Hey Ladies! Look @ This...

Thanks, Randi. I should've searched before posting.

That thread was eye-opening! I can see how it could be harder for women to participate here on HT. I have a lot of ?s about what is needed and what works best in making hunting more accessible to anyone who may be interested. The fact that there are organized efforts to recruit women to the outdoors is encouraging to me as a small scale advocate for our public lands.

I talked to a mom and daughter-in-law on the mountain during elk season, and a solo lady elk hunter on the trail during archery season this Sept, trying to get a clearer sense of this. I also sat by an Artemis rep @ a CPW meeting, heard her elevator pitch. My subjective personal sense is that many (most?) women in the hunting field got there through family relationships w a dad, male relative, husband involved in/boyfriend. I gathered quite a bit of that vibe from your thread. Not exclusively, but mostly. Is that correct?

Not surprised by the locker room sexism discussion that showed up in your thread. I have to wonder how much of that happens in the field, @ the gun counter or fly fishing shop, in college outdoor education/wildlife biology or related fields of study. I was aware of PM pressure against a female forum member here. Which in locker room vernacular is a bully move, but I digress.

Selfishly and globally, I want more people to engage w our public lands and stand up for them. That's why I asked.
 
Elkduds

Sir: I waited to reply as I wanted both my grandmother and April ( Europe ) to give me their opinion to my response. They both rejected my initial thoughts and suggested the following

To answer your question about who got me (females ) involved in hunting. You are correct, the men in my life, my mother's life, my grandmother's life were men. My grandmother and mother states that there were only men involved in getting them into hunting, but that the "roles" of men and women were more defined in the past. This was also a point April ( Europe ) mentioned to me, that the "roles" were more defined in years past. However; neither myself or my female friends, who hunt, find this to be true today. There are fewer of us in the field, but we dont feel strange or out of place shooting, hunting, shopping ( for a rifle, etc ). However we do still receive condescending as well as unwanted and unwelcome comments.

This is the part of my answer my grandmother and April suggested I state in a different way than I first intended.

If you look at the thread in the Elk section referring to Pam Anderson, you will notice none of the 8 women on the forum responded. But the New Zealand girl needed to put on some clothes and was a "joke". Maybe, on hind sight she was hoping to make a name for herself so as to be in a position to become a household name among the male hunting community, as Pam is. April referred to somebody I had never heard of when she wondered why they never refer to "John Holmes" when referring to something large
( April always surprises me, but then she and my grandmother remind me that they were my age once )

She also, told me that, some of the men will now say ( again ) that we ( females ) dont have tough enough skin, as it was just a cute story explaining a fun hunt, and making reference to a "rack" all men could understand and appreciate ---Fair enough.

And for the record, I was not offended, and was o.k. with the manner in which the story was written and even understood how the men on the forum, in the sporting goods store, and even at the dinner table in my home, would enjoy reading it, exactly as it was written. I am not complaining, offended, or any way do I feel I dont have tough enough skin to read that thread and then post on this one.

If all else fails I will repeat the words I hear from my grandmothers ( and Aprils ) generation, my mothers generation, and my generation. "Boys will be boys" And to flip the page on myself, I am not unhappy with that fact, as I love men/boys, but I believe I am a bit less assuming than some of my male colleagues, as I dont assume that just because you are wearing a suit when I meet you, that you are not equally as comfortable in the mountains hunting. Just because I wear a bikini at the beach does not mean I dont know how to hunt And now that I know who Pam is, I would assume if it was a young male hunter he would have referenced Kim or Jennifer, but what do I know :)
 
Last edited:
Thanks, Randi. I should've searched before posting.

That thread was eye-opening! I can see how it could be harder for women to participate here on HT. I have a lot of ?s about what is needed and what works best in making hunting more accessible to anyone who may be interested. The fact that there are organized efforts to recruit women to the outdoors is encouraging to me as a small scale advocate for our public lands.

I talked to a mom and daughter-in-law on the mountain during elk season, and a solo lady elk hunter on the trail during archery season this Sept, trying to get a clearer sense of this. I also sat by an Artemis rep @ a CPW meeting, heard her elevator pitch. My subjective personal sense is that many (most?) women in the hunting field got there through family relationships w a dad, male relative, husband involved in/boyfriend. I gathered quite a bit of that vibe from your thread. Not exclusively, but mostly. Is that correct?

