

I’m glad we connected on social media. I’m glad that you were interested enough to get on the show because I love having ladies on the show to talk about women in the outdoors and we’ll start right there. How did you get into hunting?

I’d always been interested. A backstory on myself, I grew up in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and not a lot of hunting opportunities there. My family didn’t hunt but they had nothing against it. We had other hobbies and activities that we did. Nothing against it but just had no interest. I always had a little bit of interest. In Sioux Falls right after college, it was getting immersed in that culture in The Dakotas and I met my now-husband, then-boyfriend. He was all into hunting and fishing. I knew if I was going to hang out with this guy, I was probably going to learn some stuff. It was certainly an experience and he was good about introducing me to it and slowly easing me in.

The first thing that I wanted to do was to get a bow because that was the big trend. It’s been around for a long time but back then, everybody was getting bows. He bought me this little Bear Apprentice back in 2012. I practiced with that bow and it was a good little bow. I’ve got newer bows since then. In December of 2012, I was able to shoot my first whitetail doe. He only allowed me a doe and he said, “I don’t want you to have the shakes,” and I still had shakes of course. Getting used to this stuff, getting used to the animals being around you and we’ll take a doe, have the meat and enjoy it and then see if you like this experience, which I ultimately did and had a lot of fun with.

You’ve gone on to take some mule deer also.

Where I live, if anybody knows anything about Pierre, it’s the central mecca of where whitetail and mule deer meet. If I want to go hunt, we make that decision, “Do we want to go to our west or in our east?” Sometimes when we hunt, do we want to go after whitetail or do we want to go after mule deer which is an awesome and cool decision to have to make. That was my first experience, it was a mule deer. Since then I’ve harvested a few, but more so whitetail after that. Mule deer is a whole different breed of themselves and they’re fun to watch and fun to watch out in the breaks bouncing around. It’s been a great experience getting to know the land here since I’m not from here, and all the animals that are a part of the central portion of South Dakota.

I understand that South Dakota is split up, East River and West River. What you’re saying is the whitetails are at East River and the mule deer are at West River, is that correct?

It’s somewhat correct. It depends on the area more so. When you go west you’re going to see more of the breaks and the hills and that’s where a lot of the mule deer are going to be. If you find a river bottom and even in West River, that’s where a lot of the whitetails predominately hang out. Eastern portion is certainly whitetail country, but when you get into the central to western portion, you begin to see a lot of the mule deer. We have a healthy mix of both species here.

How many days a year do you spend hunting?

It depends on how many tags I get sometimes. If you draw the lucky straw, you get to get out a lot more. If I don’t draw, we’re always still getting archery tags. There’s always work to be done there. It’s a good portion of my September, October and November. We end usually mid-December and I don’t get out a whole lot. We ice fish here. We do that in the wintertime and then get out after turkeys in the spring. We don’t have an extended deer season into January-February like some states do. About half the year, that’s probably a fair guess.

Are you a rifle hunter also or just archery?

I do both. I hunt with a rifle. I allow myself as many tags as they’re willing to give out. I’m going to try all forms of hunting. I’m not biased one way or another. I do love my bow, I love shooting and I love everything about it. It’s also nice to understand weaponry, understand how things work and understand ballistics. I’m becoming more of that now. Understanding windage and all that stuff, those factors that go into harvesting an animal for may be further away than you would with a bow.

What caliber do you shoot in your rifle?

I have a 6.5 Creedmoor. I know that’s becoming the popular caliber.

It’s hot date these days. I don’t know how else to say it. If I was going to buy another gun, I’d buy that. I have a .280 and I have a .25-06 and it funnels right in between as I understand it.

I get so many questions about it. I shoot a Savage and, “Is this gun going to be good for my daughter? How’s the fit?” I get a lot of those questions because they hear that the 6.5 is the new greatest thing out there, even though it’s been around for a while. It’s taken off these last few years really well.

It’s extremely popular, extremely accurate and it’s a great cartridge as there are many great cartridges out there. My best gun is still my .30-06. That’s the best rifle that has killed an untold number of games, from elk to mountain goats to coyotes, everything in between.

