Women from across Wyoming and other states will meet at Ucross Ranch near Buffalo this week for the annual Women’s Antelope Hunt. Each new hunter will go out with an experienced mentor Friday and Saturday morning, and learn how to field dress the animal and then process the meat, which they can take home to their families. The three-day event will also include cooking classes, workshops, and a fundraising dinner open to the public.
Program Associate Rebekah Smith said the hunt is an empowering experience for participants.
“It’s really a new experience for them, because hunting tends to be an event where if you’re a woman you might be tagging along with some men that you might have learned out to hunt from,” said Smith. “It’s unusual to be in a situation with so many women that is centered around hunting.”
Smith added the event is an opportunity for participants to form lifelong relationships that will allow them to mentor one another in future hunts.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department said women are the fastest growing demographic of hunters, with a 19 percent increase in hunting licenses and an 18 percent increase in fishing licenses in the last 5 years. This year’s event will see a record number of participants with 44 women.
Proceeds from the dinner and the hunt will go to the Wyoming Women’s Foundation, which is working on an alumni program to support future hunts.
