Women Setting Sights On Hunting

With the Women In the Outdoors banquet held at Bull Creek each year I thought this would be of interest to the membership...

Sunday, August 08, 2010

By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

While hunting license sales in Pennsylvania continue to drop, the fastest-growing segment of hunters in the state is women. That is according license-sale surveys conducted by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.


Recognizing the needs and interests of a growing outdoors user group, and with financial help from the Game Commission, the National Wild Turkey Federation has launched the Women in the Outdoors program and hired Jeff Souders of Harrisburg as its first full-time coordinator.


Pennsylvania is the only state with a NWTF Women in the Outdoors coordinator.


Souders will create and oversee new events for female hunters, help with Women in the Outdoors activities in other chapters and provide outreach to women interested in the outdoors. In 2009, NWTF chapters hosted 240 Women in the Outdoors events in the United States and Canada, organizing activities for women including archery, canoeing, self-defense training, camping and shooting in a stress-free, mostly noncompetitive environment. Instructors are provided to teach techniques and tactics.


"The NWTF is the leading conservation organization in North America and I'm excited to help fulfill our mission," said Souders, in a Game Commission news release. "Women in the Outdoors has been extremely successful in Pennsylvania and I look forward to helping women across the state enjoy outdoor activities."


Carl Roe, Game Commission executive director, said in a written statement that there's plenty of room for women in the outdoors.


"The Game Commission recognizes that there is a high interest level in the outdoors among women in the state, and we want to provide more opportunities for them to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle," he said. "Providing women in our state with a full-time Women in the Outdoors coordinator is satisfying a tremendous need. This is a great opportunity to recruit new outdoorswomen and, as a joint venture between the Game Commission and NWTF, everyone benefits."


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10220/1078228-140.stm