Many sportsmen and women come to a time in their lives when they want to give back to the Hunting Community what it has given them.  I recently found myself in that position so I decided to find an outlet to pass on my outdoor knowledge.  I came across the Becoming An Outdoors-Woman Program with the help of my husband Phillip.  I signed up for the Instructors Workshop and became a certified instructor for BOW in the state of Kentucky.

 

Becoming an Outdoors-Woman is a program that addresses educational barriers to outdoor activities.  BOW offers a weekend of outdoor skills, primarily to women ages 18 or older.  The focus of the workshops is learning introductory hunting, and fishing related skills in a non threatening atmosphere under the direction of patient, enthusiastic instructors.  The learning atmosphere encourages camaraderie and fun.

 

The course offerings are balanced into thirds: one-third shooting and hunting, one-third fishing related, and one-third non-harvest outdoor activities.  The women are allowed 4 different classes over the course of the workshop. These classes show the women that they are as capable as anyone.

 

KDFWR recently held a BOW Workshop, where I taught the Introduction to Waterfowling with Bridgett Marquardt and Phillip Carter as my assistants.  This was the first time Kentucky had offered the Waterfowling Class.  The Class was a great success.  I had twelve participants, they were from different walks of life, but they all had one thing in common.  These women wanted to know as much about waterfowling as they could learn in a 4 hour class.

 

This had to be one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life.  These women where becoming duckaholic's before my very eyes.  They were full of questions and we were full of answers.  The women learned the basic of duck hunting.  We split the class up into two halves so the women could have a small break to digest everything we had given them.

 

The first half of the class we taught them the following: proper gun and personal safety; proper waterfowl identifications; equipment needs ranging from clothing, to calls, to decoys; proper shotgun gauges, proper shotshells and sizes; proper chokes to use and why; how to find out the federal and state licenses, permits and regulations for waterfowl; the different habits and habitat of waterfowl.

 

The second half of the class was the imaginary duck hunt.  We had the women to construct a temporary bank blind with one piece of camoflauged canvas tarp and the rest of natural materials they had to gather from around the blind site.  They then watched as we put out a decoy spread according to the wind direction.  They learned about 3 different patterns to set their decoys in the V,C,J, patterns and which pattern works best in each different situation.  Then we put the women in the blind they had constructed gave them their duck calls, which had been donated to our class by Knight and Hale.  We gave them some information on using the duck calls. We taught them what calls to use in different situations. 

 

Then it was time for them to go hunting, only tool needed was a good imagination.  We would talk the women thru an actual waterfowl hunting situation: "Keep your heads down the ducks are circling to the right of the rock point and they are going to land just to the left of the decoys.  We have two mallards both are drakes and looks like two pintails yes one drake, one hen, ok they are circling ok they are cupped.  Get ready...........Cut them......."  Those women would come up out of the blind with shotgun in hand and start taking out their imaginary ducks. Yes we remembered our gun safety, Trigger locks were on the shotguns.

 

The women said they could see the ducks as we described the scene. They said their hearts beat a little faster as the scene played out.  I think the women really enjoyed their imaginary duck hunt but are now ready for the real thing.

 

We wrapped up the class with a question and answer section.  Knight and Hale and Ted Nugent United Sportsmen of America of Kentucky both donated prizes to be given away during the class.  We asked the women certain questions and the woman who answered them right won a prize.  These women were hungry for knowledge and we tried to give it to them.  Little did we know we would be creating some waterfowl junkies.

 

BOW is an outstanding program offered in 48 states.  It is funded by the State Fish and Wildlife Departments around the United States.  I would highly recommend this program to any woman wanting to learn more about the outdoors and what it has to offer.  BOW offers many different classes each workshop.  I am sure everyone could find something that interests them.  For more information on a BOW Workshop near you, please contact your State Fish and Wildlife Department.  To find out more about workshops offered in Kentucky, please contact KDFWR at (800)858-1549 or check out the upcoming schedule at KDFWR's BOW Web Page. 

Be sure to join Tina, Bridgett and Phil as they lead us in December for the First Annual KNOW Duck Slam at Land Between the Lakes!!!