{"id":473,"date":"2015-11-16T15:34:18","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T15:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/?p=473"},"modified":"2015-11-16T15:34:18","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T15:34:18","slug":"more-women-drawn-to-tradition-of-hunting-with-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/?p=473","title":{"rendered":"More women drawn to tradition of hunting with family"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

When she was a little girl, Connie Mertz, of rural Danville, enjoyed the numerous hunting stories her father shared after a day in the woods.<\/p>\n

So when she came of age, Connie asked her father if she could tag along.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always wanted to go hunting, but dad always told me that a girl\u2019s place was in the home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Now, decades later, that sentiment has changed drastically \u2014 so much so that the Pennsylvania Game Commission recently announced that the number of licenses sold to female hunters has increased by 25,000 in the past five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur society just doesn\u2019t stereotype those sort of activities like it once did,\u201d said Fred Gast, a longtime hunter education and firearms safety instructor from Watsontown. \u201cI started teaching hunter education classes in 1995, and I noticed over the years that more and more of the students were female.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, I noticed two types of female students in those classes \u2014 the 12-year-olds who were preparing to go hunting for the first time and then there were an increasing number of women aged 20-30 that were taking an interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mertz, who is also a longtime hunter education instructor, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first taught the classes 25 years ago, there were very few girls. Now, girls make up nearly half of the sessions,\u201d she said. \u201cYou see the change in other areas, too. For example, on the Outdoors Channel, you see many more women involved. When I started hunting, I had to wear men\u2019s clothing because all the catalogs back then catered to men. Now you can walk into Gander Mountain or other outdoors shops and they\u2019ll have whole areas devoted to women\u2019s hunting apparel.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Behind the shift<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no single reason why so many more females are into hunting. While some point toward the depiction of strong female characters using a bow and arrow in movies such as \u201cBrave\u201d and \u201cThe Hunger Games,\u201d others suggest that local schools offering archery courses has sparked an interest in the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think seeing others shoot got her interested,\u201d said Mike Proger, of Selinsgrove, about his 12-year-old daughter, Isabel, who is fascinated by archery, recently completed a hunter education course and will be hunting for the first time this fall. \u201cI think she also likes the challenge of needing strength, composure and somewhat instinctual aim in order to hit a target. School strengthened her interest, but she already enjoyed it by the time she got into it there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proger admitted that family members who hunt have also had a huge influence on his daughter\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer Uncle Harry is a great story teller and also makes an effort to give the kids opportunities to shoot and she said he definitely is a big influence on her interest in at least trying out the sport,\u201d Proger said. \u201cHis stories get her and others excited about what can happen and her experience target shooting has given her the confidence to feel ready to head into the woods.\u201d<\/p>\n

For 37-year-old Joey Beth Wise, of Turbotville, hunting became a way for her to connect with her 10-year-old son.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted to hunt, and his dad wouldn\u2019t take him, so I went out and bought my license and come the first day of buck season, we went out and sat in a tree stand,\u201d she said. \u201cI love sitting out in my tree stand just watching the nature around me. One year, I got to see a beautiful red fox hunting in the field. I watch the birds and squirrels playing. It is just peaceful and quiet. Hunting is also an activity I can do with my boyfriend, dad, sister, brother, son and daughter. I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nikki Hawk, of Sunbury, got involved via her boyfriend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always had a love for the outdoors and was more of a tomboy as a little girl. My boyfriend is big into hunting, and at the time I just got really into shooting guns so it just made sense for me to give it a try,\u201d she said. \u201cI love hunting because I learn so much every time I go out. It takes a lot of focus and a lot of work. And when you do see something, you get a rush of adrenaline and the excitement of never knowing what may happen. It is a pretty cool feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mertz said that over the past couple decades, she feels the biggest driving force are programs geared toward women and young shooters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe local 4H shooting program has been really popular in our region going back to the 1980s and 90s. It got kids \u2014 both boys and girls \u2014 really excited about shooting and hunting,\u201d she said. \u201cWe also have had a very active Women in the Outdoors program locally. In that program, older ladies especially are getting involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here to stay<\/p>\n

Regardless of the reasons behind the increase in women who like hunting, the trends suggest the phenomenon is here to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve definitely seen an uptick in sales and interest in female-oriented equipment, and I hear that female-related hunter clothing industry is doing well. I don\u2019t forsee it going away anytime soon,\u201d said Keith Weaver, of Weaver\u2019s Archery in Kreamer. \u201cThe way I feel, if you can get the women involved, it is good thing for the outdoor community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more people doing it, the greater awareness we have of the outdoors in general \u2014 also you have more participation then from the family unit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changes in gear have only helped women get more involved in the action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe manufacturers are making equipment for women that they can handle. They don\u2019t need to try to use the bows of their fathers or husbands which may be 5 inches too long and 20 pounds too heavy to draw,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen it comes down to it, most ladies are really good shots.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When she was a little girl, Connie Mertz, of rural Danville, enjoyed the numerous hunting stories her father shared after<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[484,24,4,481,8,485,482,483,480],"class_list":["post-473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outdoors","tag-education","tag-family","tag-featured","tag-females","tag-hunting","tag-pennsylvania-game-commission","tag-stereotypes","tag-stories","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":475,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions\/475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}