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3 young women among surge of female hunters

Hunting is a rite of passage in some families and is a source of significant memories for many of those in Lycoming County and Pennsylvania.

Traditionally, hunting memories such as leveling the sights of a BB gun at soda cans in the backyard until it’s time to slide a freezing-cold cartridge into a rifle in the dawn darkness and heading into the woods for a first hunt have been thought of as being between fathers and their sons. Not anymore.

According to the state Game Commission, the number of females buying hunting licenses has gone up almost 30,000 in the past seven years.

In the 2009-10 hunting season, 67,165 females purchased licenses. During the 2015-16 season, 96,555 went out to purchase their yellow tags.

Guy Snyder and his three daughters — Lauren, Gracie and Lainie — are prime examples of the increase of female hunters taking to the woods.

Guy, of Trout Run, started hunting deer, pheasant and squirrels in northern Lycoming County at the age of 12 in the early 1980s.

It’s been a part of his life ever since, he said. But he never expected that his daughters would be just as passionate about the sport.

“Each of my daughters has started coming with me when they reached 9 or 10,” Guy said, “just to see if they had an interest.”

Each of Guy’s daughters began hunting by helping their dad spot deer until they were ready to hold a rifle of their own.

Both Lauren, 16, and Gracie, 14, each shot a buck during their first year of actively hunting. Lainie, 12, the youngest, has gone with her dad for years and soon will be ready to use a rifle for the first time.

It was December, about three years ago, when Lauren got her first buck, she said.

Guy, Lauren and her uncle were preparing to set up a drive to draw some deer into view, Lauren said.

“We were walking along and Uncle Dick spotted a deer about 70 yards down over the bank,” she said. “My dad got me to crouch down low so it couldn’t see us.”

Lauren got down on one knee, looked through the scope and saw that it was a buck – “a nice buck too.”

“I didn’t have much time to think about things at that point. I took off the safety and aimed. When I pulled the trigger, the deer spun around and ran 15 or 20 feet before my dad said it fell down.”

They only had to track the buck a short distance and found it lying on the ground — all eight points showing.

“I was so relieved to see it and know for sure that I got it,” Lauren said. “I can’t explain the feeling exactly, but I couldn’t stop smiling.”

Last hunting season in early December, Gracie’s grandfather, Ron Sawyer, picked her up from school so they could hunt together for a few hours, she said.

“We were walking along the road when we came around a corner into an opening. I saw the

deer standing about 60 yards away,” she said.

Gracie raised her rifle and began to aim, but she got so nervous she started to shake, she said.

“He saw that I was shaking and he put his hand under the gun from behind me to help me steady the rifle,” Gracie said.

As soon as the trigger gave and the firing pin hit the cartridge, Gracie said, she knew it was a good shot.

Her first deer, a four-point, only ran about 10 yards before going down.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Gracie said. “I was so excited and proud because I knew that I provided meat for our family. I think it must have taken 10 minutes for me to stop shaking.”

Lainie will be carrying a Remington 7 mm-08 next year but already has a few years of hunting experience — including spotting a doe for her dad.

“I helped him last year,” Lainie said. “I saw the doe that he got first! I’m better at spotting them,” she joked.

Like her sisters did before their first season with a rifle, Lainie will continue to practice with .22 rifles and BB guns.

“I have my own .22 and I love to shoot,” she said.

In a male-dominated sport, the girls feel proud and blessed to be able to hunt and participate in controlling the wildlife population and sharing memories, they said.

“Girls can do things just as well as the boys, and we are proof of that,” they said. And they aren’t the only female hunters at the cabin, either.

At their hunting camp, there are more young girls than boys, Guy said.

“I think it’s dominantly a male sport, but it’s good for dads to invest their time in their daughters that way,” he said. “That’s what it’s really all about for me. I think sharing time with dad like that is pretty important for any young girl … for me too.”

For anyone who is hesitant about going hunting, the girls said, “Go for it! You have to be patient and you won’t always get something, but it’s not always about harvesting an animal. It’s as much about having fun with friends and family and connecting with the outdoors. And, typical stereotypes shouldn’t influence those decisions.”

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