Like many women, I came to hunting as an adult. I learned to shoot at age 45 with handguns and progressed quickly to rifles and shotguns. I was 48 on my first deer hunt (also my first successful deer hunt!). My love for hunting and desire to include more women and girls in the sport led me to become a Wisconsin state certified hunter education instructor (and my daughter to become a junior instructor). We hope that our presence in the classes -- which still draw primarily young men and their fathers -- will help plant the idea that wives and daughters might also be good hunting buddies.

My hunting career has been affected by several medical conditions. Although interested in bow hunting, I discovered that my fibromyalgia (FMS) precluded my drawing a bow. Although Wisconsin has provision for crossbow hunting for the physically challenged, I don't fit the criteria. So no bow hunting for me. After several years of deer hunting the osteoarthritis in my knees advanced to the point that I required a cane for mobility. Several surgeries, including a total knee replacement have not improved my condition sufficiently to allow me to hunt. Again, I fail to meet the state's criteria to qualify for consideration as a 'disabled hunter.' I do hope that with continued rehabilitation I may have the privilege of accompanying my daughter on her first deer hunt.

In my other life I write and speak about firearms issues, especially those involving women and firearms. Among my publications is the book Gun Women: Firearms and Feminism in Contemporary America, co-written with Mary Zeiss Stange. Like many others I am concerned that the increasingly anti-gun sentiment in the US will begin to interfere with our rights as hunters and sportswomen.

I hope that my experiences as a physically challenged hunter and as a single mother working to introduce my daughter into hunting will be useful to you ladies out there. Please write and share your experiences with me. I hope to include your input in future articles. Good hunting!