Hunting An Outdoor Career: Sportswomen In The Outdoor Industry
By: Joe Byers
On the last day of the 2020 Pennsylvania black bear season, Abby Strayer did not give up. Posted in her stand with the day fading fast, opportunity knocked in a major way. An enormous black bear appeared, and Strayer readied her crossbow. As the massive beast passed, she kept her cool and released an arrow that downed the Fulton County record that weighed in at 719 pounds.
If you peruse social media, the Outdoor Channel on television, or the much of the outdoor press, you’ll notice that many women, like Strayer, are actively engaged in hunting and outdoor conservation. As women become proficient hunters, many consider the logical next step, turning their passion for the outdoors into a career in the outdoor industry. Some, I learned, started with a career in the outdoor industry, which then sparked their interest in hunting.
Last fall, I shared a hunting camp with a dozen deer hunters, three of which were women. All three women had differing levels of experience with the outdoors and hunting: one had never hunted, another was passionate about the sport, and a third was practically born in a deer stand.
Morgan’s First Hunt
After two-and-a-half years in the hunting industry, Morgan took her first hunt and bagged this nice buck.
Ken Byers, Morgan, and I headed to a section of thick rolling terrain situated between a large corn field on private land and a river-side bedding area, which in classic transition hunting strategy, was bowhunting-only.
The sun was barely on the horizon, when a buck emerged from the standing corn looking for does. At the same time, I began a vigorous rattling session a quarter mile away, enough incentive to cause the buck to jump a fence and head toward my hunting companions. Realizing that this buck was rut-driven, Ken Byers began his own rattling sequence, luring the deer his way.
Although this was Morgan’s first hunting trip, she had seen several mature bucks on her first day and knew this one had average antlers. When the animal approached to 120 yards, Morgan switched off the safety, settled the reticle, and made a perfect shot.
I joined my friends an hour later, and we talked about the shot, took pictures, and began the field dressing process. I learned that this was Morgan’s first hunt, and I asked her about feelings on the event, her path to becoming a hunter, and about women choosing outdoor companies as a career. Morgan works as an account executive for Source Outdoor Group, a marketing agency that represents a variety of outdoor companies, like Plano, CZ, SCI, Nomad, and Synergy.
“We actually went out last night and saw some good bucks but couldn’t get a shot,” she said. “This morning we saw a buck, called it in, and I made a good shot on it. I wanted to go through the butchering process. It was cleaner than I thought it would be but worth it.”
Morgan said she got into the industry through luck.
“I interviewed for a job and got it and have really enjoyed the outdoor industry and working with some great people. My grandfather was a hunter, but not my father or family. I do not think it was a disadvantage because I believe I had a basic understanding of hunting and fishing, but in the 2 ½ years I have been in the industry, I’ve learned a ton. It is some help to have had experience but not necessary.”
She sees social media as a mixed bag of impact factors. “Social media can be a negative for hunting, particularly the grip-and-grin photos with everyone trying to go for a monster buck. On the positive side, a lot of young people have seen what hunting is like and in the age of COVID may want to try it. I think there are a lot of good influencers out there growing the sport,” she said.
Choosing a Passion as a Career
As more women, like Megan, become passionate about hunting, it's only natural that they will seek outdoor careers.
Megan works for Savage Arms and had several models of their new Model 110 Ultra-light rifle in camp. It uses the standard 110 action, weighs just over six pounds, like mountain rifle, and features the AccuTrigger and Proof carbon fiber barrel, which reduces weight.
Megan worked for Federal Ammunition, prior to Savage Arms. I asked her how she got into the hunting industry to gain her perspective.
“I grew up hunting, and when I met my husband ten years ago and we went hunting together, mostly for waterfowl, the passion just kept growing. I was constantly looking for a career, a lifetime move, and when a position opened at Federal, I knew it was what I wanted to do. I grew up in Minnesota and I learned to shoot with my brothers. We had a bunch of acreage, so we could frequently get afield. I got into bowhunting, went to college, and then into rifle hunting.”
I was curious if she was seeing more women in the outdoor industry. “More and more women are getting into hunting, and I assume the outdoor industry is growing as well. It’s fun to see and share experiences with other women like this.”
Born to Hunt
Autumn, right, loves helping new hunters get started in the industry. I get more excited than they do, she says.
Autumn is the daughter of Ken and Mary Byers, who own and operate Byers Media. Her father may be the most passionate hunter on earth and has mentored hundreds of young male and female hunters.
Not surprisingly, Autumn became a hunter at a young age, as well as earning a starting spot on her high school football team where she played both offensive and defensive line. As an example of her moxie, she and I paired on a muzzleloader hunt during a pouring rainstorm. We had to cat-walk a raging torrent, but we came back with a 10-point whitetail buck in the most difficult conditions imaginable. Now the mother of four children, Autumn drove her mother and family all day through a blizzard to reach deer camp in time for opening day.
“I build packages for advertisers with all the components matching marketing strategies for each company,” Autumn said. “Since each is unique, we tailor marketing project to meet their goals and objectives which involves a lot of emails, print, website, video and some social media.”
Autumn went to college majoring in marketing and decided to work for Byers Media, her father’s company, for a year or two. Sometimes working for the family business does not work out, but Autumn says emphatically, “I loved working in the outdoor industry! I never want to work in any other job. I can do this from home or from anywhere in the country. For sales in general, and national advertising, you can work anywhere and have our own work schedule which helps with my four little ones at home.”
Autumn has also mentored men and women looking to participate in the sport of hunting. “That is one of my favorite experiences,” she gushes,” getting them involved in the outdoors and hunting. I get more excited than they do.”
Working with media groups and companies around the nation, it is her opinion that more women are landing careers in the outdoors. “I think there are lot more women my age and younger than when I first started,” she said. “I don’t have statistics, but it seems that way. That could be partly due to women in higher management and are perhaps more open to hiring more women.”
Mentoring the Next Generation
Three generations on the same hunt. Grandad and mom help pass the adventure baton to the future.
This spring Autumn took Lilly, her 8-year-old daughter, turkey hunting with her grandad as part of the mentorship program in Michigan. “Lilly has been with us plenty of times but never could hunt herself,” her mom said. “We didn’t realize that the tags were available for people that young and are designed to introduce them to hunting. It was fantastic. She had a blast, and we loved the experience.”
Now smitten with the excitement of hunting, will Lilly grow up to be a third generation in the outdoor community? Autumn hopes so, concluding, “the cool thing about sales, there is always room for growth. If you are not growing, it gets really boring, really fast. There is no end to the potential. When I work with editors, there is growth in what I do and in our industry. It is a win-win for me, my family, and the outdoors.“
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