There’s nothing wrong with that. That’ll do the job as I say. Whatever you’re comfortable with and you can use by all means, go out and do it.

That’s good sage wisdom. That’s what I learned a long time ago is, whatever you are comfortable with and shoot well, then hunt with that weapon. You’re hunting whitetails. Are you river bottoming or spot and stalking? Tell me the strategies.

With the whitetail, a lot of times we sit in treestands or ground blinds. It depends on where we are on a property. If you’re like, “Today is a better day to go after them.” If the wind is right, then we’ll go on foot. Most of the time for the whitetails, we’re not spot and stalking. For the mule deer, we usually are. I’d say most of the time we’re out of a blind for whitetail.

Do you prefer ground blinds or hang-ons?

It depends on the location. I like ground blinds but they’re sometimes hard to maneuver around as everybody knows. You bump into parts of the blind. You’ve got to make sure you can pull your bow back. I prefer the treestand but then again it gets cold here. We live in the north, and if you want to hunt in November in the middle of a snowstorm, be prepared to get the wind blowing on you and the snow blowing on you.

That’s why a lot of people have gone to crossbows if they’re legal in your state and most states are legal now. You’re shooting a crossbow, it’s similar to a rifle and it’s a lot easier to maneuver. Back when I shot a compound, I wouldn’t shoot it out of a blind. I wouldn’t do it. With the crossbow, it’s a completely different story.

I’d have to check. For some reason, I want to say that now, it’s still you have to have a license, a permit or a doctor’s note to get them here. They’re pretty stringent I know about their crossbow laws.

No matter where you’re hunting in the United States, don’t assume that you can hunt with the crossbow, even though they’re extremely popular. Check your local fish and game regs and do it right.

If that interests somebody, I haven’t had the opportunity to do it here but definitely check with your game, fish and parks department and see if that’s allowable. I would hate to see somebody run off into this and thinking they can do it.

Since you were a competitive swimmer in college, how has that helped you become a better hunter?

There’s a lot of arm strength involved. First of all, pulling the bow with the poundage back, I’ve always had that shoulder muscle on that, upper back muscle from swimming. We went D1 and we would swim four hours a day sometimes, mostly three hours a day. That’s still instilled with me to this day. I swim quite a bit every week and do other activities as well, the physical aspect of being able to pull the bow back. The mental aspect of every day is not going to be a great day. You’re not going to have a great hunt every single hunt. You don’t have a great swim or great race every single race. That prepared me for some levels of disappointment sometimes but that’s life, that’s hunting, that’s sports and that’s game and everything associated with that. Those two factors in and of themselves. I’ve got a hard work ethic too, from being in college sports and so much discipline and being accurate. That has definitely flowed over from the competitive swim world, now into the hunting world.

When you think back, what do you wish your boyfriend, now husband had taught you when you were starting off hunting?

I wish I would have worn warmer clothes a lot of times. Maybe that’s one of the biggest ones because the first time I shot a mule deer with a rifle here, it was negative seventeen. My fingers, the bottom finger and the middle finger froze to the trigger guard and I had frostbite. “Wear gloves if it’s that temperature,” I’ll tell people that and I wasn’t outside for long. We were outside a short period of time. Maybe I should put it this way, I wish there was gear at that time developed for my little hands.

The gear has come a long way in the last years. I had a hard time wearing gloves and shooting at the same time. That was one thing. I should have invested in a lot better bow, but how do you know that in hindsight if you don’t like it? What if I were to shot that mule deer and I’m like, “This isn’t for me?” Why wouldn’t you invest the money in a nice, not saying that one wasn’t nice but get an upgrade to a nicer Bear bow? Those are two things that I would do differently.

You look at your hunting gear and get the best you can when you start. It’s smart to get the best you can, buy a second-hand bow or whatever for getting started and test the waters and see, “This is something I want to get into.” There are plenty of places to spend your money, that’s for sure.

There are a lot of things you can skimp on in life and sometimes there are things that are not worth skimping on like if a bow is so cheap, it’s so defective that you can get hurt while shooting it. That’s not a good idea. Make sure your equipment is all functional, working, it fits you and it’s right for you.

