Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation's Women’s Outdoor Weekend upcoming course offers participants instruction on a variety of activities, from archery and fishing to learning how to survive in the wild. Registration has started for the course to be held in September. (submitted photo/Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation)

By Angela Brown

Making the mark

Women get first-hand training on outdoor recreation and survival with upcoming SWF program

Jul 2, 2019 | 2:00 PM

Fishing, shooting and chopping wood.

It might sound like a fun weekend away for the guys but this event is actually just for the ladies.

Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF) is planning its annual Women’s Outdoor Weekend (WOW) event to introduce women to a range of activities and sports in a natural setting that might be traditionally considered to be a male domain.

Acting Education Director Shannon Anderson said women want to know more and would benefit from developing some useful skills they can apply in the outdoors, whether it’s for fun or survival.

“It’s a place for women to get outside and try some new [activities] in a really supportive and encouraging environment,” she said. “We’re all trying to learn together, so it’s a pretty great place to do that.”

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Participants will sleep in cabins at night and will have access to canoes, kayaks and archery ranges on site during the day, as part of the program.

“A lot of the activities we do might be something women either see their brothers or maybe their husbands do but haven’t tried it themselves, and they might not want to ask them how to do it,” Anderson said.

Running for more than five years now, WOW in Saskatchewan attracts participants from across the province and is even drawing women from Manitoba for the upcoming event. The attraction is held at the Hannin Creek education and applied research facility at Candle Lake, located in the boreal forest in Northern Saskatchewan. The course is provided by certified instructors in their field.

Anderson said women from the Battlefords area have also attended in the past.

Some of the activities participants learn include archery, knife skills, fishing and filleting, canoeing, as well as survival skills, plant and animal identification, learning to start a fire with flint and steel, as well as how to shoot at a pellet-gun range, to name a few.

As part of their survival skill training, participants learn how to determine their direction if they are hiking, as well as how to know which plants to avoid and which are safe to eat.

“If you are stuck in the woods and either running out of food or you are trying to find your way, it’s a good thing to know how to do,” Anderson said.

People will also learn proper conservation practices.

Anderson said it’s not simply an issue of making sure bears, foxes and coyotes are not in their vicinity, but people also need to ensure they are not feeding wildlife by leaving food near their camp so the animals become habituated.

“It’s learning the balance of respecting wildlife and keeping your distance, and knowing how you deal with them when you come across them,” she said. “It’s a really important part of our program.”

The three-day event offered by the non-profit organization is open to women over age 18. To date, 10 people have signed up for the course that can accommodate up to 50 individuals. With their fee for the course, participants will receive all their meals along with the equipment and training they need for the weekend.

“We would like to see as many women out as possible,” Anderson said. “This is a program I’d like to see expand and grow, and become something bigger than it is now.”

She said women taking the course can also make suggestions on the event registration form of what they would like to see added to the course.

“That’s what we want to do. We want to teach people what they want to learn,” Anderson said.

WOW will run from Sept. 27 to 29. Registration information is available online and through the SWF central office.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow