STILLWATER, Okla. – A research collaboration between Oklahoma State University and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is helping increase the number of female hunters in the state.
The ODWC reached out to Audrey King, OSU assistant professor of agricultural communications and state Extension specialist for digital media, about developing focus groups of women interested in the sport to explore ways to grow the number of women who hunt.
King launched the project in 2021, asking Oklahoma women what barriers kept them from hunting and what communication channels they preferred for marketing hunting. A diverse group of women was represented in the study, such as current license holders, lapsed license holders, bow hunters and gun hunters.
“Scheduling and caring for a family, childcare and working on everyone else’s schedule is a big barrier for women in our study,” King said. “Most of the women liked the idea of connection, but one of the barriers they faced was finding female mentors in the hunting space. Then there were biological barriers, such as the fact that much of the hunting clothes for women put fashion over function.”
King said the lack of available hunting gear for women and the cost of the gear were other challenges. Women also have different motives for wanting to hunt.
“Many men traditionally like to be alone when they hunt and like to trophy hunt,” said Sarah Cain, a graduate student in the OSU Department of Natural Resources Ecology and Management. “However, many women expressed a preference for hunting with their families and in groups, and they like the idea of gathering their own meat. They don’t always care about a taxidermized deer head; they care about having meat for a year.”
Heather Del Moral, a communication and education technician with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, said she started hunting 11 years ago when she arrived at the ODWC.
“I love being outside. I love the quality time it gives me with my friends and family,” Del Moral said. “I go hunting alone a lot, so sometimes, I think about when I get the deer, I’m going to have to drag the deer and load it myself. I also process the meat myself, so it can be a lot of work. Sometimes, that keeps me from it. And just making the time is probably my other big barrier.”
Since the survey, the ODWC has implemented programs and marketing based on King’s research results, such as family- controlled hunts that allow women to sign up with a partner and children in groups of up to four.
“Our first family hunt was offered in 2023 at Cross Timbers Wildlife Management Area,” said Betsy York, a human dimensions specialist with the ODWC. “Women interviewed were highly satisfied with the experience.”
This year, the department expanded the family-focused hunting events to two additional wildlife management areas for three special family hunts.
“I love doing research that is applied and practical, and seeing the fruits of that has been amazing. That is part of our land-grant mission,” King said. “I love that I got to give a voice to some amazing women.”
King and Cain agreed that the interdisciplinary nature of the research was rewarding, with Cain looking at the results from a natural resource perspective, and King studying the data from a social science perspective.
“Coming out of my master’s, it is important for me to understand the social perspective of natural resources because in any job, I will be working with people, and I want to understand their perspectives and motivations when interacting with natural resources. I would not have gotten that experience had it not been for this research,” Cain said.
She hopes the project will foster more targeted demographic research across the nation.
“State wildlife agencies are funded by hunting license dollars, and there has been a steep decline in hunting license sales,” Cain said. “By increasing hunter participation, we can also increase funding for these wildlife agencies, which fund wildlife research at universities like OSU.”
OSU Ag Research is Oklahoma’s premier research and technology development agency in agriculture, natural resources and the life sciences.
