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Other shooting sports attract more women
By Tim Renken, St. Louis Post Dispatch
03/01/2003
More women are giving shooting sports a shot
Trapper, a big German shorthair bird dog, jumped out of the truck and charged down the cover strip at the Wil-Nor Hunt Club. Then he promptly messed up his first three birds.
His owner, Pam Hicks, had blown her whistle in a manner that suggested she knew it was futile. Trapper went barging down the weed line, got a whiff of something and crashed in, flushing a pheasant. With Trapper in pursuit, the bird headed for the next county.
If Hicks, a St. Louis business owner, was distressed, she hid it well. Nor did she rail as Trapper messed up the next several birds. Hicks didn't sparkle in the shooting department either, missing several relatively easy shots over Trapper. And if Trapper was distressed about that, he hid it well, too. He did protest, though, when he was locked in the truck so his equally overweight brother, Radar, could have his turn.
Radar proceeded to make Trapper's performance look even worse by doing just about everything right in a half-dozen finds, some of which resulted in kills.
Hicks beamed when an observer complimented the dog. She joked about her shooting, calling herself a "conservationist." This hunt with friends was an almost weekly outing for her and the dogs. The mother of two grown sons, Hicks has been hunting since she was a girl growing up in the country around Fredericktown, Mo. She also makes trips to other Midwestern states and regularly shoots clay targets at another hunting club.
Hicks, though, is one of a relatively small number of American women who hunt. The 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation found that only 1.2 million women, 1 percent of the population, counted themselves as hunters. The survey is taken every five years, and that figure was unchanged from both the 1991 and 1996 surveys.
A recent survey by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that just 9 percent of women would go hunting if asked by a friend.
Hicks said she hunts not to kill, but because she loves to get afield, work her dogs and be with other people, including a son who hunts.
"I do this mostly for the dogs," she said. "They love it and need it. And when we make trips, like to Kansas, I enjoy being with other hunters. I usually go with my son."
A check of area hunting preserves found that women make up a small part of their membership and that most of the women members joined and shot with their husbands.
Rich Baumgartner at Big River Hunting Club in Jefferson County said about 20 percent of his members are women but that women made up about 30 percent of his clay-target shooters.
Women may not be flocking into hunting, but they are increasingly participating in shooting sports other than hunting. Another NSSF survey found that 7.5 million women participate in target shooting, including rifle, handgun, sporting clays, skeet and trap.
That's 80 percent more than in 1988, but the 7.5 million figure is probably inflated. The same NSSF survey found that 13 million Americans go target shooting. It's unlikely that that women make up half of the country's target shooters.
More realistic, probably, is that 10-20 percent of American target shooters are women.
About 10 percent of the members are women at the St. Louis Skeet and Trap Club in Pacific, this area's oldest and largest clay-target club. On the shooting team at Lindenwood University, seven of the 30 members are women.
At the Department of Conservation's Henges range, manager Tony Legg estimates the number of women in hunter-shooter education classes at about 25 percent. About the same is true at the range at the Busch Wildlife Area. But some of those classes are for women only.
Females make up about 20 percent of those taking the Missouri Department of Conservation's hunter education classes, which are mandatory for people buying hunting licenses.
Programs designed just for women
Mary Sue Faulkner is the director of the National Rifle Association's community services division. She said attendance by women at instructional clinics has grown an estimated 300 percent since 2000.
"We know that women want this opportunity," Faulkner said. "We only have to offer it to them."
The NRA has several programs aimed at bringing women into the shooting sports. Its biggest is Women On Target, which sponsors special hunts and shoots. (Call 1-800-861-1166 or see WomenOnTarget@nrahq.org.)
The National Wild Turkey Federation also is active in recruiting and educating women. In a program called Women in the Outdoors, local chapters work with state conservation agencies to stage all-day outdoor seminars. From mostly women instructors, attendees learn about camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, shooting, canoeing, boating, bird watching and other activities. (Call 1-800-843-6983 or see www.nwtf.org.)
Membership for Women in the Outdoors has increased from 14,500 in 2000 to 34,000 in 2001 and 43,000 now. This year, NWTF plans to stage 480 events.
Kim Kloeppel of Manchester attends these seminars. She was born and raised in the city and married a lifelong hunter and fisherman.
"It wasn't so much that I thought hunting and fishing were 'man' things," said Kloeppel, 36. "It was that I was intimidated. I just felt like I didn't know anything."
So she signed up and went to a Women in the Outdoors seminar at Beaufort, Mo., last July.
"I didn't have any desire to kill anything before and I don't now," Kloeppel said. "But it was something I could do by myself and for myself. I learned things that really expanded my appreciation for the outdoors."
Charlene Eckstein of Beaufort organizes the seminar for the Four Rivers Chapter of NWTF. She said the program has grown from 60 women in 2000 to more than 100 last summer.
Outdoor writer and lifelong hunter Kathy Etling, a former St. Louisan, says the sporting goods equipment industry also is helping to draw women into the outdoor sports.
"Now you can find waders, clothing, boots and many kinds of equipment designed for women," she said. "Not only do these things actually fit, they are attractive and practical, which makes staying warm, dry and comfortable a lot easier.
"And some hunting and fishing outfitters are courting women clients, too."
