Jan 22 2012

Il Ling New 1 of 4 Stellar Inductees for Outdoors Hall of Fame

Il Ling New is the No. 1 female firearms instructor and hunting guide in the United States.

Tom Stienstra, Chronicle Outdoors Writer
Sunday, January 22, 2012

Il Ling New, America’s No. 1 female firearms instructor and hunting guide, was the top vote-getter in this year’s balloting for the California’s Outdoors Hall of Fame.

New was inducted at a ceremony Saturday at the Sacramento International Sportsmen’s Exposition, which ends a four-day run this weekend at Cal Expo.

The Circle of Chiefs also inducted fishing tackle pioneer Sep Hendrickson, hiker Scott Williamson and fly fisher and scientist Jim Adams.

Others considered by voters this year include snowboard Olympian Shaun White, bicycling guru Austin McInerny, Marin outdoor historian and hiker Barry Spitz and renowned trekker Leo Le Bon.

Anybody can nominate a candidate for the Hall of Fame. The award is based on a vote of past winners and leaders in the outdoor industry, media and government, free of any faction. All candidates must fill two requirements:

  • The nominees have inspired thousands of Californians to take part in the great outdoors and/or conservation.
  • The nominees must have taken part in a paramount scope of adventures.

For information, go to http://caloutdoorshalloffame.org

Il Ling New
Born in San Francisco and a Yale graduate with an MBA, she turned her back on a lucrative marketing career to teach people self-protection, how to handle firearms, and hunting. She is America’s No. 1 female firearms instructor and No. 1 female freelance guide. She has hunted across the hemisphere and to Africa twice, including for Cape buffalo, and trains hunters from across the hemisphere prior to world-class expeditions. She has hunted ducks in California since age 10. As an instructor, she has had a profound influence on people across America, and has taught Marines and police as well as housewives and hunters of all backgrounds. Her skills are world-renowned; with a handgun small enough to fit in her palm, she can put three shots in a pie plate in 5 seconds, has competed nationally for skeet titles, and is versed as an expert in all rifles. She has a stunning ability to improve others’ skills and safety. Named on more than 75 percent of ballots.

Read the rest if the article at SF Gate.


Oct 18 2007

Accuracy, Power & Speed: Defensive Handgun Training At Its Best

This is an excerpt from an article by Sheriff Jim Wilson in the October 2007 issue of Shooting Times:

“In addition, attending a defensive handgun school may seem like a ‘guy thing’ to many women. Nothing could be further from the truth. Women should not allow such a false notion to keep them from seeking this valuable, life-saving training.

One of the Gunsite rangemasters is Ms. Il Ling New, and she had this to say, ‘I’m 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weigh 120 pounds, and I’m not particularly strong. If I can do it, you can. If you’ve ever cut through a watermelon or a turkey, you have the strength to operate a pistol.’

Il Ling went on to say that some women fear they will hold the class back. She quickly pointed out that women are rarely last in the class. Instead, they tend to listen more intently and have far less ego involved in their performance. ‘Because most women don’t pay attention to how their classmates are shooting–much less try to compete with them–they tend to focus on their own performance and, thus, improve faster,’ she said.


Dec 19 2005

Hunters, Housewives, Cops Learn Gun Skills from Il Ling New

(12-12) 04:00 PDT Prescott, Ariz. — The gunman slinked up a ravine, hunting for Cape buffalo amid the junipers. A single bead of sweat trickled from his right temple and down his cheek. At his shoulder, Il Ling New, the shooter’s mentor, crept alongside, unconsciously fingering the exposed tips of rifle cartridges slotted in her gun belt. “See him?” she whispered. The gunman hesitated for a moment and then dropped to prone. “Got him.”

New locks in with a rangefinder: “398 yards.” The shooter steadied his rifle for only a moment, just as he had been trained by New, and then pulled the trigger. The blast boomed across the hills. An instant later, the ring of lead hitting metal echoed back.

“Got him,” New said. The gunman was Greg Rodriguez of Texas, preparing for a trip to Africa, taking his final exam in an advanced rifle course. The target was a metal plate.

Read the rest of this article at SFGate.com