Recently I’ve had conversations with men about why women are such great shots. From husbands, to professional hunters to hunting buddy’s, guys seem to notice this attribute most women possess -the ability to place shots perfectly! An experienced hunting client of mine, Richard, brought this topic up again, so he and I psychoanalyzed this innate ability.
First, women are multi-tasker’s and can anticipate/do many things at once. For example, I remember following buffalo tracks methodically, making sure my scope was turned down, ensuring there’s a bullet in the chamber and three down, spot the buffalo, identify the bull, have a professional hunter yell at me to “shoot”, contemplate that my life and his life are on the line if I don’t place the bullet perfectly, consider distance, ensure that I’m perfectly grounded for a steady shot and do all this after running in 120 degree heat. Not only do we think in the ‘now’, but the ‘before’ and ‘after’.
Second, women can remain calm. Maybe it’s to do with motherhood -from giving birth, to teaching children to read, to patiently answering the “why’s?” of our 4 year olds, to dealing with husbands (just kidding), women tend to be calmer by nature (not me though).
Third, women are compassionate. We’ll cry if we miss or wound an animal. But if we perfectly place our bullet we know that we won’t have to see such suffering.
Fourth, women won’t take a shot unless they know they can kill the animal. Men are more inclined to make a snap decision and take a shot that wasn’t ideal -where sometimes this is absolutely necessary, he could end up in a mess. Women will take their time… sometimes to a fault where they’ll miss their ‘one-shot’. But if she’s not comfortable (or confident), she will not pull that trigger!
I love to see ladies (new to hunting/shooting) completely perplexed say “why can’t you hit bulls eye every time? They just don’t get it? Which is great! Stay that way and always know that hitting bulls eye is easy!
Maybe it’s just that women are lazy and don’t want to following wounded game? What are your theories as to why women are such great shots?
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- HuntingLife - Feb 19, 2013 at 11:20 AM
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I will say that most women I have shot with or against have been innately better shots then most men I have shot against. I will also say that teaching women to shoot is far different then teaching men to shoot and the language that you use and the way in which you teach them must be far different then the tactics used to teach men.
In regards to Shotgun shooting, Gil and Vicki Ash are probably the best coaches I have ever seen and they completely understand the differences in coaching men vs women. In regards to rifle shooting, I have had to develop a whole new skill set to work with women on the range in order to teach them shooting versus teaching my buddies how to better shoot.
