FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) - Hunting is typically a male sport, but has turned into an activity for both men and women in recent years. Local hunter Diane Eggert said she picked up bow hunting two years ago, when she was tired of her husband leaving her for the woods.
"I kind of started complaining, and he said well what if I buy you a bow, and I said well, I'll give it a shot," Eggert said.
On opening day of modern gun deer season (Nov. 8), Eggert shot her first deer ever, a 9-point buck. She was hunting with a muzzle-loader for the first time.
"It totally blew me away, totally, and I mean I shot it and whenever my husband gutted it out and processed it he was like that was a perfect shot, you couldn't have gotten it more perfect," Eggert said.
The hunter said she likes that more women are getting involved in the sport, but said that sporting goods stores could have a better selection for cold weather gear.
"I froze out there, I was so cold," Eggert said.
A Cabela's manager said their women's hunting gear section has doubled in the last two years, along with the amount of women enrolled in their hunter safety courses. They said their apparel is tailored to fit a women's body, which Eggert said is better than borrowing her husband's overalls and parkas.
"Men’s clothing and women’s clothing are different, and I got hips, I can’t wear his," Eggert said.
She said hunting doesn't have to be a man's sport, and encourages all women to pick up a bow or gun and get out in the woods, even if they aren't successful at first. Eggert hunted for two years before getting her first buck.
"I was intimidated at first, you know, because I tell my husband he’s a professional, because he’s done it since he was a kid, and he says I’m no professional, I’m still learning, and he said just go out there and have fun,” Eggert said.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has a female-only program to get women interested in hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. For more information, click here.