Let’s talk about the tremendous growth women are enjoying in the outdoors. Manufacturers are certainly focusing on the women segment of the outdoor market. Why do you think that’s happening?

The sheer growth in the number of women and also there have been a lot of companies that have started out as, obviously the clothing whether the gear was designed for men. They have already branched off. Now, there are a lot of companies that are women-starting clothing and women-starting specific brands because they know that even the women’s line that came off of a men’s line still is not functional. I’m part of something right now. We’re developing a specific camo for Azyre Gear coming out soon. They’re already on Instagram and you guys can check them out. It’s a woman who started the company. She’s receiving a lot of feedback from women that thinks some things still are not right after these many years of development and growth in the industry.

There are no pants that come in longs. I’m 5’8” and have the legs of a 6-foot person. I can never find pants that fit. I know everybody has that problem. Everybody can tell me all their leg problems and we all can join and chime in together about how pants don’t fit. That’s a big one for me. This new company coming out is going to help revolutionize issues that we have all had, bringing them together as one for the women dominated hunting society and be able to provide some gear that’s fully functional for all of us.

Can you share the name of the company?

It’s Azyre Gear. They’re located on Instagram.

I wasn’t aware of that company. I’d love to have them on the show and talk about what they do and how they’re doing it and all that. If you know somebody there, tell them to get a hold of me.

I will do. The new line is coming out fall of 2019. We’re getting some new stuff organized here. It’s always good whenever you meet a connection of somebody else who’s willing to listen to your cripes on some of the gear that’s out there. It’s perfect timing for me.

Since you’re a couple of years down the road, what advice would you give women who are starting out bowhunting?

You should not be afraid to ask for help. I know there are a lot of people that want to get started like how I did. I happen to fall into the hands of somebody who knew what they were doing. If you want to do it and you have it at the back of your mind, find somebody out there who can help you and who can guide you. It could be another woman. It could be a parent, sibling or friend. Find somebody out there who can help you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Certainly, people like to be independent but if you have a question or concern, bring that up or even ask your local Game and Fish Department. They might be able to mentor you up with somebody if you can’t think of anybody.

If somebody came up and said, “How do I get started shooting my bow?” What do you recommend for practicing?

I have an old Mathews Jewel and that was the second bow I got, but now I’m shooting the Mathews Avail. It depends on the person. I do triathlons and everybody told me to get a felt bike. I went to the shop, I tried out a track and lo and behold, the track fit me better. It’s all about you, your draw length, your ergonomics. It’s all going to be different for each and every individual. The best bet is to go to a bow shop and try it out. I’m not trying to endorse any brands, because that one worked well for me. If you want to go to a bow shop, they should be able to help you out and you should be able to try a few different kinds of bows.

You’re a busy lady. What are the things that you and your husband are involved in?

My second life is, I do triathlons. I’m on a circuit here in South Dakota and I’m hoping to do some bigger races throughout the country in the next couple of years. I’m getting started on my first year on the circuit so I wanted to see and get my feet wet. You see exactly what it’s all about, meet the people and understand the sport because it’s not just women, you get three or two other disciplines involving transitions as well on there. We spend a lot of time doing that.

Also, when I have time available, I will help instruct through bow hunters education for the state of South Dakota. Young bow hunters usually, and sometimes men and women who haven’t taken the course, I help them get involved in the outdoors. I also coach sometimes. We have different events throughout Pierre for kids. When they need shotgun instructors, I help coach and teach the safety and all that stuff for the kids. I also do the same thing but for our ladies event, which is becoming an outdoorswoman here in South Dakota. I go and teach how to shoot sporting clays and all the gun safety and handling along with that. I’m usually either working out or instructing my life.

I would hate to see your calendar because it’s got to be jam-packed.

I don’t even write on a calendar and I have an ongoing list in my head. I told my husband, “There’s a list going constantly like a movie script that’s going on in my head at all times.” I have a hard time writing things down, I don’t know why. Our schedule is jam-packed. We’re also in a trap shooting league on Wednesday nights. We’re about almost halfway through the season here with that. It’s been great to meet other people. People who shoot shotguns might be different than people who shoot bows. We can meet different kinds of people throughout Pierre and throughout Central South Dakota and their passion.

