If you’ve attended a Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) event, workshop or adventure in the past 24 years, it was more than likely developed by BOW’s Director, Peggy Farrell. Peggy is a proud Wisconsinite who I deeply admire not only for all the cool outdoorsy things she has accomplished over the years, but also for continuing to give it her all in encouraging more ladies to get outside and enjoy both individual activities and group adventures. I’m certain Peggy has more stories to share with us than we have time for…but I’m going to do my best to draw out the highlights so you, too, can get excited about either helping this organization reach more individuals or attend an event yourself.

Q1: Peggy, share with us how you began in BOW and how has it changed from those early years to what it is today. What has been the biggest change or impact on BOW over the years?

I first discovered the BOW program as an undergraduate student at UW-Stevens Point. BOW founder Christine Thomas offered me a scholarship to attend a late summer BOW workshop at Treehaven Field Station in 1995. My task was to write an article describing my experiences at the workshop for Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine.

I was a total introvert at the time, but being among a group of 100+ people who came from all walks of life, who were there to enjoy nature, put me at ease. Everyone was so nice. I had a fabulous time learning how to shoot a shotgun (I missed every target!), field dress a deer, and run a chainsaw.

Looking back on that, I think one of the biggest impacts BOW has on participants is that it gives them confidence and even raises their self-esteem. BOW helped me grow from a timid girl whose hands would shake during public speaking, to a person who comfortably coordinates and hosts more than a dozen events per year.

Q2: Since this is the Archery Wire, most of our readers are archery stores or folks involved in the industry. Share with us about your archery and bowhunting classes – how many ladies do you put through a class every year (best estimate). In your experience, are they excited enough to want to buy a bow after taking a class? Or somehow get more involved?

Archery/Bowhunting has always been one of the most popular offerings at BOW workshops. We generally have full classes with 16 participants each and a waiting list beyond that. We could easily find an audience to participate in more than the 2 archery classes per year that we currently offer. If we find the right partners through clubs or other people in the industry, we’d love to get some archery clinics on the calendar.

Some of the participants in our Archery/Bowhunting classes are interested in only the archery component, but leave the class happy to have had the bowhunting component as well. Even those who don’t think they are interested in hunting appreciate the knowledge gained from the hunting safety and ethics portion of the class.

Many women get immediately hooked on target shooting. They always have a lot of questions about equipment and what to buy. In at least one instance, one woman stopped off at the nearest sporting goods store on her way home and got herself set up with a brand new bow, arrows, and a couple targets. A few of our participants have gotten proficient and confident enough with archery that they have come back to BOW to help as shooting coaches on the range.

Q3: What is the most common theme/response you hear from women before a BOW event on why they can’t attend? What excuses do they give? How do you see BOW helping them overcome those excuses? And then conversely, what is the most common response after an event?

I think a lot of women are hesitant to attend because they feel a little intimidated with some of the activities were offer. For some, stepping outside their comfort zone and spending a weekend doing things like handling firearms or fishing through a hole in the ice is a major barrier. Even more so if they don’t have a friend or relative who will attend with them. Self-doubt is a barrier – they might think they “can’t do it” or they are “afraid of looking stupid” when trying.

BOW tries to remove those barriers by promoting our classes as designed specifically for adult women beginners of all ages and fitness levels. Our participants are 18-80+ and no experience is necessary. Instructors are carefully selected and provided orientation materials and training to understand the BOW philosophy of providing a safe, hands-on learning experience, taught with patience and respect.

To promote BOW, I give presentations for clubs, meetings, and banquets a few times a year. I frequently hear women in attendance say things like, “Oh, I heard about this and always wanted to do it!” When I ask them, “Why haven’t you?” they usually talk about lack of time or money. We have a scholarship program that helps women attend a workshop who couldn’t otherwise afford to. So we can remove the money barrier.

Lack of time is often a self-perceived thing rather than an actuality (I know, I do it myself, think I don’t have time, but if I wanted I could make the time). But life is busy, especially if a women is raising a young family. That’s probably why most (but not all) of our participants are in the 40-something and older age range. When the kids aren’t little anymore, it’s more feasible to take a weekend just for yourself, something that’s hard for many women to do without feeling guilty.

Q4: Where do you see BOW in the next 3-5 years? 10 years?

I’m really excited to be expanding BOW offerings to include Learn to Hunt for Food and Learn to Fish for Dinner courses. We’re working on this in partnership with the WI DNR and other conservation organizations including Pheasants Forever and the National Wild Turkey Federation. We’ve developed some “best management” practices that we’re building on, and I could see these courses, as well as our hunter mentor training programs, expanding to other states just as the original BOW program spread from the 1st workshop in Wisconsin to workshops all across North America.

I would be very proud if in 10 years BOW continued to be an strong player in the outdoor education community. With a growing interest in sustainable food and knowing where it comes from, we have a big new audience out there among millennials and conservation-minded women who we can welcome to the outdoor community by teaching them to hunt, fish, and grow their own food. I look forward to creating new opportunities for them to do so!

Thank you so much Peggy for all you do. My bestie, Cassie, and I are already signed up for the BOW Isle Royale Kayak/Camping trip this July.

And you better believe I am going to share all my stories in the wire, dear readers. So get ready for it.

-Michelle Scheuermann, editor, Archery Wire