By Reda Wigle
Before we shoot, we meditate.
It’s 10 AM on the edge of a sorghum field in South Dakota, and I’m standing head-down in a circle of first-time female hunters.
Soon, we will load our guns and attempt to shoot wild pheasants out of the September sky.
But first, Karen Butler, the founder of the female hunting and riflery organization Shoot Like a Girl, asks us to close our eyes.
Butler leads us through an exercise meant to ground us in nature.
What do I hear? The hum of insects, the panting of dogs. What do I smell? Wet earth. What do I feel? The weight of 14 shotgun shells in my front pocket.
What do I wonder?
“Am I going to kill a bird?”
As guns are distributed, Butler tells us to walk “like brides” through the shoulder-high grass; we move at the pace of both wedding processions and funeral marches.
At the rallying cry of rooster, we shoulder and aim our shotguns at the male birds who rise into target range.
Either way, research shows that the act of hunting builds confidence and provides a wealth of physical and mental health benefits.
Because it forces us to be fully present and fully responsible for each other’s safety, hunting offers an unexpected lesson in mindfulness — and women are increasingly taking aim.
According to a 2022 survey by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, we now make up nearly 22% of all hunters in America, more than double the number from 2016. Meanwhile, women who own a firearm increased from 15% to 22% in the last decade.