Not surprised by the locker room sexism discussion that showed up in your thread. I have to wonder how much of that happens in the field, @ the gun counter or fly fishing shop, in college outdoor education/wildlife biology or related fields of study. I was aware of PM pressure against a female forum member here. Which in locker room vernacular is a bully move, but I digress.

Selfishly and globally, I want more people to engage w our public lands and stand up for them. That's why I asked.

There have been several good threads lately about women and hunting. Here‘s another since you said you were interested.

https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/womans-hunting-experience.292231/

I think at times there can be condescension or sexist comments directed at women in the outdoors, but I can honestly say I dealt with way more of that early on in my professional life than I ever have experienced around hunting, including here. I am not easily offended though and tend to dish out as much crap as I get, so there’s that I guess.

However, I also don’t feel the need to make a big deal about every little comment, like Pam’s rack (not picking on you Randi. Just using the example provided). That, along with the threads about chafing, guys and their junk, gastrointestinal misadventures, might get a read, maybe a chuckle, but I don’t feel the need to comment. I like guys being guys, and as long as there isn’t any disrespect being directed at me or other individuals and we’re not dealing with blatant misogyny, I have a pretty high tolerance. I expect that the men will extend the same courtesy if @Europe, @Randi, @Panda Bear, @MTelkHuntress and I want to have a thread about boob sweat, sports bras, or backcountry hygiene. The ability to ignore threads you don’t enjoy goes both ways.
 
I did not see the thread about Pam's tit's and dont actually have any interest in them. Everybody in the free world have seen them already, so one more look at them doesn't inspire me to find the thread .

Hunting Wife makes a good point, there is no reason to make a big deal out of it here on the forum. I agree with her.

However, I have found the more I try to be just one of the boys when these things come up, the further they will push the envelope in my presence, so I say nothing. I hear----- Lighten up, where is your humor, maybe you should not be on the forum, maybe you should not be in camp, your presence takes all the fun out of being in the woods, dont take the girl she ruins everything, ---I have heard it all and worse, so I will say nothing and just go on about my business.

I have even been asked----
'Are you on your period, if you are I dont want you in camp with me. no I wont take your word for it, somebody needs to check".

For the record, we have actually done research on this and have found only the Polar Bear will eat a used Tampon, after smelling it. ( not the brown bear or wolf and the polar only 50% of the time )

Anyway, someone once made a big deal about this and I said what is the problem, if I am with you he will attack me giving you a close shot !

to elkduds, when time permits I will check out the group "Artemis", thank you (and Randi) for posting that information.

We do have a group of women up here in the north country who started their own club. I am not a part of it, but have sent things to them, clothes, boots, etc. this group is a group of women whose husbands left the family and their children showed an interest in hunting. So they got together and figured it out ( rifles, shooting, hunting, permits, etc ) and now they take their children ( boys and girls ) hunting. I will continue to send stuff to them as children outgrow clothes so quickly. I am also paying forward. I have been gifted rifles, from non family members and I am currently in touch with two of the aforementioned women and will pay for a rifle and a shotgun for two young boys to use.

Randi, dont get discouraged here on the forum or anywhere else. You are entitled to your opinion but yes I did notice who supported hunting wife but not you, but dont read to much into that Dont forget your the new kid on the block :)
Good luck on your Fox Hunt in Ireland. Oh, I forgot I did like your point about not assuming, men/suit, girl/bikini

I started this post awhile ago and keep getting distracted, what were we talking about :)
 
I've heard about Artemis but I've never really looked into it. I would agree that most women do get into hunting via a male relative. But for women that dont have anyone that hunts in their family, I like the idea of women teaching women. The teaching of conservation is also a huge plus. I know when I started learning to fly fish recently, I didnt know anyone that fly fished so I turned to YouTube to learn. It would have been awesome to find a mentor that was a woman as I have zero contact with other women outdoors (none of my friends are outdoorsy....not sure how that happened).

