SNL

There’s no question about it: Hunting and fishing are not just for males anymore.

The number of females participating in both of these outdoor sports keeps increasing.

Recent studies reveal that women make up more than 30 percent of all anglers and 10 percent of hunters. Today that person in the next duck blind just might be a mother-daughter team or that bass boat with a pair of anglers pulling in fish could very well be a couple of lady anglers.

Jim Martin’s wife, Jennifer, joined him years ago on his hunting and fishing trips.

“When I first started hunting there wouldn’t be one woman in 50 that hunted,” Martin said. “However, last year when I hunted at Fountain Grove I counted 11 women who were waiting to go to their blinds. Things have changed.”

Several years ago, an organization called Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW), a not-for-profit educational program for adult women, started workshops to provide a friendly environment in which women could develop the skills to enable them to participate in outdoor activities that traditionally were dominated by men. The program spread to 32 states and several Canadian provinces.

At that time, Christine Thomas, founder of BOW and a professor of resource management, said, “Women shouldn’t be discouraged from hunting. We want to remove the obstacles for those who are already interested.”

The sessions in the BOW workshop are nearly endless and cover all facets of marksmanship, gun safety, canoeing, waterfowl identification, camping skills, hunting and fishing, etc. The women who attended the workshops ranged in age from 18 to over 65.

Women who participated in the workshops do so for many reasons. Some are drawn by the challenge of mother nature and look forward to new things. Others want to learn more about outdoor-related sports so they may better their skills to participate with their husbands, boyfriends or sons.

“After learning more about hunting, I think Jim enjoys me tagging along on hunting trips,” Jennifer Martin said. “I am not a burden to his hunting and in fact, I think I have helped him enjoy hunting even more. It has brought us closer and he always has a hunting buddy ready to go. He still goes with some of his old friends, but always ask me first. We have shot deer, ducks, quail and turkey. Although I never thought I would ever be involved in the sport, I am glad I am.”

The bottom line of the workshops is that they were designed to eliminate the barriers in a society where more often it’s the male who preforms outdoor activities rather than the female.

Many women feel that the total experience is overdue and one that provides encouragement for women to participate in the various activities at their own skill level. For more information on BOW, do a Google search for Becoming an Outdoor Woman.

In covering some women’s fishing tournaments, I have found most of the lady anglers can keep up with most of their male counterparts. They know how to catch fish and enjoy it as much as anyone.

I get reminded all the time of how much women enjoy the outdoors and are successful at both hunting and fishing. Take my daughter Laura for example.

While hunting at Fountain Grove, the waterfowl weren’t moving so I left Laura in the blind while I boated back to fetch a Thermos in my vehicle. On my return, she said, “Dad, would you mind picking up that Canada goose I shot while you were gone.?

Then there was the spring turkey hunt when my wife, Donna, hunted one side of a hill near the Lake of the Ozarks, while I hunted the other side. I heard one shot, and upon returning to our truck, there she was holding a 25-pound tom. My largest turkey at that time weighed 24 pounds.

You can imagine how fishing trips go.

You know you have a true hunter in the family when your wife is up around three in the morning putting coffee on and saying, “ Isn’t it a great morning for hunting?”

Ken White writes about hunting and fishing for the News-Leader. Contact him at kdwhite@windstream.net.