Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever, and Dedicated Partners Deliver R3 – What Women Want Webinar

400+ attendees engaged to grow participation trends for women in the outdoors

St. Paul, Minn. –– Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever partnered with the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports (CAHSS), Responsive Management, and Dr. Christine Thomas – Founder of Becoming an Outdoors-Woman, along with a diverse panel of leaders from organizations and agencies to deliver the inaugural R3 (Recruit, Retain, Reactivate) – What Women Want webinar. The event, designed to share and grow participation trends for women in hunting, sport shooting, and archery, hosted more than 400 attendees from 51 different states and various countries.

“It was an honor for me personally, and for the Council as a whole, to be invited to host the R3-What Women Want webinar. The information provided by Responsive Management and other speakers is exactly what R3 practitioners need to make data-driven decisions to better support women in the field,” says Taniya Bethke, director of operations for CAHSS. “Learning more so we can do better is part of the process that will allow the conservation community to continue working towards safe and inclusive spaces for all people.”

The event allowed opportunities to discuss current needs, interests, preferences, and constraints for women in R3-related activities. During the webinar, speakers shared relevant next steps for getting more women engaged in hunting and shooting sports, along with plans to move forward and overcome potential barriers for entry into conservation.

During the webinar, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever shared its own robust set of education and outreach events designed specifically for women conservationists. Marissa Jensen, the organization’s education & outreach program manager, highlighted how chapters and staff hosted 95 Women on the Wing (WOTW) events in 2022, accounting for more than 1,600 female participants across 22 states. Likewise, the organization boasts 10 WOTW chapters with several more currently forming across the country.

The nation’s most recent report on hunting demographics, the 2022 Special Report on Hunting and Shooting Sports, shows that female participation in hunting has never been higher. In 2021, 27 percent of participants were female, up from 16 percent a decade ago.

“The response to this webinar greatly exceeded our expectations; it shows the importance of all the collaborative work and efforts across the country taking place to build retention rates for women in R3,” stated Marissa Jensen. “We hope all our participants will take something from this session to implement in their own practices as we continue to build R3 programs that deliver what women are seeking in the outdoor space.”

To view the R3 – What Women Want webinar in its entirety, click here.

The R3 – What Women Want webinar was funded by a Multistate Conservation Grant, a program funded by the Wildlife and Sport Restoration Program, and jointly managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

About Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever make up the nation's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. This community of more than 400,000 members, supporters and partners is dedicated to the protection of our uplands through habitat improvement, public access, education and advocacy. A network of 754 local chapters spread across North America determine how 100 percent of their locally raised funds are spent — the only national conservation organization that operates through this grassroots structure. Since its creation in 1982, the organization has dedicated more than $1 billion to 575,000+ habitat projects benefiting 24 million acres.

Media Contact
Jared Wiklund
(651) 209-4953
jwiklund@pheasantsforever.org