Megan Postol 01.23.25
It is no secret that hunting is witnessing a significant shift in demographics. For the past few years, studies have indicated an uptick in women’s participation in hunting, even as overall participation in hunting trends downward. According to a 2023 study released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the number of women participating in hunting increased from 17% in 2020 to 25% in 2022. Women have become a key target demographic in the recruit, retain, reactivate (R3) movement, which has an overall goal of ensuring the future of hunting.
In New York, this past season saw two events crafted around the objective of getting women to participate in hunting. The first was a Women’s Goose Hunt in the Central New York area, while the second was a Mentored Women’s Crossbow Deer Hunt in the Finger Lakes.
Oneida/Madison Sportsmen’s Federation Sponsored Women’s Goose Hunt
On a cold weekend in late October, 11 women from New York and other states, including Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, gathered in Central New York to hunt Canadian geese with other women on a hunt coordinated by the CNY MY HUNT Mentored Hunt program. Some of the women were experienced waterfowl hunters, but for many of them, this was their first time participating in a goose hunt. Their backgrounds varied widely, from longtime big game hunters to just learning to hunt as adult-onset hunters and everything in between.
After a potluck dinner reception, complete with many wild game dishes provided by volunteers at the Cassidy Hollow Gun Club, the attendees met Mike Kochanowski, Justin Rejman, and Brayton Furner, their volunteer hunting guides for the weekend, and learned about the laws and regulations of Goose hunting in New York from ECO Steve Lakeman.
It was all smiles before sunrise Saturday as the women learned how to set up a decoy spread and settled into their spots inside the corn rows to await the honking birds. As the sun rose, geese revealed themselves in all directions but never came close enough for a shot, much to the frustration of the guides.
The afternoon was spent scouting new locations and checking out some of the local dives.
The next morning, the women and guides gathered at a new location in a chopped cornfield to set up and brush in a long A-frame blind. Everyone took their places as the sun crept up through the trees. The sounds of honking in the distance grew closer and closer until the guides successfully called in a flock. The sky lit up, and birds started falling.
Guide Justin Rejman called it “the perfect combination of controlled chaos,” and that is exactly what it was. After the hunt, the group gathered at Cassidy Hollow Gun Club to clean the birds again. Participants took home wild game, a delicious-sounding recipe for goose soup, and many new connections with new hunting friends.
Women’s Mentored Crossbow Hunt
Over the Veteran’s Day weekend, 10 mentees, 10 mentors, and several coordinators and volunteers convened in Conesus, New York, for a three-day crossbow hunting event that included education, range time, a field walk, hunting, meals, and more. The event was a collaboration between the National Deer Association, the Nature Conservancy, WildHERness, Artemis Sportswomen, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the BOW (Becoming an Outdoorswoman) Program.
Hunting mentors traveled from several states to serve as one-to-one guides to new hunters, sharing the knowledge and wisdom they have accumulated from years of hunting experience.
Friday started with crossbow training provided by Roy Dust, President of the New York State Crossbow Coalition, and the New York State DEC. Safety was the focus as participants learned about crossbows and then shot at targets.
After lunch, there was some in-field learning and blind setup, educational seminars from the National Deer Association, the NYS DEC, and the Nature Conservancy, and deer trivia and giveaways.
The anticipation was high on Saturday morning as teams crept into their locations to settle before dawn. Bucks and does were seen, as well as lots of scrapes, rubs, and tracks, but no deer were taken. After a midday break, hunters went out again to wait for the elusive whitetail. This cycle repeated throughout the weekend, and no tags were filled. But a reminder text from the Nature Conservancy’s Paul gallery put it into perspective: success isn’t always measured in tags filled.
So, although no deer were harvested during the women’s crossbow hunt, the experience was still rewarding in that connections were made, friendships formed, new hunters learned about all aspects of hunting, mentors could pay it forward, and in many more intangible ways.
Mentee Rylin McGee, of Western New York, came into the weekend fresh, green, and eager to learn. By the end of the weekend, she said that she felt comfortable going out into the woods alone thanks to her mentors. And there it is. That’s what it is all about.
