Perspectives:
Becoming an Outdoorswoman
By Ashley Mathews, Outdoor Woman Coordinator,
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Women enjoy archery at a BOW workshop
Glancing around the campfire more often than not you’ll see more malesthan females sharing each other’s company and love of the outdoors. Why? A variety of barriers prevent women from participating in outdoor recreation, but typically they were not given an opportunity to learn outdoor skills as girls or young adults. The Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) wants to change that.

Our goal is to provide an atmosphere where women feel comfortable learning new skills associated with hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities, in a supportive and non-threatening environment.

BOW Workshops: What to Expect
Workshops span a weekend, usually beginning on Friday around noon and lasting through Sunday noon. Five are offered each year, in various locations around Texas. Workshop locales have included Marble Falls, Abilene, Brownwood, Ft Davis, and Palacios, as well as Possum Kingdom, Tyler, and LaGrange.

The weekend is divided into four sessions and you pick which classes you’d like to participate in. Typically, six to eight classes per session are offered.

Class topics are diverse but can be divided into three areas: shooting sports, fishing, and non-harvest activities (like camping, kayaking, and plant identification). As much as possible, the classes are taught with a “hands-on” approach and equipment is provided.

Usually, workshops are held at summer camps and outdoor learning facilities. The atmosphere is “outdoorsy” but comfortable. Participants are housed in bunkhouses, cabins or dormitory-like rooms with modern conveniences like AC, toilets, hot showers, etc.

To see the BOW workshop schedule or to register, visit www.tpwd.state.tx.us/edu/baow or call Ashley Mathews at 512-389-8198.

Kayaking at a BOW workshop
After the Workshop: Texas Outdoor Women’s Network
Many women who had attended a “Becoming an Outdoors-Woman” workshop wanted to practice the outdoor skills they’d learned, but felt they didn’t know any other women in their hometown who shared their love of the outdoors. Realizing there was a need, several BOW alumni started Texas Outdoor Women’s Network (TOWN) groups in their cities as a way for women to meet other women with a similar interest in outdoor recreation.

Local TOWN groups hold regular meetings and coordinate fieldtrips in a variety of outdoor activities for its members. You need not have attended a BOW workshop or necessarily have any outdoor experience to join the fun.

The Houston TOWN chapter functions as a cyber group. Anyone wanting to sign up can send an email to TOWN_Houston_skw@bigfoot.com asking to be put on the TOWN list. Ladies in the Houston group participate in a variety of outdoor activities, including kayaking, canoeing, camping, jet-skiing, bird watching, hiking, biking, horseback riding, archery, and shooting handguns, shotguns, and rifles – the sky is the limit!