Blogs

Women and Hunting in North America

“It is not in women that the pioneer spirit sitrs; the horizon does not beckon them; hills and rivers are to them a barrier, not an invitation to explore. It was the men only who pressed on across the great plains; the women had little more to say than the horses who drew the wagons in which they sat.” -- (Anonymous 1930, quoted in Stange 2001)

Abstract

In this paper we briefly examine how the women's rights movement in North America and Canada evolved during the early 20th century. Then, we explain how this movement and the growing number of female hunters are interconnected and how they stimulated one another. Finally, we give examples of exceptional huntresses from the past and present, and end with a suggestion for how to participate in this empowerment.

Suffragists in North America

In the late 19th and early 20th century, two main arguments were put forward by feminists to secure greater civil and political rights, and to achieve influence in North American civil society. One was premised on the common humanity that men and women share, and hence, that women should be able to attend university, to vote and have equal employment rights, as a matter of natural justice. The other emphasized women's differences from men. In particular, their universal role as mothers which, according to the suffragists, specifically equipped them to participate in a wide range of reform and political campaigns. North America's, and specifically Canada's earliest efforts to bring about women's rights were led by a movement of diverse women and men across the country. Beginning in the 1870s', the early suffragists campaigned for women's right to vote on equal terms as men, beginning with local government. The federal voting right wasn't granted until 1918, marking a significant step toward Canada's acceptance of what is now considered a self-evident right. Many North Americans insisted that women stayed behind the scene, where they were supposed to look after the family. Despite this, and the many other restrictions women faced, a growing number of women entered the paid workforce; confronting governments, writing petitions and organizing parades. Although these strategies brought early successes in North America, the road to full enfranchisement was a long struggle.

Women & Work

The possibilities that women had, and the social constructs built around them, depended on the region and their status. Up until the early 20th century, married women lost their property to their husbands, and the husbands were legally the only one responsible for supporting the family. For unmarried women and widows, there were several ways to provide themselves with an income. The only profession for women that built up a pension was teaching. However, purchasing, lending and reselling land was also a common way to earn money for urban women, and studies have shown that women contributed to the booming housing market around WWI (Patterson 2001). In more rural areas it was common for unmarried women to own small farming businesses. But in the early 20th century, parallel to the rise of the suffragists movement, a growing number of women in rural areas broke the social constructs by participating in activities that were, and still are, male-dominated: hunting.

Women and Hunting

Although some women hunted for the necessity of supporting themselves and had little interest in women's political equality, others saw a direct connection between "bullets and ballots", as Mary Zeiss Stange states (Stange 2005). Amongst many other examples like the famous Annie Oakley and Alberta Clair, Stange refers to Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson (1872-1959), who wrote A Women Tenderfoot (1900). In this book, Thompson writes about the empowering experiences she had when she joined her husband on a hunting trip, and she gives advice to other women. "This Book Is A Tribute To The West. I can only add that the events related really happened in the rocky mountains of the United States and Canada; and this is why, being a woman, I wanted to tell about them, in the hope that some going-to-Europe-in-the-summer-woman may be tempted to go West instead." After her experiences on this trip she became a well-known suffragist and fought for women's independence, carrying her gun around wherever she went.

The Present: Gerry Bracewell

Following these empowered, independent women of the past, Gerry Bracewell left her Alberta home in the 1930s' when she was sixteen years old to live in the mountains. Gerry became the first licensed female hunting guide (1945) in British Colombia. Nowadays, more and more women enter the Wilderness field, symbolizing change in a male-dominated society. BCTMO Conservation Club, tucked away in the BC wilderness and founded by Gerry's son Kevan Bracewell, has been empowering individuals since 1990, to break through any social and cultural limitations to achieve high-level personal development. Guide schools, wilderness trips on horseback, and internships enable many women from all over the world to join this movement and follow the steps of these remarkable Outdoorswomen from the past. Read about their transformational experiences in the blog and see how you can join the movement yourself.

My First Time Hunt Guiding by Molly, 21, UK

I didn’t grow up in a family of hunters or outdoorsmen. We never went camping, fishing, or hunting. But after arriving at the ranch, in the wilds of British Columbia, I was introduced to an entirely new world that I never knew existed. And from day one I was hooked!

What I love most about hunting is that it forces you to slow down and take in your surroundings: to watch, listen, and become more in tune with nature. Hunting, unlike farming, sets a human in direct competition against the will of nature; against animals far more adapted to surviving in the wild. Ultimately, it’s about the adventure of being in the center of nature and wildlife.

Determined to be part of this world, I took every opportunity that would enable me to be involved in the fall hunt season. This included taking part in the Guide School program and getting my Assistant Hunt Guide License. Almost immediately after completing these courses, the ranch offered me the chance to be an assistant hunt guide on a week’s mule deer hunt by horseback—an experience that sparked my passion for hunting.

I knew that this scheduled seven-day hunt in the mountains would be challenging, and for myself especially, as I was guiding in a range that I had not visited before. Furthermore, as every hunt is different, none of us could predict how we would relate to the many hours on horseback, the long days and late nights – and of course, the unpredictable weather.

Our original plan, laid out before we left, was to ride out to B and F camp, and spend the week glassing ‘Big Buck Basin’ and the area that surrounds it. However, unexpected early snows threw us a curve ball; disrupting the deer migration and pushing them down the mountains early. As such, for three days, we saw nothing. Therefore, on day four, the decision was made to pack up camp and ride over the pass into Eldorado basin to try our luck there.

