Sponsored by Arizona Wildlife Federation    

Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) offers hands-on workshops to women 18 and older at all fitness levels. No experience is necessary. BOW encourages a supportive environment conducive to learning, making friends, and having fun. Participants learn skills such as gun safety, shooting, angling (including fly fishing), camping, Dutch-oven cooking, map and compass reading, rappelling, geocaching, and marksmanship with rifle and bow. 

Upcoming BOW Weekends

All BOW events will follow the current CDC's recommendations for preventing the spread of Covid-19 

Join our Facebook group @Arizona-Becoming-an-Outdoors-Woman

Join us for a 3-day BOW workshop January 21-23, 2022 in Oracle.  This camp will be held at Triangle Y Ranch Camp (the back side of Mount Lemmon.)

Get more information and register.  

Click here to read our Cancellation Policy.

What is BOW?

One way to understand BOW is through this YouTube video by Mike Rolfe:  http://youtu.be/Lic1kxCrJ1Y.  

You can also get to know BOW through our Facebook Page (please like us!):  Arizona Becoming an Outdoors Woman.

The Arizona Wildlife Federation (AWF) conducts Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW ®) twice a year at Friendly Pines Camp outside Prescott, AZ in the spring and early fall. AWF also hosts a Deluxe BOW in the desert at Saguaro Lake Ranch in January or February.  The three-day workshops begin at noon Friday and end shortly after noon the following Sunday.

BOW gives women (18 and older) the opportunity to learn about hunting, fishing and related activities in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. Skills such as gun safety, shooting, angling (including fly fishing), camping, Dutch-oven cooking, map and compass reading, marksmanship with rifle and bow are taught.  A complete list of courses which you may find at BOW can be found at BOW Class Descriptions

In addition to the various classes, there are a number of evening events for the women to enjoy, that may include, "hawk talks", nature hikes, fashion shows, fly tying and wild game tasting. The weekend schedule would be similar to BOW Sample Schedule

Our instructors, who volunteer their time to teach these classes, are experts in their field. Some are employed in the fields they teach; others are experts in their subjects, including archery and rifle marksmanship. Still others are Arizona Game and Fish and U.S. Forest Service employees with years of experience in the flora and fauna of Arizona.

Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) is a program started by Christine Thomas, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Resource Management at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Pointe. The first BOW clinic was conducted in Wisconsin in September 1991. The Arizona workshop is part of the same curriculum and each workshop is organized with the aid of the Safari Club International of Phoenix and the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The National Wildlife Federation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation are just two of BOW’s national supporters.  Visit the national bow site:

http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/bow/

“I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU ALL at BOW for such a wonderful experience. I thoroughly enjoyed learning and participating in activities at Friendly Pine Prescott. I could sense that it would be an amazing adventure. I look forward to sharing this event with other women!" - BOW Participant