Contact: Linda Dombrovska
Latvia is a relatively small country with rather old and deeply rooted hunting traditions, but no so many hunters. Out of two million inhabitants, there are only around 25,000 hunters in Latvia. What about lady hunters? There are very few, but their numbers are increasing.
Officially there is no information available on how many female hunters there are. The authorities would say there is less than 1%, as in the groups for the hunting exam which consist of 20 people and which sometimes include one or two women.
There are more women who would rather participate in hunting as beaters, without a firearm – this is something which is quite common. However, there are very few ladies who would actually pick up a gun and participate as ‘full’ hunters among the male-dominated groups of hunters.
This is most common in families in which there are deeply rooted hunting traditions.
For example, the young hunter Elina Ozola, who officially became a hunter in 2012, says, that she would not have done so without the support of her family, as her father is a very enthusiastic hunter. Liga Purina, whose father and a husband are a hunter, says that “hunting is in one’s blood.” She has been hunting since she was 18.
Neither of the beautiful young women would admit that hunting somehow takes away from their feminine side. It is actually the other way round. Both ladies admit that men actually behave better when they are around them, and both feel that as ladies they make the forest and hunting more beautiful. And we must not forget that Latvia is also very proud of it’s’ lady shooters. Agnese Caune finished 5th in the FITASC Sporting World. She would make many male shooters blush as she is a far better shooter than the majority of male hunters.
The role of lady hunters in hunting management in Latvia is underestimated, but hopefully this will change, because women as hunters tend to give a better PR to hunting as a whole. Lady hunters would help show that hunting is not a barbaric activity.
The few Latvian lady hunters which exist make our forests more beautiful, indeed!
On 23 January 2016, the Latvian Lady Huntress Club was founded under the Latvian Hunters’ Association, with the aim to encourage women hunters to be more active, to provide them educational opportunities, as well as to make hunting more beautiful. This has been a huge success in Latvia, showing hunting in a completely different light.
Watch the video of our first hunt:
A new video from the “ladies hunt” in December, 2016