About Becoming an Outdoors Woman in New Mexico

The Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) program began in 1991 when Dr. Christine Thomas, then a professor of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, attended a conference to identify barriers to women in hunting and angling.  At the end of the conference, twenty-one barriers had been identified and they included such things and clothes and equipment that do not fit a woman’s body, the lack of mentors and opportunities to learn outdoor skills.  Dr. Thomas, who has been a hunter and fisherwoman all her life, immediately understood what needed to be done to bring more women into these outdoor recreation activities and started the first workshop that became the BOW program.   Since its inception, BOW has grown to programs in nearly every state and several Canadian provinces.  Currently Dr. Thomas is the Dean of the College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point.

Its mission is clear.  Provide basic classes in a wide variety of outdoor skills teach them in a friendly but non-competitive atmosphere and make them as hands on as possible.  Every workshop is affiliated with each state’s department of game and fish or natural resources.  Every workshop offers classes in the shooting sports, particularly as they relate to hunting, and, of course, lots of angling classes.  Other introductory classes round out the program such as Dutch oven cooking, nature photography, conservation and ecology, map and compass, survival skills, wilderness first aid and many, many more.

New Mexico heard about the program in 1994 and spent a year organizing the first workshop which was held at the NRA-Whittington Center in May of 1995.

Since that time over 1200 women have attended.  Some were already proficient in some fields and some were real “greenhorns” but they all came with desire to learn more outdoor skills and they all came away with lots of new knowledge, many new friends and a deeper understanding and appreciation of our hunting and fishing and outdoor heritage.

For more information about Becoming an Outdoors Woman in New Mexico please contact Leilani McGranahan @ 505-250-7663  or to email Click Here.

Snail mail: 7600 Rio Guadalupe Pl NE; Albuquerque,  NM  87122

©2005 Becoming An Outdoor Woman In New Mexico

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