Women And Shooting: A Positive Trend - Brief Article

Guns Magazine, Nov, 1999 by Holt Bodinson

One of the most positive trends in the shotgun sports is the dramatic increase in participation by women. The statistics are stunning.

* Between 1989 and 1997, the number of female shotgun shooters grew by 23 percent -- from 958,000 women in 1989 to 1,177,000 in 1997.

* Women's participation in trap and skeet shooting has increased 14 percent since 1990 -- from 437,000 women in 1990 to 500,00 in 1997.

* Between 1990 and 1997, women's participation in sporting clays increased by 112 percent -- up from 216,000 in 1990 to 458,000 in 1997.

* Women currently represent about 11 percent of the overall hunting population.

* Nationally, women represent 17 percent of shotgun shooters, 18 percent of rifle shooters, and 23 percent of handgun shooters.

These intriguing statistics confirm what I have noticed at our local clubs during the last few years. There are more and more women on the line. It's an exciting trend, and one every current shooter should encourage in every way possible.

In fact, there's a pent-up demand out there. A recent Roper-Starch study found that 47 million women would accept an invitation to go target shooting if invited. Need I say more?

Leading the way toward greater participation by women in the shooting sports are two women's organizations that have gained national prominence -- the Women's Shooting Sports Foundation and Becoming an Outdoors Woman.

Located in Colorado Springs, the Women's Shooting Sports Foundation is headed by Shari LeGate, a former national skeet and trap shooting champion. Supported by 50 major sporting manufacturers, the WSSF has a very clear mission -- bring more women into the target shooting and hunting community and serve as the collective voice of female participates worldwide.

The WSSF has been conducting a series of introductory courses for women throughout the country called "A Day at the Range." These courses introduce novices to the fun and excitement of the shooting sports. They also sponsor Ladies Classics and Couples Cup Classic shooting events at locations across the country.

The Couples Cup events are designed to bring family teams together on the range -- husbands and wives, sisters and brothers, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters. WSSF even publishes an annual guide, the "Women's Product Resource List," for shooting equipment and accessories especially designed or more suitable for women.

Membership in the WSSF is open to anyone, and increasingly the WSSF is organizing chapters to encourage women shooters to network at the local level.

Becoming an Outdoors Woman is a program that is very familiar to me since I have, on occasion, been involved as an instructor. Conducted as a series of workshops throughout the country, the program is designed to introduce women to the broadest aspects of outdoor sports -- from fly-fishing to camp cooking to trap shooting.

Many single mothers sign up for the workshops because their son or daughter has expressed a desire to go camping or shooting, and mom suddenly realizes she is simply unequipped and unskilled to engage in the activity. Mom's commitment to fill in the gaps is refreshing to say the least!

Women represent the fastest growing segment of the shooting sports. Anything we can do to encourage the trend will both enrich and strengthen the sport we love.