We are lucky enough to have a number of fantastic ladies on BASC council who are amazing advocates for the shooting sport. We recently caught up with shooter and hunter Cara Richardson in the lead up to International Women’s Day to hear about her shooting journey. Cara says:
”I first held a firearm over 29 years ago and after an amount of instruction and target practice, killed my first rabbit with a .22 rifle – I was instantly hooked. Was under a certain amount of pressure at the time as an 18 year old who was keen to impress her tutor… He was a new boyfriend and later became husband. A venture into shotgun shooting followed around the same time and I sometimes wonder how many shots I’ve fired since – quite a few for sure! Fairly certain I could live in a much bigger house if I hadn’t spent so much money hunting, shooting and fishing over the years. However, I don’t regret a penny spent and have made super friends, had the best fun and a belly full of delicious fare along the way.
In the years that have passed since that first kill and rabbit stew, it has pleased me greatly to see a real increase in the number of females, particularly in the UK who are involved in clay, game and rifle shooting. The current promotion of fieldsports for females and the young in particular is great to see. The UK is a little behind our Scandinavian cousins in terms of the percentage of the national hunting population who are female, but we are slowly catching up. A conversation I had with a fellow lady gun at a BASC Scotland Ladies Game shooting day almost 6 years ago lead to the creation of the Scottish Ladies Shooting Club. As a founder member, I’m happy and proud to report that the Club has introduced a great number of ‘girls’ to clay pigeon shooting. It’s great to see the delight a smashed clay pigeon brings to the face of a new member. Some members have also taken up game shooting and deer stalking. Personally, nothing gives me greater pleasure than preparing, cooking and enjoying game which I have harvested myself. The possibilities are endless – there are so many delicious recipes for venison and game birds – I love to experiment. Also, game can be relatively low cost or free (lucky me) – which as a thrifty Scot tickles me a fair amount!
Hunting and shooting, either in the UK or overseas has provided me with some of the coldest, wettest, funniest, friendliest, hottest, muddiest, scariest, most exhilarating and frustrating moments ever and I wouldn’t change this for anything. Injury has held me back a little of late and I’ve curtailed my shooting activities a little. However, I’m determined to return to full strength in order to fully resume the pastimes which I thoroughly enjoy. I Will never forget my first forays into shotgun and rifle shooting and encourage the young whenever I can. They are obviously the future of shooting sports and it’s very important that they understand the subject and enjoy all the fun it has to offer.”
Cara continues to represent Ladies Shooting through The Scottish Ladies Shooting Club, to find out more information visit: http://www.scottishladiesshooting.co.uk/events.html
