In the world of hunting and wildlife conservation, we're always looking for new people to join us in what we love. Recently, fellow blogger, Bob St. Pierre, wrote about Georgia Pellegrini and how women's participation in hunting has increased 36.6 percent over the past decade. A pretty staggering number, isn't it? I think this new trend is a great sign for the future of hunting and conservation.

Someday soon, I envision a time when every instance a woman takes to the field or writes about hunting isn't a big deal just because of her gender. True outdoors women deserve credit for being good hunters who happen to be women. Plain and simple.

In fact, I'd like nothing more than for hunting to be widely accepted no matter what demographic factor you examine; gender, ethnicity, zip code or tax bracket. More people in the woods, waters, and fields will equal more people who believe in the virtues of conservation.

So the million dollar question is "how do we accomplish making hunting so mainstream that it's accepted as a common occurrence for any race, age, gender or creed?" Could the world of fashion be hunting's gateway? *

In that vein, I bring you "Glamping" and "Glunting." These are the terms the fashion world has created to describe the new trend of combining high glamor with what us "normal folk" often refer to as camping or hunting gear. Hence, glamor camping equates to "glamping," and glamor hunting creates "glunting." How else can you explain the exorbitant amount of Duluth Packs and Red Wing Irish Setters ending up in Brooklyn, NY? I know I essentially said "the more the merrier" when it comes to people being interested in the outdoors, but… let me try to weigh the pros and cons of this latest fashion trend:

High fashion's take on the classic upland boot.

Pros:

  • More people viewing the outdoors as being "cool" or "hip" equals more voices willing to stand up to protect the wild places we love
  • It's now acceptable for me to wear my hunting boots to church
  • I can finally wear that camo sport coat out to dinner

Cons:

  • It's fair to say we all saw what happened to trout anglers when pheasant feathers became a hit with hair stylists
  • Honestly, did you see that pair of high heeled upland boots?...

Now that I think about it, maybe it's a good thing fashion tends to be like technology in the fact it's obsolete before you even get it home.

The Over/Under blog is written (sometimes tongue in cheek) by Andrew Vavra, Pheasants Forever's Marketing Specialist. *There might be some sarcasm laced in this thought….