Passport to Texas

Women relaxing after the hunt. Image from National Shooting Sports.

This is Passport to Texas

[Rifle shot]

That’s how a group of ten women started a weekend hunting trip at a Hill Country ranch – by taking practice shots at targets. Ranch manager Troy Calloway explains.

Sometimes we get people out here who have never shot before, so we set ‘em up and assess the situation….. But everybody here is nailing it; we’re good to go it looks like.

Hunt coordinator, Tami Moore, told me that women make up less than 10% of all licensed hunters, and she thinks she may know why.

I think a lot of women are afraid that they’re going to fail, because they’re just scared. And going out with another group of ladies, in a situation like we are this weekend, takes a lot of that out of it.

Kathy Keller of Austin is an experienced hunter. We spoke in her deer blind.

Oh, this is really great. And it’s exciting to see that women are getting into this sport and learning about hunting and wildlife.

Kathy explains what it was like the first time she harvested an animal.

It was something that made me think. I’ve taken this life, and I had to think about why I was doing it. And I realized that it is a big responsibility.

Find hunting information and resources on the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series and works to increase hunting and shooting opportunities in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Learning the proper use of firearms during a Becoming and Outdoor Woman Weekend Workshop

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This is Passport to Texas

Thanks to a unique program from Texas Parks and Wildlife, women of all ages–who have never had the opportunity to camp, climb, fish, or sport shoot–are getting the chance to become the outdoor women they always dreamed of being.

The Becoming and Outdoors Woman workshops span a weekend. They usually begin on a Friday at noon and lasting through Sunday noon. The weekend is divided into four sessions and attendees pick their own classes.

Class topics are diverse and can be divided into three areas: shooting sports, fishing, and non-harvest activities (like camping, kayaking, and plant identification). As much as possible the classes are taught with the “hands-on” approach and equipment is provided. They’ve even
learned to field dress harvested game.

Participants come away from the weekends with the confidence to engage the outdoors in new ways. Moreover, they meet other women with similar interests, and make new friends.

We just missed this year’s Becoming an Outdoors Woman Workshop. Even so, it is not too early to get on the list for next year. Visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife website to find out how to sign up. And while you’re there, you can check out other outdoor opportunities for you and the family.

We record our series at the Block house and Joel Block engineers our program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Sharon Cundiff, Owner and Lead Instructor with Straight-N-Arrow Archery, pictured with her first deer by rifle. An Axis doe taken in Del Rio.

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This is Passport to Texas

Although I am not a hunter, I attended an all-woman hunting trip to the Texas Hill Country to learn about it.

I met women on the trip who were long-time hunters as well as others who were on their first hunts. Tami Crawford was the hunt coordinator, and explained the purpose of the event.

We’re trying to get women involved in the outdoors, and to take some of the mystery out of the sport of hunting. Before it’s just been something that the guys go do.

Ten women in all went on the trip. Each brought a guide with them. First time hunter, Millissa Salinas of Austin, brought her father Ralph.

I’ve always wanted to experience the outdoors, and I thought the perfect opportunity to bond with my father would be this event so he could show me the rope and experience some special memories together.

Millissa, like all of the women on the trip, was enthusiastic about the experience.

It was extremely exciting. We’d been preparing for it for about a month. He had taken me target shooting, I had borrowed a rifle. So I’d been anticipating the whole excitement for some time now. So when the actual moment came to pull the trigger, it was extremely exciting.

Millissa harvested two deer on that trip. Hunting with other women and her father made for an experience that Millissa intends to recreate with other family members.

We definitely want to get involved more in the outdoors. And I have a younger sister that we’re going to try to encourage to join us.

The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Lily Raff McCallou, photo courtesy www.oregonlive.com

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When you grow up in a hunting family, you learn to appreciate the tradition.

It was so different from what I grew up with and from anything I knew, that I wanted to know more about it.

Lily Raff McCaulou moved from NYC to Bend Oregon to write for a small newspaper, her readers included anglers and hunters. To connect with them and her food, Lily learned to hunt.

You know, the locavore movement was starting to take hold, and I’d been a meat eater my whole life, and was wondering: do I really have what it takes to hunt and kill my own meat. And wanting to know what I could get from that experience — and that closeness to my food. So, it was a combination of all these different factors that made me decide this is something that I want to try.

After hunter education and learning to shoot, she attended a Becoming an Outdoors Woman Workshop, which included a pheasant hunt. She thought she might not have the nerve to pull the trigger.

All the other women in my group had shot a bird, and I just started feeling like, ‘Hey, I’ve come all this way and it’s been a year in the making, and I want to take a shot, too.’ Eventually, all the stars aligned and the dog that I was with sniffed out a bird and held it on point [and when it flushed] , and I got it; I took the shot and the bird fell immediately. Rather than feeling all the guilt and remorse, I felt empowered.

Lily Raff McCaulou wrote a book about her experience entitled: Call of the Mild.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Women on the water at a BOW Workshop.

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This is Passport to Texas

The popular Becoming and Outdoors Woman Program from Parks and Wildlife offers weekend workshops to help women 18 years and older to develop or hone their outdoor skills.

05—The fall workshop – when registration opened – it filled up within ten days.

Heidi Rao coordinates the program and says the next workshop is April 10 through 12 in Palacios. Trained staff guides participants through a variety of activities.

17—A third of the activities that we offer are hunting and shooting and wildlife based learning. A third of the activities are fishing and boating and water based activities. And the final third of the activities are the non-consumptive such as bird-watching, astronomy, camping and backpacking.

Attendees choose activities in which to participate. Heidi adds it is a safe, supportive environment where women engage the natural world. And if the April Becoming an Outdoor Woman Workshop interests you, better contact Heidi soon.

08—From the people that could not make it into the fall workshop, we already have a waiting list growing by the day to get into the event.

So what makes this such a popular program?

02—It’s fun. It’s absolutely fun.

Find information about Becoming an Outdoor Woman on the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series, and receives funding from your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuel… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.