More Annies are getting their guns
Increasing numbers of B.C. women are taking up shooting, hunting as hobbies
Glenda Luymes and Jack Keating, The Province
Published: Friday, September 05, 2008
Women are being drawn to guns.
Fraser Valley outdoor stores are reporting a general increase in the number of women coming in to buy firearms and hunting equipment, while women are starting to make their mark in shooting sports.
Bryan Mymko of Stillwater Sports in Ladner said he's stocking more women's hunting clothes and boots this year.
"I'd say, yes, generally we're seeing more women coming in," he said yesterday, adding the rise may be attributable to hunting recruitment and education aimed at women.
In 2006, the Ministry of Environment came up with a strategy to recruit and retain hunters as hunting-licence numbers dwindled from 174,000 in 1981 to 84,000 in 2004. Part of the strategy included providing hunter-education courses taught by women for women.
Patti MacAhonic, the first female executive director of the B.C. Wildlife Federation, said her organization's class -- called "Becoming an Outdoor Woman" -- is always full.
And she's noticed that as the number of hunters begins to gradually rebound provincially, women are being included in the trend.
A hunter herself, MacAhonic said shooting is part of a "traditional way of life," which for her includes organic farming.
Bob Pitcairn, secretary of the B.C. Rifle Association, said he expects a jump in female rifle shooters as more teenage girls are appearing in under-19 shooting competitions across Canada.
"It takes time, but I think we might see the effect of that in a few years," he said.
Pitcairn believes women shooters tend to be more open to instruction and learn quickly.
"They can hold their own in competition," he said. "It's not like swimming, where you have to have separate men's and women's events. Shooting is one big melting pot."
Ray Mulholland with the Langley Rod and Gun Club said he hasn't seen an obvious "boom" in the number of women at the range, although there has been a jump in family memberships.
Heather Storey is a recent convert to the joys of firing guns at a shooting range.
Her boyfriend David Vito introduced her to the sport about six months ago.
"I enjoyed it," she said of firing guns for the first time.
"There's even a bit of a workout to it. You're holding the gun out. I mean, you feel it in your biceps, the recoil from the handguns."
Storey, 25, and her boyfriend use the firing range of the Mission and District Rod and Gun Club. She fires several semi-automatic handguns and a semi-automatic rifle.
"They're all fun. They're all a different experience," said Storey.
She and her boyfriend don't hunt.
Vito called firing guns "a hobby and a sport," adding: "My previous girlfriends weren't into it at all, but Heather thinks it's really cool."
"I like the challenge," said Storey, who shares a house in North Delta with Vito, 29, two cats and a cockatiel.
"For example, I might shoot a certain distance and I'm doing OK hitting the bull's eye. Then I want to increase the distance to challenge myself to go further."
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