Reuters "odd news" item...

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Ed Ames

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FREEPORT, Maine (Reuters) - It's deer season in Maine and although the hunting department of outdoor retail specialist L.L. Bean is packed, this is no old-boy's club.

Among the aisles of aerosol deer urine and digital duck calls, there are racks of women's clothing in mossy-oak camouflage, as well as plenty of fluorescent hunter orange.

Lined up behind the counter are dozens of guns, many available with a "short-stock" designed to fit more comfortably into women's shorter arms.

That's because an increasing number of women are heading into the woods, becoming one of the most enthusiastic segments of the hunting world.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061125/od_nm/life_usa_hunting_dc

Dunno whether it's good or someone should complain about it being considered "odd news"....
 
They probably would have freaked out when I registered my deer last weekend. The registration station was very busy, and I'd bet that at least 20% of the hunters there were women.
 
I introduced my wife to hunting this year

And she dug it. We were unsuccessful being a late season for elk and dense rainforests. But she got the idea and shared her enthusiasm with me. More outdoors activities for us....woohoo.

jeepmor
 
Yeah, the L.L. Bean gun counter was an odd one too... of course, around here L.L. Bean is (or was, I haven't been near one in over a decade) a yuppie clothing store. Maybe they are repositioning themselves?
 
I wouldn't think so, at least not based on their catalog and web site. I always knew they sold "hunting" accessories, caps, gloves etc.

Maybe they only sell guns in the stores. I think the Maine store is the original one, so maybe they kept that one to a more hunting themed atmosphere.

GSG
 
As long as I can remember, Bean has been selling guns through its storefront location in Freeport, Maine.

However, I've liked the second floor of the nearby Kittery Trading Post better, as it has a more complete selection of non-hunting firearms. :neener:
 
I think it's great, my girlfriend came out with me this year, she didn't do any shooting but she enjoyed the weekend and saw me harvest a couple deer. She's not ready for trigger time with an animal in the crosshairs yet, but we're making progress.

Cheers to LL Bean - sadly most self-styled metropolitans will never get it. I'm glad they at least stick by their heritage and don't cut hunting product lines. A lot of companies would pander to the skewed perception that they're alienating potential customers by "endorsing" hunting, when the reality is that anti's alienate themselves from good products by being hypocrital and hypersensitive.

"Heroes & Villians" section from the latest F&S:
VILLIAN: The New York Times' [aka, most overrated and self-important publication in history] "Critical Shopper" Alex Kuczynski was shocked, shocked, to learn that L.L. Bean's Freeport, Maine, megastore actually sold fishing and hunting gear. It was, she said, like discovering to her great horror that a "new beau is a member of the N.R.A., hates his mother, and splits the check."
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The irony if which is that I'm in the NRA, have always had one of the best relationships with my parents of anyone I've ever known, and won't let a woman ever pay or get a door, even if I have no romantic interest in her. Unlike any of my second-marriage-middle-aged-yuppie production neo-hippy colleagues. I'm pretty sure it's not just me, there's an inkling that responsible, traditional-minded people tend to have better family values and be more chivalrous than her "Sex and the City" hit-it-and-quit-it guys she meets at this month's hot spot, but I guess there's no way to prove it, right?

Reining it back in, I do agree that it's kind of a shame that selling hunting clothing and encouraging women to hunt is considered "odd." But at least Reuter's didn't seem to take a bias on it.
 
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