I expect a thread about periods in the future 😂
For the record, we have actually done research on this and have found only the Polar Bear will eat a used Tampon, after smelling it. ( not the brown bear or wolf and the polar only 50% of the time )
 
So I have given the topic of women hunting some thought since October when I commented on one of these threads. I have brought my daughter up hunting and I am proud of her for her accomplishments. One I did not see coming was her attitude about blood. She didn't like blood as a 10-year old field dressing her first deer. Nope, not one bit. But I was firm and wasn't going to coddle her because she was a girl. You hunt, you gut! Now, although I am confident it isn't her favorite part of the hunt, she does it without issue. She now wants to go into the medical field. I think there is a direct correlation there!

I think the one of the biggest compliments you can give a female hunter is actually just treating them no different than a male. None. You can still take advantage of a women's talents, but don't assume what those talents are. For example, don't assume that they should be doing the cooking in camp...but it just may be that they love to cook! Fine then, it is her individual talent...take advantage of that. But don't assume that is how she wants to contribute. On the other hand, she can take her turn doing the dishes just like everyone else. Is a women likely to be able to pack less than a man? Sure. But guess what, I don't pack as much as my brother. He is bigger and stronger (actually all my elk hunting buddies are bigger and stronger and younger....and that ain't bad thing!!). I look at it more as an individual thing than a gender thing.

Panda, kudos to you for giving back. It sounds like you are a good role model as well, which may be more important than the equipment.
 
Panda Bear. You just mentioned how things can and many times will "creep" Conversation creep happens in hunting camps, nightclubs, forums and most fellows dont always understand it. If you look at the thread in question it did in fact go from Pam's boobs being a part of the story, to "the" story. However we have had women form New Zealand and Scotland using sex to tell their story recently, so you can not now complain about a man using sex as part of his story -fair is fair.

And for full disclosure the Elk/Pam story did NOT offend me, I actually thought it was funny, enjoyed following it --or trying to anyway. I was not sure who was always on first --or second ( a different story younger folks will not understand )

I was confronted with the "time of the month" problem only on one occasion and we settled it very quickly, as I was pissed and if there were any lions in the area they might have even left during that time ( we were in a hunting camp in Africa )

MNelknut good for you !

Elkduds. I think what they are doing is important and I do support them and will also be supporting the group Panda speaks about in Canada. Other women, non hunting women who have such strong anti views will find it hard to dislike some of the women in this group. I wish them well and at this point in my life can only contribut money, but they need that also. With Pandas group I am trying to look into a gift card at a place where they can go and outfit several different sized children (boys and girls )

Back to Pam--if a little surgery would let me look and FEEL like her right now ( she has to be mid 50's )------I just need directions and I am off (-;
 
Harley lol lol lol I love you but I also know your wife and she also loves you. It must be a good feeling to be loved by so many women. Me, Pam, Your wife ( I didn't us her name as I dont know if that would be the right thing to do ) tell her I said hello

Harley, remember the old "who's on second, no he is on first, etc " do you have one for that

also when friday rolls around post this up for me as it may fit this thread, the pam thread AND my life sometimes LOL --------- Send in the clowns sinatra
 
I like the idea of women teaching women. The teaching of conservation is also a huge plus. I know when I started learning to fly fish recently, I didnt know anyone that fly fished so I turned to YouTube to learn. It would have been awesome to find a mentor that was a woman as I have zero contact with other women outdoors (none of my friends are outdoorsy....not sure how that happened).
Pity I don't live closer I could have taught you how to fly fish as that's how I make a living these days.
Give me a woman to teach any day of the week, scenario, teaching a couple, as I demonstrate the first cast, 99% of the time out of the corner of my eye I see the woman mimicking me, whilst the guy is looking at the fish rising, woman don't over power the cast whilst men tend to, a common fault, anyway I digress.
I expect you have found this
she is excellent at demonstrating the casts.
Also check out Mel Krieger
Cheers and tight lines
Richard
 
I expect you have found this

I had not found those two videos but I wish I had. I watched Tom Rosenbauer and then Joe Humphrey. I watched just enough to understand how the cast works and then just practiced for hours. I still have a ton to learn but I appreciate the enthusiasm people have for fly fishing.
It seems more and more women are getting into fly fishing as well.
 
PEAX Trekking Poles

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
112,938
Messages
2,004,738
Members
35,903
Latest member
Jg722
Back
Top