Women's Day at CFPRC

[Kentucky Colonel]

I am not going to be able to do justice to this tonight. 
I have been very active since 0500 and am sluggish. 
But, I had a great time today hosting women at our 
gun club. I will do a follow up post.

I was a volunteer with 4 other men and 3 women members 
of our shooting group. We meet every third Sunday at 8 AM 
to shoot muzzleloaders normally. We introduced women to the 
pleasures of black powder shooting.

This is the annual April 2nd Women's Day at Central Florida Pistol 
and Rifle Club. We are just south of Orlando. Every gun hobby was 
on full display. Three gun, ICORE, Cowboy Action, Archery, everything. 
All shooting bays were in action at the same time. There are a lot of 
them.

We were told that we had processed nearly 400 women today. 
(I privately- and inappropriately- joked that this was a personal best.) 
They got to handle a dizzying array of fire arms and disciplines- including 
ours. 

I was proud at our display of options. There were easily 300 years of black 
powder firearms displayed with calibers from .32 to .75. Flintlock, Cap Lock, 
and Percussion Cap placed on coyote, sheep, and buffalo hides. 

(Pics are being posted now... stand by... More to come...)

 

[Muley Hunter]

Pretty cool.

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

As promised... More pics...

And, a Beaver felt hat.

We had a cowboy infestation, too.

 

[BigAl52]

Darn Colonel I dont see Hillary in any of those pictures. Did you invite her she might of actually had fun

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Wow what a great and fun event!  I had no idea that there was that much interest with women.  Glad to see it!

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

Hillary won one of the raffled Glocks! :lol:

And, Smoke, this event has gotten so popular? The tickets go on sale 
at midnight. The server was crashed almost immediately by the volume. 
12 hours later, the tickets were not just sold out, but over sold. I could 
not get my own wife in... (They would let her volunteer with me so she 
could come)

Participants also get a nice bag full of goodies like hats, safety glasses, 
ear protection, lanyards. For some, this is the first time they ever fired a gun. 
Many more were introduced to 'making smoke' for the first time with us.

The ladies moved in pairs or small groups a little like going to rides at a
carnival after getting safety training at the main building. Some went with 
a husband, but they seem to giggle more freely without them. I often saw 
them point and exclaim, 'Oh! let's go try the (fill in the blank) next!'

The bratwurst was very very good! (There were other options) 
No alcohol was served, of course. Youngsters served as volunteer runners 
and the resident Junior Olympic rifle team played a nice support role in 
the hosting. Boys and girls in hot hunter orange vests served as runners 
while female instructors from all over the state came in to lead when possible 
at the berths.

We were at the action range in berth 8... 
I know of at least 10 other berths that were active. 
I am likely missing some. I DID hear a few rounds go over the berms 
and over our heads... that is a distinctive sound. We need to do a little 
better there, I think.

We were very busy and then it rained. Thank God I had a couple extra tarps 
in the back of the Explorer.

A couple of the old timers (jokingly, I believe) openly wondered 
if training so many women in firearms was wise for married men. :joker:

 

[BigAl52]

It looks like a real good time. I bet there is more Ladies that u think out there that would love to do something like this especially if the set up was like what they do there. Man a woman that would love to shoot as much as I do. Maybe in my next life. Al

 

[patocazador]

Most women feel intimidated when the only other people present are men. They may have an interest in shooting but are afraid they will be teased (ridiculed) by the men when they goof up.

An acquaintance has a daughter who is a higher-up with Ducks Unlimited and won the Budweiser Sports"man" of the Year Award about 15-18 years ago. She takes small groups of women to outings to introduce them to guns and hunting. Each year she schedules a big game hunt for a small group of women (6-7) to accompany her. They usually go to Labrador and hunt caribou since it can be a high-reward type hunt where a group can be successful.
Most of them keep on hunting and teach their kids about guns too.

The state of Florida has programs for introducing women to hunting and fishing and they are very popular. Marion Hammer, former president of the NRA was a pro-gun leader of the right to carry concealed in Florida prior to becoming an NRA big wig. I see women hunters almost every time I go on a public-land hunt here.

 

[RonRC]

I think that you have tapped into a population ignored by many shooting groups. That is great to have all those women participate.
Ron