I shot a collegiate trap and I enjoyed that. That was a lot of fun and I met a lot of people who travel throughout the central part of the United States doing that. I sure enjoyed that.

This is my third year and the first year I did not enjoy it. I averaged about fifteen and I thought I was good some days. I thought I was good if I got an eighteen. I’ve come a long way since then. It’s been fun to watch myself progress and grow. What I’ve learned is different about those sports. With Triathlon, I can work harder and perform better, but sometimes you think about shooting and you don’t perform better. It’s a whole different kind of cat when you get over to the trap range than it is at the swimming pool or the track.

What do you do for work up there?

I am an asset manager or a wealth manager. I work for my dad. He’s the main manager of the Hastings, Minnesota. The company is called Collins Wealth Management. I consider myself, since I coached so much and do so much coaching, a personal financial coach for people from birth all the way through retirement and beyond. My perfect client is relatively anybody. I have low minimums and I love working with people. I love to be honest with them and establish a friendship and relationship and help them get on the path to their own financial success.

If somebody wanted to reach out to you, how would they do that?

You can reach out to me through my regular email, which is [email protected]. It’s my name, all one word, no fancy dashes or periods in there. If you want to talk hunting or whatever, that’s great. I can answer you back on there. Otherwise, if you want to do anything financially related, I’ll direct you to my other email, my work email from there. If you want to reach me on Facebook, that’s the same thing. LinkedIn is Sallie Doty and then Instagram is @Sallie_Doty. I try and keep things relatively simple for people. As long as you can spell my name correctly, you can find me about anywhere.

I wish you well with your career. The outdoors is a great place to spend time, but we all have to make a living too. Thanks for sharing that.

Thank you for having me.

When your husband looks at you, what does he see you developing into a hunter? I know you want to hunt elk. I don’t know if that’s going to be in Dakotas or out in the Rockies. What’s you’re hunting plan?

Is it the big twelve or the big ten American? I can’t think of the word.

There are 28.

Wasn’t there the big, the wilder, the big game? Isn’t there a number? I can’t remember specifically. Elk is next on our list for sure. We have elk in South Dakota but there are not as many so it takes a long time to get tags. We haven’t ventured out beyond South Dakota to hunt much. We went to Florida for us to see all the turkeys and we both got our turkeys down there. We’ve whitetail hunted up in North Dakota a few years back. The elk is the next thing. I’m in decent shape. I don’t know if I’m in mountain climbing shape. I’m a pretty flat road kind of person around here, but we’ve got some hills. I would need some additional extra training. If I was going to go out and discover the mountains a little bit and do a DIY hunt, that’d be a lot of fun.

It is and Wyoming isn’t that far. There’s elk all over Wyoming and that’s a great state. Obviously, over-the-counter tags in Colorado where I live. Montana, you get the Missouri breaks. It takes a long time to get a tag up there but some monster elk up in that country. It’s planning an opportunity from within ten hours where you are. You’re in good elk country.

I know a lot of people leave Pierre for September and go drive out and come back a few days later, and then go back out. It’s around, it’s there, it’s within reach. We just need to get our stuff together and go do it.

Do you do any bird hunting, upland game hunting at all?

We do. We’ve got two bird dogs at home. It’s like filler, you could say. If you’re like, “Nothing is in season now,” which we go do and hunt pheasants. I would say our filler for the year is always if we’ve got nothing to do, let’s go after the birds and let the dogs work.

When you shot your first doe, let’s go back and tell that story about how you found it, how you set up, how you took the shot. Unpack that for me.

I was in a ground blind which is different but it was towards the end of the season. The temperature of this one was cold too. It was the last day of archery season which was December 30th or 31st back then, I can’t remember. It was cold. When I went out and I had my bow, I could hardly almost pull it back because I was so cold. It was blistering cold that afternoon, evening. We had some deer come in. They didn’t present a great shot and walked off. Some were poking at what was left of the grass because it was mostly half snow-covered. I had one doe looking down and staring at me and turning a little bit. Eventually, she gave me the opportunity to put the old heart and lung shot on her. I shot her and all I remember was I knew it was a good shot.

