We’ve detailed the rise in gun ownership among American women, with self-defense playing a major role in the increase. But it’s important to note that the expansion in the number of women hunters is also contributing to the boom.
Now, reports out of South Dakota detail this cultural shift in the area of upland game hunting. The number of women buying pheasant hunting licenses has nearly doubled in the last 10 years—a larger increase than in any other demographic. In fact, in 2015, one of every 10 hunting licenses—including out-of-state licenses—was purchased by women.
“In my generation, women stayed in the kitchen; men did the hunting,” Maggie Lindsey, education services coordinator with South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, told the Sioux City Journal. “Now it's way more acceptable for women to go out and hunt. The fathers or whoever is doing the hunting in the family aren't just taking their sons; they're taking their daughters.”
