SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It’s likely more than one lady has said “goodbye” to her husband as he left for a fishing trip or a week at deer camp and wondered, “What is the big deal.” The Division of Natural Resources Becoming and Outdoors Woman workshop is aimed at answering that question.
“I think a lot of times women feel intimidated,” said Program Director Billie Shearer at the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. “I know myself, if I went hunting with my husband I didn’t learn as much as when I went to the BOW program and learning from other women who had the patience of another woman to show you how to do it.”
The DNR sponsors two Becoming an Outdoors Woman Workshops annually, one in the spring and one in the fall. The next one is set for April 22-24 at Blackwater Falls State Park and there are slots available.
“The women get to learn new outdoors activities,” Shearer explained. “We do overnight backpacking, fishing, learning how to cook in a dutch oven, wilderness first aid. Several different outdoor sporting events allow women to learn new skills and brush up on their old skills.”
Each weekend includes four different sessions and participants can select which four activities they’d like to learn from a list of more than 30. The idea is to create a low stress environment for ladies to learn outdoors activities from qualified instructors with no pressure.
“We’ve had these same instructors for many years. They’re very qualified,” said Shearer. “I’ve never heard a bad word about any of them and people say they actually do take what they learn and go do it.”
The weekend is mostly women, although it’s not out of the question for a husband or boyfriend to tag along. Just so he realizes, the weekend and whatever is going on is about her, and not him. The program started several years ago and was aimed at females who were often left at home by their fathers when they were young and never learned an affection and appreciation for outdoors pursuits.
“I would have probably never gone out deer hunting and killed a deer if it hadn’t been for the BOW programs,” said Shearer.
The upcoming weekend is at Blackwater Falls and runs from Friday through Sunday. The price includes, meals, lodging, and the four hands-on seminars. You can register HERE, but the deadline is Friday.