I didn’t realize what I was not supposed to do but I got out of the blind and started dancing. My husband could see me from far away because he was watching through a spotting scope. It was a couple of miles down the road but he was like, “She must have shot something.” I should have stayed in the blind and waited for the deer. She went down on the draw but I was so excited and I didn’t know what to do. I’ve been waiting for that moment for the last day of the season. I tried so hard to get a doe back then and it was such an accomplishment. I don’t dance much, but I figured at that point in time that it seemed necessary for my celebration.

The doe didn’t go too far?

No. We were on the top of a flat area and then she went down on the draw and was deceased. By the time Ben got over and she was done quick. She went down in the draw. Mule deers sometimes will do that. You don’t want them go down too far because you’re going to haul deer out, but they’re going to do what they’re going to do. You can’t control that.

Why’d you have the blind in that place?

There was a crossing point because they were going back into the trees. They were out in the fields for a long time, eating all day. They were going to go back into the breaks, into the trees and that was not necessarily an edge effect, but it was off the beaten trail from them.

You waited there and intercepted them?

Yeah. They were picking around at whatever grass. There wasn’t much left and they’re trying to find whatever they could at that point because they were moving and they have to. They can’t just stand still when it’s that cold outside and it was well below zero.

That memory will stay with you forever no matter what game you do take, your first deer.

The fact that I can remember the date, I can’t tell you the dates on all the other deer I’ve harvested but I can get pretty close. I know, “That one was October, this one was early November.” I remember specifically that one and I even know who is playing. It was the Vikings versus The Packers and I’m a Vikings fan. I’m a Vikings fan and my husband’s a Packers fan and all I told him, “I’m going to shoot a deer and the Vikings are going to win.” The Vikings won and I shot a deer.

That’s a great story. The NFL especially Packers-Vikings games have ruined many good hunts, that’s for sure. We’re Packer fans and that’s where I went to school and my wife is from Green Bay. That’s the history behind that. You think about women’s role, where do you think your role is going to be as you mature as a hunter and an outdoorswoman?

It’s changed throughout the last several years, from being a student to now being more of a leader and a teacher. There are a lot of people that have contacted me in town who’ve said, “I’ve never shot a bow before. Will you come down to Farm Island which is a campground that has an archery range and help me out?” “Can you bring your bow down so I can see if I like that one?” I’m getting more enjoyment out of that than I am going out every day for myself sometimes. It is always good that you enjoy getting more people in the outdoors than we worrying about whether you’ve got to go shoot. That’s how I’m transforming. I’m becoming more of that leadership role which is great. I thoroughly enjoy being a teacher and a coach. I’m glad when people feel comfortable enough. It’s always great when people feel comfortable enough to contact somebody who could help them get into the outdoors because that’s your first step. You can think about it as long as you want, but until you go do something, nothing is ever going to happen.

Are you a blogger? Have you written any articles?

I’ve helped to do a few with some firearm reviews and some stuff like that on my experiences. I share that through Facebook and Instagram. I don’t blog or have a separate YouTube page for anything like that to go over my experiences there. Maybe I should but I have never thought of doing that. It might be interesting enough for me. I have to keep up with it. That’s always my problem.

With your calendar and your mental calendar, you need a publicist. Plus, you’re working.

I try to balance everything the best I can but there are always ideas in my head. If it sounds like a good idea, maybe I’ll get into it.

Do you have any questions for me?

I want to know how you got into it or what’s your story? How did you get into all this?

When I was probably ten years old, I lived in Foster Center, Rhode Island. I had a neighbor called out all night and he mentored me as a young kid. We had a single action twenty gauge in the house. My dad used to shoot and we, unfortunately, had rats around our property. He used that to shoot the rats. I would take that and I’d go out and I’d hunt rabbits and ruffed grouse. I can’t remember the date but there was snow on the ground and I went out looking for ruffed grouse. When it snows, the ruffed grouse dives into the snow and they leave feather prints on the snow. I knew when it was there, I was ready and the ruffed grouse busted out of the snow. It flew and I put the gun up and pulled the trigger and I got my first ruffed grouse about ten years old. It has been an adventure since then. It’s been incredible and that was over 60 years ago that that happened.