Reporter Tim Renken
E-mail: trenken@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-849-4239
By Tim Renken, St. Louis Post Dispatch
03/01/2003
More women are giving shooting sports a shot
Trapper, a big German shorthair bird dog, jumped out of the truck and charged down the cover strip at the Wil-Nor Hunt Club. Then he promptly messed up his first three birds.
His owner, Pam Hicks, had blown her whistle in a manner that suggested she knew it was futile. Trapper went barging down the weed line, got a whiff of something and crashed in, flushing a pheasant. With Trapper in pursuit, the bird headed for the next county.
If Hicks, a St. Louis business owner, was distressed, she hid it well. Nor did she rail as Trapper messed up the next several birds. Hicks didn't sparkle in the shooting department either, missing several relatively easy shots over Trapper. And if Trapper was distressed about that, he hid it well, too. He did protest, though, when he was locked in the truck so his equally overweight brother, Radar, could have his turn.
Radar proceeded to make Trapper's performance look even worse by doing just about everything right in a half-dozen finds, some of which resulted in kills.
Hicks beamed when an observer complimented the dog. She joked about her shooting, calling herself a "conservationist." This hunt with friends was an almost weekly outing for her and the dogs. The mother of two grown sons, Hicks has been hunting since she was a girl growing up in the country around Fredericktown, Mo. She also makes trips to other Midwestern states and regularly shoots clay targets at another hunting club.
Hicks, though, is one of a relatively small number of American women who hunt. The 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation found that only 1.2 million women, 1 percent of the population, counted themselves as hunters. The survey is taken every five years, and that figure was unchanged from both the 1991 and 1996 surveys.
A recent survey by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that just 9 percent of women would go hunting if asked by a friend.
Hicks said she hunts not to kill, but because she loves to get afield, work her dogs and be with other people, including a son who hunts.
"I do this mostly for the dogs," she said. "They love it and need it. And when we make trips, like to Kansas, I enjoy being with other hunters. I usually go with my son."
A check of area hunting preserves found that women make up a small part of their membership and that most of the women members joined and shot with their husbands.
Rich Baumgartner at Big River Hunting Club in Jefferson County said about 20 percent of his members are women but that women made up about 30 percent of his clay-target shooters.
Women may not be flocking into hunting, but they are increasingly participating in shooting sports other than hunting. Another NSSF survey found that 7.5 million women participate in target shooting, including rifle, handgun, sporting clays, skeet and trap.
That's 80 percent more than in 1988, but the 7.5 million figure is probably inflated. The same NSSF survey found that 13 million Americans go target shooting. It's unlikely that that women make up half of the country's target shooters.
More realistic, probably, is that 10-20 percent of American target shooters are women.
About 10 percent of the members are women at the St. Louis Skeet and Trap Club in Pacific, this area's oldest and largest clay-target club. On the shooting team at Lindenwood University, seven of the 30 members are women.
At the Department of Conservation's Henges range, manager Tony Legg estimates the number of women in hunter-shooter education classes at about 25 percent. About the same is true at the range at the Busch Wildlife Area. But some of those classes are for women only.
Females make up about 20 percent of those taking the Missouri Department of Conservation's hunter education classes, which are mandatory for people buying hunting licenses.
Programs designed just for women
Mary Sue Faulkner is the director of the National Rifle Association's community services division. She said attendance by women at instructional clinics has grown an estimated 300 percent since 2000.
"We know that women want this opportunity," Faulkner said. "We only have to offer it to them."
The NRA has several programs aimed at bringing women into the shooting sports. Its biggest is Women On Target, which sponsors special hunts and shoots. (Call 1-800-861-1166 or see WomenOnTarget@nrahq.org.)
The National Wild Turkey Federation also is active in recruiting and educating women. In a program called Women in the Outdoors, local chapters work with state conservation agencies to stage all-day outdoor seminars. From mostly women instructors, attendees learn about camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, shooting, canoeing, boating, bird watching and other activities. (Call 1-800-843-6983 or see www.nwtf.org.)
Membership for Women in the Outdoors has increased from 14,500 in 2000 to 34,000 in 2001 and 43,000 now. This year, NWTF plans to stage 480 events.
Kim Kloeppel of Manchester attends these seminars. She was born and raised in the city and married a lifelong hunter and fisherman.
"It wasn't so much that I thought hunting and fishing were 'man' things," said Kloeppel, 36. "It was that I was intimidated. I just felt like I didn't know anything."
So she signed up and went to a Women in the Outdoors seminar at Beaufort, Mo., last July.
"I didn't have any desire to kill anything before and I don't now," Kloeppel said. "But it was something I could do by myself and for myself. I learned things that really expanded my appreciation for the outdoors."
Charlene Eckstein of Beaufort organizes the seminar for the Four Rivers Chapter of NWTF. She said the program has grown from 60 women in 2000 to more than 100 last summer.
Outdoor writer and lifelong hunter Kathy Etling, a former St. Louisan, says the sporting goods equipment industry also is helping to draw women into the outdoor sports.
"Now you can find waders, clothing, boots and many kinds of equipment designed for women," she said. "Not only do these things actually fit, they are attractive and practical, which makes staying warm, dry and comfortable a lot easier.
"And some hunting and fishing outfitters are courting women clients, too."
Reporter Tim Renken
E-mail: trenken@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-849-4239
