This year will be the first year hunters participating in the gun deer season in Wisconsin will be able to wear pink while hunting. This is all possible because back in February governor Scott Walker signed a bill making it legal for hunters to where fluorescent pink during gun deer season. The bill was proposed in the hopes of attracting more females to the sport.
I find this very offensive because I've been deer hunting since I was 3 years old, which means I've been hunting for going on 17 years. Not once have I ever thought there was something wrong with wearing blaze orange. I became interested in hunting because my dad taught me the ropes and it was something we bonded over. I didn't join the sport to make a fashion statement. And quite honestly, if the DNR thinks it's going to attract more hunters by changing the color of our gear, then they are out of their minds. If someone wants to hunt solely for the purpose of wearing pink, then should they really be trusted with a firearm?
I definitely think we need to attract more females to the sport, but there's got to be another way of doing it. From personal experience, I was pretty much the only female that hunted in the group I hunted with. The group usually consisted of five or more male family members. Once in a while, we had another girl try out the sport, but they never lasted. The only other female I know that hunts consistently is my cousin, who's 4 years younger than me. We were both raised around our dads hunting, so it just came natural for us.
I know not everybody comes into the sport so easily as us, which is why outreach is very important. One of the earliest things that should be done in a girl's life is she shouldn't be shunned by her peers or elders for being interested in hunting. We need to get rid of the division of sexes around the sport at a young age. If a parent is teaching their son how to hunt, then they should teach their daughters as well. Girls shouldn't have to fight their way into the sport. They should be welcomed with open arms. I say this only because whenever I try to engage in conversation about hunting outside of my immediate family I don't get taken seriously because I'm a girl. Lastly, I think we should have more outreach programs for those not involved in the sport, but are interested. Programs like mentored hunts would be great because a newbie would be paired with a more experienced hunter and be taught the ropes and hopefully continue learning about the sport.
Obviously there's plenty of other ways the hunting community can attract women to the sport, but having politicians pass a law making it ok to wear pink while hunting because it's not only sexist, but we don't want women hunting just because of the color of their shirt. We want women to hunt because they love the sport.