I was quick to learn that hunting by horseback is a very unique experience. Unlike a typical horse trek, there are no distinct trails to follow: you go where the wildlife goes. This can include narrow mountain passes, thick brush and steep ridge edges. From the start this proved to be a testing challenge. I was put in charge to lead the group of hunters which, in snowy conditions and in a range that I had not ridden in before, required a new level of focus to ensure that I chose the safest route possible. Despite my initial nerves, leading the hunt was a huge turning point for me. I had my hunters, two officers from the US Special Forces, completely trusting my decisions and following my instructions without question. In their eyes, they saw me as a leader, not as a shy, awkward student that I saw myself as. This was a hugely empowering moment, and greatly increased my confidence in my own leadership abilities.

After safety arriving at Eldorado camp, the decision was made to split into two groups, and head into two different mountain passes. I was to take my two hunters up to Windy Pass and glass down into the valley opposite. This was a big step up for me. I was now the solo guide, and entirely responsible for my two hunters.

The trip started off smoothly, and we made good time riding up to our glassing point. However, soon after we arrived, a sudden change of weather caught us off guard. Thick clouds came rolling in, and before we knew it, we were stuck amongst heavy snow-fall. We made the quick decision to pack up and head back down the mountain to camp. However, by this point the snow had really picked up, and it was difficult to see even a few metres in-front of us. Luckily, the ridges that surround Windy Pass are made up of soft, sandy shale, which left a distinct trail of hoof prints from our ride up. Visibility became so poor so quickly, that these tracks proved vital to get us back on the trail home.

We all made it home safety, and despite not seeing any deer, this hunt was a huge personal success. Not only had my self-confidence increased, but my self-image had changed. Because the hunters saw me, not as an inexperienced female intern, but as a respected guide, I began to see myself in the same way. Whilst I still have a long way to go gaining relevant knowledge and experience, I have proven to myself that I can be a leader in this tough, unpredictable environment.

My First Cougar Hunt by Manon, 18, Germany

One of my biggest interests are dogs and how they are included in hunting. So I was very excited when I found out that I had been given the opportunity to go hunting with hounds. Before I came to the ranch I had no experience with hunting, especially not with hounds. So this would be a completely new experience.

Since I arrived at the ranch, I have taken the responsibility to care for the dogs and spent more time with them. Because if this, my curiosity about their job as hunting hounds grew bigger and bigger, and I chose to inform myself more about this type of hunting by reading the procedure for the cougar hunt. I also built two doghouses and a dog-box for the Truck, to ensure that everything is ready for when cougar season opened.

I am sure that a lot of people ask why we hunt cougars. The reason is that the mountain lion population in British Columbia is very high. You can see the problem that results from this when you look at their hunt habits: on average one cougar kills one deer, one bighorn sheep or mountain goat a week-so 52 per year. This has a very big impact of the deer, bighorn sheep and mountain goat population. So the hunt is important, as it ensures that a balance is kept between the animals, and it makes sure that the different species can survive.

On November 15th, the season for the cougar hunt opened and guests came to enjoy the hunt. And for me it created an opportunity to participate on an amazing adventure.

First we had to find a track, which had to be as fresh as possible. At the beginning the weather conditions were very bad - we had no snow. There was snow higher up in the mountains, but this snow was old, so we couldn´t tell how old the track was. When we found paw prints we let the hounds out of the dog box, but we had no luck: the track was too old so the young dogs couldn´t follow it. During one of our drives our guide, Cameron, explained to us the difference between a cat and a dog track: a cat track (cougar, bobcat, lynx) is much rounder then a dog track. On cat tracks you can´t see the claws and a cat track has three balls on the bottom of the track while a dog track has only two. It is very important to know the difference; else it can be very dangerous for the dogs when you let them run after a wolf.

The next morning, we woke up and saw fresh snow outside. So we were happy and full of motivation. We found a cougar track that looked fresh so we let the dogs run. But unfortunately we had no success. The dogs could smell the cougar and followed the track down the hill till the bottom of the creek, but there we lost the track on the river.

But we didn´t lose our motivation and we kept searching until finally we found a very fresh cat track near the ranch. It was early in the morning and still a little bit dark outside, so we had to use our headlamps. We put the GPS collars on two of the dogs and showed them the track and fortunately they started to follow it. Because of the young age of the hounds they lost the track a few times, so we had to find it again. One of us went to the right side while the other one went on the left side. This meant that we could check the area in the form of a circle. At the beginning I was a little bit nervous because it was the first time that I looked for the tracks by myself and I wasn´t sure if I was able to find the right track. When the dogs lost the track they ran everywhere in front of us. This meant that there were dog tracks everywhere, which didn´t make it any easier for us. So I had to use and think about my knowledge about the differences between dog and cat tracks and finally I found the cougar footprint in between the dog tracks. After a certain time, I became more confident in what I was doing and was able to see the right way much faster. Most of the time we would run the hounds on the leash so that we could correct them faster when they lost the way. After some hours of walking we let the dogs run by themselves and the bark gets louder. We started to look harder in the trees and finally we saw a cougar, high up in a tree, watching us. It was the first time for me to see a cougar in real-life, and I was very fascinated!

After Cameron shot the cat, we let the dogs chew on her. This is very important because it is their reward for their hard work. Then we took some pictures and carried the cougar back to the truck. Back at the ranch I learned how to skin and cut the cougar.

This adventure helped me to believe more in myself. I also learned that hunting is so much more than just shooting. You have to work hard to find a track and you have to learn not to give up when something doesn´t work the first time. But I think this is the best moment of the hunt, because then you are connected with the wildlife and with nature.