Women Hunt – Virality and the Art of Gratitude

by Renée Thornton Chair, WSF Women Hunt® Committee and Program

For many reasons, the fastest-growing segment in the hunter/conservationist community today is women and understanding why and what it will take to help even more Women in Hunting™ enjoy the rich benefits of a hunting lifestyle are two great questions worth exploring. Our mission is to engage and help more women cross barriers on their journey into fields and the mountains, and the last year has seen some exciting developments.

2021 saw the Women Hunt® (WH) Committee successfully launch an inaugural class of 12 women from across the United States and Canada who attended a New Hunter course designed and delivered by the FTW Ranch in the Hill Country of Texas. There they learned everything one needs to know to start hunting and about the symbiotic relationship between hunters and the conservation of wildlife and wild spaces. They left empowered and having gained more confidence to continue along their personal hunting and conservation journeys!

Class of 2021, FTW Ranch (Texas) Inaugural New Hunter Course Participants with Chef Josh.

The second part of the course involved a partnership between the WH Committee and the WSF Chapters & Affiliates, where efforts were made to find mentors for the 12 women so they would have someone to help them following the completion of the course. Through the friendships made during the course, the use of group chats, social media and our YouTube channel, Women Hunt® also fostered an on-line community where the women could find support, just have a chat, or find resources. The third and final requirement when selected for the Women Hunt® New Hunter course is what I consider to be the most important part of the program. Participants are expected to demonstrate accountability and gratitude and to give back. We asked that they find ways that resonate with them to give back to the WSF, the WH Program, and of course to their own Chapters & Affiliates and within their own communities. We encouraged them to consider how they

Rebecca Peters (British Columbia) – Chair of Women Shaping Conservation (WSSBC) Premiering the film “Transmission” and fundraising for wild sheep at a WSC event.

Stellane King, Class of 2021 (Arizona) Being Mentored on a Bird Hunt.

could inspire, engage, and bring along more Women in Hunting™, youth or others into the hunting and conservation community. Their responses have been tremendous and are truly impacting not only the lives of so many others, but through their conservation efforts they are also positively impacting wildlife and the landscapes they inhabit! Talk about giving back in spades! The WSSBC family’s own Rebecca Peters was one of the 12 women of the Class of 2021 and as a member of the WSSBC, you’ve had an opportunity to see first-hand the impact Rebecca is having within your organisation, in your back yard. In the Summer 2022 issue of Wild Sheep Forever, Rebecca wrote about her journey in creating

Stacey Dauwalter (Idaho) 2021 Project Work (Idaho Wild Sheep Foundation) Capture, collaring and ultrasound.

Women Shaping Conservation, and she and her committee have already made a difference to the wild sheep of British Columbia through both education and fundraising. Their first event held in June featured a private screening of the film Transmission and through generous sponsors and attendees, raised money through raffles, ticket sales and donations for wild sheep! In addition to Rebecca’s efforts, her classmates have been making tremendous impacts in other meaningful

L-R: Jessie, Brooklyn, Chelsey, Rachel, Brandi Love (Alberta) High Country Huntress Panel Discussion (Wild Sheep Foundation Alberta)

ways! Their efforts include: teaching middle school students using the WSF’s Sheep Kits, developing and delivering skills-based shooting and hunting clinics, volunteering on conservation projects, teaching and mentoring women and children, being invited to speaking engagements, forming women’s social groups and support networks, participating in panel discussions, writing articles for the C&A magazines, speaking on podcasts, bringing awareness through social media, and demonstrating gratitude for the opportunity the WSF and its’ C&As, Women Hunt®, and all of our generous sponsors and donors have given them. As I was thinking of all the work these 12 women have been doing, I suddenly remembered a commercial from my youth in the 1970s and early 1980s. Some of you may remember it too, where a woman has used Faberge Organics shampoo and loves it so much that she tells two friends who tell two more friends, and so on, and so on, until the TV screen was filled with duplicated images of the woman. The viewer in that moment understood that the Ripple Effect from the actions or words of one person can cascade into a nearly incalculable impact on the lives of so

Bea Segura (New Mexico) and Tiffany Osburn (Texas) Water Guzzler Conservation Project (Texas Bighorn Society)

many others. As I was tripping down memory lane watching a YouTube video of that popular commercial, I learned that what used to be called the Ripple Effect is now being called Virality, certainly appropriate in the age of viral messaging on the internet. And that is precisely what has happened because of the program requirement that the participants be accountable, grateful and to give back. Their actions, words and choices are viral in nature, and they are spreading virally to the benefit of our hunting and conservation community, and to the wild creatures we treasure and the wild spaces they inhabit. Check out some of the amazing work being done by the Class of 2021 of the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Women Hunt® Program! Women Hunt® was proud that nine of the participants of the Class of 2021 were available to volunteer at the 2022 Sheep Show. There they worked at the registration booths and in the WSF store, sold raffle tickets at <1 Club and the Ladies Luncheon, ran auction slips at all four of the evening banquets, participated in the 4th annual Women Hunt® seminar, and did whatever else was asked of them to support the show! Women Hunt® will again be a presence at the 2023 Sheep Show and this year we’re excited to host our own exhibitor booth for the first time, where we’ll be featuring a daily special event! Our seminar will feature a lively conversation with special guests to be revealed in the Winter 2021/2022 Wild Sheep magazine. Watch for it! This October we’re going to be hosting the Class of 2022 at the New Hunter course, and I invite you to follow along on their journeys and their experiences at the FTW Ranch learning to shoot, hunt and prepare wild game. More importantly, stick with them along what is sure to be a fascinating journey watching how they develop over the next year and how they harness their enthusiasm, energy and gratitude, and impact even more lives through the power of Virality!

Website: www.wildsheepfoundation.org/womenhunt Email: womenhunt@wildsheepfoundation.org

@womenhuntprogram @women_hunt @womenhunt