Janruary 01, 2020
2019 #iambrowning Grand Prize Winner
2019 #iambrowning Grand Prize Winner
Hunts Like a Butterfly. Shoots a Browning.
Hunts Like a Butterfly. Shoots a Browning.
The Instagram-based #iambrowning hashtag has seen its first big winner. Tannis Butterfly (@tannisrae) was selected for a grand prize and she picked up a beautiful Browning X-Bolt Hunter rifle chambered in 7mm-08 Rem. The surprise announcement was posted online on Christmas morning.
Tannis is an avid huntress and social media personality from Sylvan Lake, a small town in south-central Alberta, Canada. We asked her to share a bit more information on her hunting background and about the winning entry photos from her recent bighorn sheep hunt.
“I started hunting with my dad when I was 14,” Tannis said. “My two brothers were into hockey so the only time I could have with my dad was in the field. I’ve loved hunting ever since.”
“All these years later, everything in my life revolves around hunting and hunting seasons,” she continued. “I hunt with my husband, Clare, who has been hunting since he was about three years old. Now it’s what we love to do together.”
“I’d have to say bighorn sheep is my favorite game now,” Tannis explained. "Five years ago I started hunting them and I’ve simply become obsessed with sheep hunting. If I can’t get a month off from work during sheep season, I’ll just quit my job so I can spend several weeks out in the mountains hunting.”
“Finally, after five years of trying we found one spot this year where we were 95% positive we’d find a nice one,” she said. “It’s very rough country and not many hunters go back as far as we do – about 45 kilometers (28 miles) each way. We planned for a 10-day hunt, and it took three days just to get to our camp and get set up. We even ran into a couple of hunters on the hike in who recognized me from Instagram.”
“On our first day out of camp we decided to check out one particular ridge,” she recalled. “We could see four rams come over the ridge and start to move our way. I picked out my ram and took it down at 230 yards with my Browning BLR in 308.”
“I found my little BLR on the used gun rack in my local hunting store, in almost perfect condition,” Tannis confided, “I’m a big lever-action fan and I just fell in love with it. I’ve taken whitetail deer, black bear with it, and my bighorn ram, of course.”
“My dad gave me a gold-plated lever-action 30-30 for my 18th birthday,” she explained. “My husband and I have been collecting classic ‘user-grade’ lever-actions for several years. One of our favorites is a Winchester Model 1895.”
And what inspired Tannis to become a social media outdoor personality? “I’ve always been in the outdoors,” she noted. “I posted lots of hunting stuff on Instagram and it just seemed to grow organically from there.”
Tannis has some big plans for her new Browning X-Bolt rifle. “I’ll use it next fall for whitetail deer and for whatever other game tags I draw, like bighorn sheep. For sure it will be my next mountain rifle.”
You can follow Tannis Butterfly’s (@tannisrae) latest outdoor adventures at: https://www.instagram.com/tannisrae
Remember to share your hunting and shooting experiences with Browning and the Instagram community by adding the #iambrowning hashtag to your posts! Periodically, we'll check out the images you're sharing with #iambrowning and pick a winner to receive some great Browning swag like hats, knives, flashlights and firearms, absolutely free!
Grand Prize Delivered & Setup
Grand Prize Delivered & Setup
Tannis Butterfly (@tannisrae) with her grand prize. Enjoy your new X-Bolt Tannis!