The December issue of Shooting Sports USA, NRA's Competitive Shooting Journal, features a special competition clinic held at the Scarborough Fish & Game Association in Scarborough, Maine deisgned specifically for women. Aimed at bringing more women into the world of competitive shooting, this successful event shows that recruiting new shooters can be as simple as making the classroom fit the student.  

Just For Women Competition Clinic

Written by David Petzal with photo by Bruce Fleming

- As any firearms instructor or coach can tell you, women shoot as well as men and are often easier to teach. So why aren’t there more of them in the shooting sports? Because getting women and guns to mix in this day and age takes some special effort. [Editor’s note: In our 2010 review of NRA Classification data, 9.12% of competitive shooters were women.]

A prime example of how recruiting more women shooters can be done successfully was provided on May 14, 2011 at Scarborough Fish & Game Association (SF&GA) in Scarborough, ME. Incorporated in 1958, this NRA-affiliated club has grown to 177 acres with ranges for ATA trap, sporting clays, 5-stand/ wobble trap, high power rifle, IDPA action pistol, bullseye pistol and archery. There are also 25-, 50-, and 100-yard utility ranges, all run and maintained by the 750-plus club members.

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The Wall Street Journal has a great article up about the rise in popularity of shooting sports among women through the help of the Women On Target program.

Women Pulling the Trigger

GHENT, N.Y.—The vegan, the yoga instructor and the former Peace Corps member mingled with other women at a recent retreat in upstate New York, sharing advice: Keep both eyes open when firing a shotgun. Ear plugs are essential to mute the blasts. And when women shoot, the butt of the gun needs to sit between the shoulder and collar bone to cushion the recoil, an adjustment to the typical male shooting stance.

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Here's a look at some new coverage of a Women On Target® Instructional Shooting Clinic held earlier this year. WBOY's Susan Sullivan visited the Salem Rifle & Pistol Club in Salem, West Virginia to see what NRA's Women On Target® program is helping ladies across the country learn the fundamentals of gun safety and marksmanship while developing a love of the shooting sports.

Interested in attending a Women On Target® Instructional Shooting Clinic? Find an event in your area, or contact Women On Target® Program Coordinator Diane Danielson at ddanielson@nrahq.org.

The NRA Training Department may have just hit 80,000 NRA Certified Instructors, but now we're looking for a few good ladies. NRA recently began an effort to create more female NRA Certified Instructors to help reach all the ladies looking for firearms training by women and for women. The ladies upstairs in the Women's Programs Department filled us in on some upcoming Women-Only Pistol Instructor Courses, and here they are:

• October 29-30 in Alexandria, VA
• January 20-22 in Phoenix, AZ

To register for either of these classes, visit www.nrainstructors.org and search by location or type of course. We've been assured that more locations are being added, so be sure to check back for updates.

Would you like to see a Women-Only Instructor Course in your area? Contact femaleinstructors@nrahq.org with requests and questions.  

The Globe Gazette in Northern Iowa took a look at a Women On Target® Instructional Clinic"

51 attend women's shooting clinic

MASON CITY - Women on Target, a women's shooting clinic sponsored by the National Rifle Association, drew women from around Iowa and Minnesota to Mason City Saturday for the first clinic of its kind in Iowa.

Women ages 18 on up received instruction from trained instructors in shooting handguns, rifles and shotguns as well as in archery at the River City Rifle and Pistol Club shooting range northwest of Mason City.

"We've had an amazing turnout," said Kathy Van Dike, who organized the event. "There are 51 women here today and a waiting list. They're asking, ‘When are you going to have this again?' "

The instruction was designed for women who had never picked up a gun as well as those who had some familiarity with firearms but wanted to gain more experience.

Instructor Don Larson, NRA training counselor from Minneapolis, said that for some of the participants, Saturday's instruction was as far as they would probably go. Others may want to purchase a firearm one day.

