How To Start Hunting: 5 Helpful Skills Camps for Women

Hunting has, historically, been a male-dominated sport. That's been changing in recent years, however, as more and more women turn to rifles and bows. In fact, in the past decade, women have been the fastest-growing demographic of hunters in the United States, and now make up one of the largest demographics of hunters.

However, it can still be a difficult and intimidating sport to break into, especially if you're a woman who didn't grow up hunting.

How Women Can Get Into Hunting

As K.J. Houtman, the author of Why Women Hunt, writes in her book: "It really takes a mentor to help a new hunter along in taking up the sport. Hiking is a passive way to enjoy the outdoors—but hunting is engaging and consumptive. There's a complication to it due to firearms or bows; there's some hardship with the elements and some danger. And, of course, there's success or failure, though failure to put meat in the freezer does not make a hunt a failure."

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Because of the intricacies of hunting, and the danger that comes with handling weapons, mentors are crucial to learning to hunt. They can also be a challenge to find if you didn't grow up in a family that hunted. This may be further complicated if you find yourself in an environment that's high pressure or overly stressful, particularly if you are the only woman on a hunt.

Luckily, in the last decade, resources designed for women learning to hunt have sprung up to help support the growing population of women hunters. One of the best resources, and the most helpful for women looking to learn to hunt or expand their skills, are all women's hunting camps and trips.

These camps and trips are designed to be welcoming, inclusive environments to learn in. You'll not only walk away from them with newfound skills and confidence, but you'll come away with memories from a trip of a lifetime and a bevy of new friends to hunt with.

Here are our five favorite hunting camps and trips for women.

1. She Hunts Skills Camp

She Hunts Skills Camp teaches women to develop hunting skills and confidence, under the tutelage of Brittany Boddington, a former outdoor television host and a hunter of over 20 years.

The one-week-long sessions take place at Record Buck Ranch in Texas, which features over 17,000 acres of wilderness and 50 different species around the world. The instruction covers everything from rifle and bow hunting to field dressing and wild game cooking to wilderness survival. The schedule includes daily seminars and hunting blocks, and camp provides weapons to use and beautiful lodging, all in a no-pressure environment.

2. Oregon Ladies Hunting Camp

Now in its 10th year, Ladies Hunting Camp hosts sessions at Dry Creek Ranch in Fort Rock, Oregon (where it began) as well as in Henefer, Utah. LHC hosts a variety of classes during the four-day camp, including the different types of hunting—such as rifle and shotgun hunting and archery—and skills like how to pack for a hunt. It also offers lessons in processing game animals.

LHC is great for beginners or advanced hunters alike and prioritizes building camaraderie and friendships amongst its participants. LHC also hosts youth camps, for both boys and girls.

3. Sisterhood Outdoors

Sisterhood Outdoors was founded by three friends who wanted to share their love of the outdoors by creating guided hunting trips for women. They host hunts across the U.S. for both beginners and experienced hunters, including hog hunts in Georgia, elk hunts in Wyoming, and duck hunts in Wisconsin.

Sisterhood Outdoors has a full roster of female guides and also hosts fishing trips and shooting events.

4. The Joy of Hunting

The Joy of Hunting is a hunting property located on a 270-acre preserve that overlooks the Yellowstone River in Montana. Owned and stewarded by Bruce and Anne Kania, the preserve is home to pheasants, ducks, geese, and deer. They host self-guided hunts as well as hunting lessons and courses, specializing in women teaching other women how to hunt.

The two hunting teachers, Anne and Andrea, are both experienced hunters and can teach any woman looking to get into hunting gun-handling and shooting skills, hunting strategies, and specifically how to best hunt birds. They emphasize an inclusive, welcoming learning environment.

5. Becoming An Outdoors-Woman

Becoming an Outdoors-Woman, commonly known as BOW, is a national education program that seeks to make women more comfortable and confident in the outdoors through workshops. Thirty-eight states and six Canadian provinces offer BOW workshops.

The workshops differ from state to state, and range from hunter education courses to introduction to rifle shooting to tracking to big-game processing. You'll also find BOW fishing and wilderness survival courses. All of the courses help women learn new hobbies, challenge themselves, make connections, and have fun—no experience required!

READ MORE: 7 Fly Fishing Clinics for Women Who Want to Learn to Cast