If you are a woman who loves the outdoors and would like to try your hand at a new skill, the Manitoba Wildlife Federation has a weekend program just for you!

The MWF is holding their annual ‘Becoming an Outdoors Woman’ (BOW) event at the end of May, and hundreds of women who love the rough and tumble of the outdoors will be watching for registration to open mid-March.

Carly Deacon is the Program Manager for the MWF. She says BOW is an outdoors skills weekend designed just for women. “It’s an opportunity to introduce women that have little or no experience in outdoor skills. It’s bringing women out and exposing them to about 45 different outdoor skills workshops.”

Each participant signs up for 4 different workshops that includes everything from fly fishing to bow hunting, to shotgun skeet shooting, to outdoor cooking & smoking of wild game! Deacon says they try to bring skills to everybody and meet everybody’s interests.

“Our workshops expand to the hunting skills, the fishing skills and we also explore into outdoor yoga, and survival, and kayaking and canoeing, paddling and biking,” she says. “So, things that are hunting and fishing related, but also things that are non-resource consumptive.”

Workshops also include making soaps and dyes, tying knots and learning how to read maps and GSP. “It’s a little bit of everything for all ages for those who want to engage more into outdoor activities.”

Deacon says the wide range of workshops have some very unique inter-active opportunities, such as field-dressing an animal in the bush (how to clean and harvest a felled animal). “These workshops are very interesting because it gives the girls a real hands-on experience with properly cleaning and treating that meat respectively so that they can bring it to the table. So, it’s kind of a ‘field to fork’ concept which is really popular.”

2019 is a significant milestone for the MWF as it is their 25th Anniversary of hosting the BOW program here in Manitoba, and to MWF’s credit, bringing BOW to Canada.

“We were the first organization to introduce the ‘Becoming an Outdoors Woman’ to Canada,” Deacon explains. “So, it’s been a long-running, successful, and amazing program for us.”

What makes the program so successful, she says, is that participants are able to spend an entire weekend with like-minded women, with shared interests and various levels of skills, from the novice to the well-practiced. “You build friendships and contacts and it’s just a great experience all around.”

“One of the greatest things about BOW,” says Carly, “is that it’s an excellent starting point to explore any new outdoor adventure that you may have never tried before, and you don’t have anybody to teach you. It’s just a really relaxed, safe and supportive environment to learn something new.”

“And, our instructors are top notch!” she adds. “Probably, 90% of them are women so they’re super-supportive and there’s tons of camaraderie and it’s a really great learning environment.”

Instructors volunteer their time, coming fully prepared to teach their workshop, run the games and live auctions. “They’re experts in their field, and probably 50 of the most incredible people who I know in Manitoba,” she says. “MWF coordinates the volunteers, but the volunteers run the program. It’s just amazing!”

Costs cover room and board, all meals, and workshop gear and supplies at Circle Square Ranch from Friday evening to Sunday noon, at $290 per participant. “So everyone just needs to roll in with their toiletries, sleeping bag and appropriate clothing for the weather and be prepared to have a lot of fun!”

Deacon says when registration finally opens; it fills up ‘insanely fast’ in just 2 days. Each year 75-80 women are able to attend, with the first 30 being women new to BOW. “We do this because there is always a waiting list and we want the new participants to get the chance to register so everyone has the chance to participate.

The program has also been successful because this passionate hunter, angler, conservationist, and outdoor mentor is at the helm as program manager, being with MWF since 2012.

Deacon is an outstanding role model for those of us who love everything there is to love about the outdoors. In 2017, she won the title of Canada’s Top Outdoors Woman through the Outdoor Canada Magazine, sponsored by Franchi Canada. Prior to the Manitoba Wildlife Federation Deacon was field program coordinator for Delta Waterfowl.

To watch Deacon’s entry video for Outdoor Canada, and to learn more about BOW, follow the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMNVNWTICGk&feature=youtu.be

‘Becoming an Outdoors Woman’ 2019 will be held May 31 to June 2 at Circle Square Ranch. Registration opens online March 12-13th.

Visit https://mwf.mb.ca/ for more information on BOW.