Identifying and Mapping Women’s Hunting and Fishing Groups to Increase Retention

As more women seek to become skilled in the outdoors, programming targeted toward women has grown. These outdoor education programs can be difficult to find and access, especially in hunting and fishing where women are underrepresented. This paper examined women’s hunting and fishing groups across the Mountain-Prairie Region, which has the nation’s highest participation in these activities. We visualized these groups with an interactive social system map to help prospective participants and group leaders connect with relevant programs and reveal gaps in existing programming. This social systems mapping approach can be used by Extension professionals in a wide array of educational contexts.