As the operator of a day hunting service, we get many calls from hunters wanting to know if we allow women hunters or women in camp. At first I thought it was odd that anyone would even ask such a question until I learned that apparently there are outfitters and hunting leases that don’t allow women in the camp.

Such places argue that the hunting camp is no place for a woman and that the time spent in the hunting camp is “our time!” They argue that women just aren’t serious and are just out there because their man is there.

As passionate as we all are about hunting, we can't kid ourselves - hunting is a dying sport! The numbers of hunters are dwindling every day and we must do anything and everything we can to bring more people into this sport if we have any hope of keeping it alive.

That includes women and children. If we don't include and encourage them to become part of "Our Time" - we'll soon all be sitting at home on the weekends watching old hunting videos and remembering days gone by! Maybe not in our lifetime, maybe not in our children's lifetime, but it will happen if we don't bring the new blood into the sport. If we exclude the women from "Our Time" then "Our Time" will soon become "No Time!"

On a personal note - I like having women in our camp. We've had women of all skill levels in our camp but I can say without reservation that we have had very few male hunters that were more passionate or more dedicated than most of the women we've had in our camp and they’re welcome anytime.

John Shelley

Pro Staff

Bowhunting North America, LLC

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