More Than a Hunt: Four Years of Empowering Women Through Waterfowl Hunting
By Alexandra Smart
Co-Coordinator, For Women By Women Waterfowlers Academy
Wisconsin Waterfowl Association
This article appeared in the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s November 2026 Newsletter edition.
There is something incredibly special about watching a woman step outside her comfort zone, pick up a shotgun, climb into a duck boat, or experience the stillness of a marsh for the very first time.
It’s even more special when you get to be part of the reason she had that opportunity.
This October marks the fourth year of the For Women By Women Waterfowlers Academy, proudly held in partnership with the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association (WWA) at the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.
What began as an opportunity to introduce women to waterfowl hunting has grown into something far greater than any of us could have imagined. It has become a community of women who share their knowledge, encourage one another, and believe wholeheartedly that the future of hunting depends on our willingness to welcome the next generation.
The Work Behind the Opportunity
What many people don’t see is everything that happens long before the first shotgun is loaded or the first decoy is placed in the water.
Months of planning, coordinating schedules, organizing educational classes, securing equipment, arranging lodging, preparing hunting locations, recruiting mentors, and ensuring that every participant has the resources she needs to succeed.
Behind this academy is a remarkable group of women who willingly give their time, energy, knowledge, and often their own personal resources to make it possible.
These women have careers, families, responsibilities, and lives outside of hunting. Yet, year after year, they continue to show up.
Not for recognition. Not for a title. Not because anyone asks them to prove themselves.
They show up because they believe in what we’re doing.
They believe every woman deserves the opportunity to experience the outdoors without feeling intimidated, judged, or out of place.
They believe knowledge should be shared, not guarded.
And above all, they believe the hunting heritage we love is worth the effort it takes to pass it along.
Building Confidence, One Experience at a Time
The For Women By Women Waterfowl Academy is intentionally designed for women with little to no waterfowl hunting experience.
In the months leading up to our October hunt, participants attend educational courses covering hunter safety, waterfowl identification, habitat and conservation, hunting regulations, equipment, and different waterfowl hunting methods.
The academy culminates in a three-day, hands-on experience where participants have the opportunity to practice shooting, learn from experienced women hunters, scout hunting locations, understand the importance of safety, and ultimately participate in a mentored waterfowl hunt.
But what makes this academy truly unique isn’t simply what we teach.
It’s how we teach it.
There is no expectation that someone should already know the answers. No embarrassment in asking questions. No pressure to pretend to understand something they have never experienced.
Instead, there is patience, encouragement, laughter, and a genuine willingness to help one another succeed.
Sometimes the greatest accomplishment of the weekend isn’t harvesting a duck.
Sometimes it’s watching a woman who was nervous to hold a shotgun on Friday become confident in her abilities by Sunday.
Sometimes it’s seeing someone who arrived knowing absolutely no one leave with friendships that extend far beyond the marsh.
And sometimes it’s the quiet realization that she is capable of doing something she once believed was completely out of reach.
Those are the moments we do this for.
More Than Mentors
One of this academy’s greatest strengths is the women who stand behind it.
Our mentors come from different backgrounds, with different experiences, personalities, and approaches to hunting. Yet they share one common purpose: to create an environment where other women can learn, grow, and feel that they belong.
Mentorship isn’t simply about teaching someone where to place a decoy or how to identify a duck in flight.
It’s about giving someone the confidence to try.
It’s about being patient when something doesn’t come naturally.
It’s about sharing the lessons we’ve learned, including the mistakes we’ve made along the way.
And perhaps most importantly, it’s about understanding that the knowledge we possess means so much more when we’re willing to give it to someone else.
Every woman who volunteers her time to this academy leaves an impression that cannot be measured in hours worked, miles traveled, or birds harvested.
The investment is personal. The impact is lasting.
A Heritage Worth Protecting
Waterfowl hunting is about so much more than the pursuit of game.
It’s early mornings, cold hands, wet boots, muddy dogs, and conversations whispered in the darkness before sunrise.
It’s the sound of wings overhead, the anticipation of birds working a spread, and the appreciation for the wetlands and wildlife that make these experiences possible.
It’s conservation, responsibility, respect, and tradition.
But traditions do not survive simply because we love them.
They survive because we make the conscious decision to share them.
As hunters, we often talk about protecting our heritage. We advocate for conservation, habitat preservation, and the future of our sporting traditions.
Yet one of the most meaningful things we can do for that future is to invite someone new to experience it.
Every woman who leaves this academy with a greater understanding of waterfowl hunting becomes another voice for conservation, another advocate for our wetlands, and potentially another mentor who will someday introduce someone else to the outdoors.
That is how a heritage continues.
Not by keeping it to ourselves, but by making room for others.
The Opportunity Is the Gift
As we prepared for our fourth academy, I found myself reflecting on just how much these experiences mean to all of us.
Four years of planning, learning, adapting, problem-solving, and watching women accomplish things they never imagined they could.
Four years of mentors giving pieces of themselves to create something meaningful for someone else.
Four years of friendships, early mornings, unforgettable stories, and moments that remind us exactly why we fell in love with waterfowl hunting in the first place.
Life has a way of reminding us that opportunities are never guaranteed. The people, places, and experiences that shape our lives aren’t always things we get to revisit the same way.
And maybe that’s what makes them so valuable.
We don’t always recognize a moment’s significance while we’re living it. Sometimes it isn’t until we look back that we understand just how much it meant.
For me, the greatest reward has never been the number of women who attend, the number of birds harvested, or even the event’s success.
It’s the women.
It’s watching their confidence grow.
It’s seeing them discover a passion they didn’t know they had.
It’s knowing that somewhere down the road, one of these women may be sitting in a duck blind, introducing a daughter, sister, friend, or complete stranger to the very same experience someone once gave her.
That is what makes every late night, every difficult decision, every hour of preparation, and every sacrifice worthwhile.
To the incredible women who have mentored, volunteered, taught, organized, and poured their hearts into this academy, thank you. Your dedication has made a difference in ways you may never fully see.
To the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, our partners, supporters, and everyone who has helped make these opportunities possible, thank you for believing in the importance of bringing new women into the outdoors.
And to the women who have trusted us enough to take that first step, thank you for reminding us why we do this.
Because at the end of the day, we aren’t simply teaching women how to hunt.
We’re giving them the opportunity to discover what they’re capable of, creating memories that will outlast the season, and passing along something we love to someone who may carry it further than we ever could.
And if there’s one thing that planning learn to hunts have taught all of us, it’s this:
You may not get the same opportunity twice in life. But if you’re fortunate enough to have one that allows you to change someone else’s life, give it everything you’ve got.
