More and more women are becoming hunters

Thia Tewalt and her daughter Breezy admire Thia's antelope. photo provided There was a time not too long ago when women were invited to join their husbands or male friends on a hunting trip for only one of two reasons -- either the male hunters needed a good cook in camp or they wanted to have an extra game tag with them in case they got lucky.

In 2004, that is no longer the case. More and more women are taking up hunting as an outdoor sport and doing very well at it.

A great example of women hunting is the experience of Thia Tewalt of Sisters. Last August 20, she was successful in bagging an antelope with her rifle in the Whitehorse unit of extreme southeastern Oregon.

While she had hunted as a young girl, she had given up the sport until the last few years. She indicated that she got back into hunting because it's a great way to get exercise in the outdoors.

"She's a pretty cool lady when it comes to hunting," says Thia's husband, David.

Down through the years, a few women have been hunters, some for sport and others out of necessity. History shows that back in 1575, even Queen Elizabeth I killed six does with a crossbow.

In this country, pioneer women and later ranch women often became hunters to help feed their families. However, hunting still was considered basically a male sport with the mighty male hunter going forth in the wild to bag a deer, elk, or bird. The male hunter survived the rigors of the forests and mountains, faced the dangers of the unknown and brought home the trophy to show his family and friends how brave and hardy he was.

Now, more women are being attracted to the sport with the number of women participating nationwide doubling in the past decade, according to some estimates.

A recent analysis of the sale of Oregon hunting licenses by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife showed a slow decline in numbers from 12.3 percent of the state's population in 1997 to 10.3 percent of the population in 2003. Among reasons cited for the decline were (1) the increased state population is in urban areas where residents appear to have less interest in hunting, (2) hunter population is aging and is not being replaced by young people, who seem to have less interest in hunting, and (3) overall tastes and preferences in outdoor recreation are changing.

An increase in women hunters may help these numbers rise. However, there does not seem to be any analysis of how the percentage of women hunters is changing nor is the information available from agency sources.

Brian Ferry, district wildlife biologist for the Deschutes Watershed District for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife working out of Prineville, has seen an increase in the number of Oregon women participating in big game hunting.

The biologist said, "I have been teaching hunter education courses for the past 12 years.

"For the first few years, those attending the classes were mostly young boys and teenagers," he said. "Then, older men filled the classes. However, in the past five years, there have been more and more women attending these training sessions."

Ferry also sees more women hunting while checking camps during deer and elk seasons.

"The women I talk to are active hunters. They want no one shooting their deer or elk for them and they insist on dressing out their game as well," he said.

An Arizona survey in 2000 showed that women accounted for 6.4 percent of the total number of hunting licenses sold, up from 6.1 in 1994. However, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Survey in 2001 showed that of the 13 million American hunters surveyed, 9 percent (1.2 million) were female.

A 1997 survey by Fish and Wildlife Today reported that the majority of women who hunt do so for the same basic reason as men -- to put food in the freezer.

However, women also hunt as a form of exercise and to be closer to nature.

A recent Texas study reported that while men usually start hunting at an average age of 18 guided by their father, women usually don't start until an average age of 23 and are often taught by their husband.

The average woman hunter in Texas was 45 years of age and white with 50 percent listed as either professionals or housewives.

The few negative concerns about hunting expressed by women in the Texas study included the time it took away from their children, the cost of equipment, a lack of hunting skills and some fear of danger in the sport.

On the Internet there are several websites and organizations directed at women hunters.

The Women Hunters Organization is another organization dedicated to the encouragement, education and promotion of women in the hunting tradition.

They believe that women hold the key to the future of hunting, both as participants and proponents of the sport.