I went to college in La Crosse, Wisconsin at the University of Wisconsin. I was working in a bar and the owner of the bar said, “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” I lived in New York at that time, and I said, “I’m going to stay here. I’m not going anyplace just for a week.” He said, “Why don’t you come home with me and we’ll go deer hunting.” I worked a couple of extra hours to get a shotgun with some slugs, got a pair of rubber boots, got some coveralls and a hat, and bought a license. I did all that for under $100.

I went to my friend’s farm and the neat part about it, I still hunt the same farm now. The family still owns it and it’s along the Baraboo River in Wisconsin. That was the beginning of it. If anybody goes to WhitetailRendezvous.com, you can read about everything that I’ve done. I never lost that love. There were two people out all night in Rhode Island and then Harry Shear in Wisconsin helped me and mentored me. Dick Rogers took me to the farm. Those two gentlemen helped me get into hunting and taught me a lot. Harry was the first guy I ever talked to that went to Wyoming and this is in the ‘60s and ‘70s. He went to Wyoming every single year, mule deer, antelope and then they go back for elk. He was a great hunter and successful. I always dreamed about doing what he did and lo and behold I did.

Thanks for sharing that. I was always curious as to how you got into it and from the young age of ten there, a lot younger than me, I was 22.

I always had the desire and then when I retired, my good friend Bob Roark said, “You’re going to do a podcast about whitetail hunting.” This was back in 2014, the fall, I had gotten back from being gone for a couple of months hunting. He said, “You’re going to do whitetail podcast.” We started it in March of 2015. Here we are now and we’re coming out with our new course, Deer Hunting Institute part one which is a basic hunting course.

It gives people some tips, techniques, strategies so they can hunt. That will be coming out and I’m excited about that. Also, Deer Hunting Institute part two, I’m thinking it’s going to be a woman’s course. I’m talking to women now about what women need. Is it any different to men or is it not different? Is it all the same? What do women need to understand when they’re starting to hunt? Deer Hunting Institute part three will be becoming a 365 hunter, in which you are engaged in something 365. Any closing remarks to the ladies reading out there?

I’m going to reiterate what I said before. If you don’t know of anybody and want to ask questions, certainly shoot me an email. If there’s nobody else you can think of and you have questions on gears or types of bows, rifles, where to hunt. Any questions about South Dakota specifically or different kinds of game, I’m all up for it. [email protected], shoot me an email or find me on social media and I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions and get you started.

Sallie, thanks for being a great guest and I can’t wait until we talk next winter and find out how the season went.

I can’t wait either. Thank you so much for having me, Bruce.

Important Links:

• Sallie Doty – LinkedIn
• Instagram – Azyre Gear
• Mathews Avail
• Collins Wealth Management
• [email protected]
• Facebook – Sallie Doty
• @Sallie_Doty – Instagram
• Deer Hunting Institute
• https://www.YouTube.com/channel/UCxCb5VGIpl4I7YwSk3OGrfw?reload=9
• http://www.CollinsWealthMgmt.com/sallie-doty/
• https://www.Instagram.com/accounts/login/?hl=en&next=%2Fsallie_doty%2F&source=follow
• https://BowmarNutrition.com/?rfsn=2342469.05d0af

About Sallie Doty

I am a financial associate at the Pierre, SD office of Collins Wealth Management handling individual and IRA accounts for clients in the upper Midwest. Strong focus on active management of trusts, pensions, IRA’s and so forth. Essentially a family owned and run business, Collins Wealth Management strives to help clients grow and protect their wealth through proactive management.

Securities offered through American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. (APFS) member FINRA/SIPC. Collins Wealth Management is not affiliated with APFS. For more information please check out our website collinswealthmgmt.com.

Any opinions expressed in this forum are not the opinion or view of American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. (APFS) or American Portfolios Advisers, Inc (APA) and have not been reviewed by the firm for completeness or accuracy. These opinions are subject to change at any time without notice. Any comments or postings are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute an offer or a recommendation to buy or sell securities or other financial investments. Readers should conduct their own review and exercise judgement prior to investing. Investments are not guaranteed, involve risk and may result in a loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments are not suitable for all types of investors.