Each fall, more women across Pennsylvania are heading into the woods with a hunting license in their pocket.
During the 2015-16 season, 96,555 women bought Pennsylvania hunting licenses or mentored permits, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. That was more than 10 percent of all license buyers and another increase for one of the fastest-growing groups in the sport.
A 44 percent jump
In the 2009-10 license year, 67,165 women bought licenses. By 2015-16, participation by women had grown by more than 44 percent.
The growth was not only among young hunters. The fastest-growing age range among all Pennsylvania hunters was women ages 26 through 30, a segment that grew nearly 26 percent in three years.
Nationally, Florida-based fish and wildlife research firm Southwick Associates found that women were the fastest-growing segment of all outdoor users in the United States, with about half a million female hunters.
Born to hunt
For Jillian Katchko, 13, of New Freedom in York County, hunting was part of life from the start.
“Hunting was all around me from the time I was born, literally,” she said. “Dad shot a wide-racked 9-point buck when I was 5 months old, and he took a photo of the buck next to me in my baby carrier.”
Her grandmother told her that her grandfather had taken the same kinds of photos of her father and uncles. At 12, Jillian completed a Hunter-Trapper Education course, got her first license and went out with her dad. She took her first squirrel with a .22 rifle at 22 yards and saw a 4-point buck that deer season, though not with a clean enough shot.
“Hunting is just plain fun,” she said.
Finding it later
Danielle Miller, 29, of Mifflin in Juniata County, grew up in a family of hunters who were all men.
“I guess, growing up, I assumed that hunting was just something that men did,” she said. “My brother was always my dad’s sidekick, and it was a given that he’d hunt.”
At 22, she took the education course and bought her first license. She now hunts with her father, brother, boyfriend and his daughter. “I enjoy being out in the woods,” she said. “It’s my happy place!”
Mary Ann Zdarko of Warren County was not raised around hunting. After she remarried at 47, her husband encouraged her to try it. By 69, she had taken 10 deer, and at 63 she drew a bull elk license and harvested a bull. “The elk hunt was an amazing experience, especially because I was 63, no spring chicken, at the time,” she said.
Why the growth?
Game Commission human-dimensions specialist Coren Jagnow said the reasons are hard to pin down. Surveys suggest women are much more likely than men to name harvesting game for meat as their top motivation.
Executive Director R. Matthew Hough welcomed the trend. “I couldn’t be happier for the girls and women who now are experiencing that excitement for themselves,” he said.
How to get started
“In order to get a license, you need to first take Hunter-Trapper Education,” Game Commission spokesman Travis Lau said. Mentored youth and adult permits are available without the course, but they limit which species can be hunted and require a mentor to be present.
The in-person course is free and offered statewide, including at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area visitors center near Lititz. An online version for those 16 and older cost $19.50 in 2016. Both require about six hours.
“If you want to get your first license this year, you really should schedule a class soon,” Lau said.
This story was originally published on LititzDailyNews.com in September 2016 and has been updated for our archive.