Group targets gender gap

The days when many women didn’t have a chance to participate in sports like fly-fishing and shooting are disappearing.

With the help of organizations such as Women in the Outdoors, an outreach program of the National Turkey Federation, they can learn about these sports with instruction from experienced guides.

“We’re basically giving opportunities to women to try new things in a friendly, nonintimidating environment,” said Theresa Luna, regional coordinator for the Women in the Outdoors program.

The group is holding its first Cast-N-Blast event for fly-fishing and skeet shooting Saturday at the Coeur d’Alene Skeet & Trap Club in Hayden. All spots are taken.

“When you go into a journey of fly-fishing, it’s a new experience every day,” said Joe Roope, owner of the Castaway Fly Fishing Shop in Coeur d’Alene and a fishing guide.

Roope, who will lead the fly-fishing session this weekend, said that over the past 10 years he has seen the number of women in the sport increase.

Nationwide, about 8.9 million women fished in 2001, representing 26 percent of all anglers, according to the latest statistics available from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Female-only fly-fishing clubs have developed in recent years.

“They listen a lot better and learn a lot faster” than men, Roope said.

Initially, women would start fishing with their husbands or boyfriends, but they aren’t waiting for men anymore, Roope said.

Ann Isenberg, manager of the Coeur d’Alene Skeet & Trap Club, has seen the same phenomenon with shooting sports. A lot of women will shoot skeet on their own, and the club has a women’s skeet team, as well as mixed teams, Isenberg said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that 1.2 million women bought hunting licenses in 2001.

This is the perfect time of year to have the Women in the Outdoors event, Isenberg said.

“We don’t need all the skeet fields because we’re not as busy as we are in the winter,” she said.