"We have three goals," Larson said. "The first is safety. The second is getting experience (with a variety of firearms). The third is to have fun." Among the participants was Wendy Lafrenz of Mason City, who said she just wanted to have a better knowledge of guns.

Read the rest of the article here.

The National Rifle Association has selected Marlene Duncan of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, to receive the 2011 Sybil Ludington Women’s Freedom Award. This award recognizes exceptional accomplishments of modern heroines through their legislative activism as well as advocacy, volunteerism, and education of others to the goals of the Second Amendment and the NRA on a national level.

For the past 30 years, Duncan’s involvement in and support of the shooting sports and Second Amendment has been invaluable not only to the NRA, but to her community and the many lives that she has touched through her hard work.

“Marlene is one of those special women that you can’t help but admire,” said NRA Women’s Programs Manager Rosemary Herr. “She has taught us all the meaning of service and dedication and as a role model for women of the NRA, Marlene is second to none. We are very proud to have her as our 2011 Sybil Ludington Women’s Freedom Award winner.”

An NRA Benefactor Life Member, Duncan holds numerous certifications with the NRA, including NRA Appointed Training Counselor, Chief Range Safety Officer and NRA Coach School Instructor. During her tenure, Duncan has trained hundreds of people, from creating more NRA Certified Instructors, Coaches, and Range Safety Officers, to serving as a Clinic Director for Women On Target® clinics.

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From WBOY-TV in West Virginia comes a news segment on one woman coming to a Women On Target event in Salem, West Virginia all the way from Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania to learn how to properly shoot a firearm.

Women 'On Target' at Salem Rifle and Pistol Range
Daunting ladies pack heat for an introductory firearms class Saturday.

SALEM -- Ladies, we all know we're capable of doing a lot of impressive things.

But how comfortable are you with shooting firearms?

Sandy Clark hasn't had a lot of experience with guns, but she sees her son and husband shoot, and would like to help other women get acquainted, too.

“I really feel that women have a desire to learn about guns, but they are intimidated by men, and then, instructors,” she said. “So what I'd like to do is learn all I can from the NRA and the Women on Target, and to be able to pass that onto girls up near my area, in northern Pennsylvania.”

That's right - she came all the way from Sandy Lake to Salem to learn to shoot like a girl.

But it sounds like she was lucky to get into the Women on Target Instructional Shooting Clinic at the Salem Rifle and Pistol Club.

This year, registration was full weeks in advance.

The Daily Republican Register tells the tale of an Women On Target® Instructional Clinic in Carmi, Illinois:

NRA Women On Target shooting clinic termed successful
Being treated to a full day of shooting was a big draw for the women who attended the NRA Women On Target Shooting Camp sponsored by the Carmi Rifle Club

CARMI - Women came from all over northern and southern Illinois and Indiana to attend the annual NRA Women On Target shooting event sponsored by the Carmi Rifle Club.

Women from Carbondale, Schaumberg, and Indiana as well as local women attended the day long shooting camp.

The day began with an orientation session which included firearm safety training, range safety training, and instruction on the basic fundamentals of marksmanship. The morning was divided between trapshooting with 20 and 12 gauge shotguns and indoor target shooting with .22 caliber handguns.

The ladies enjoyed a cookout lunch and then were treated to a Cowboy Action Shooting exhibition performed by Frank, Jill "Boothill Jill" Musgrave, and grandson Austin "Silver Dollar Ranger" Ritcheson. Cowboy Action features shooting cowboy era firearms and dressing in period clothing.

Even though the clouds are out and the rain is falling, NRAblog is still on it's way to the Women On Target® Instructional Clinic in Centreville, Virgina. With classroom seminars on Refuse To Be A Victim® and Concealed Carry and time on the range with muzzle loaders, shotguns, pistols, rifles, and archery, the dark skies won't be enough to dampen anyone's spirits.

While we can't invite you to stop by, as all spots were filled months ago, you can still get a feel for what these clinics have to offer by taking a look at a post or two from last year's event.