There's been an increased interest in hunting among women in the Moose Jaw area.

In response, the Moose Jaw Wildlife Federation hosted a Women's Only Firearms Safety Course and Saskatchewan Hunter Education Course this past weekend.

"Basically over the course of the three days, we will be teaching both the provincial hunter education class, as well as the federal non-restricted firearms safety course," said President Todd Smith. "When the women come out of the three-day class they'll end up with their provincial hunter ed and their federal, which will allow them later to apply for their PAL (Possession Acquisition License), if they so chose to do."

Smith noted this was the first time he's been involved with a women's only course.

"We've been kicking around the idea for a few years here. We found that women are the fastest growing demographic within the outdoors and hunting community and we know that sometimes in the traditional setting women may feel not 100 per cent at ease asking the questions they would like to ask, for either fear of judgment or that they'll be looked down upon by some of the male participants being that hunting is often seen as a traditionally male-dominated sport. We figured this would be a safe outlet that would allow them to ask any questions they wished without any fear of judgment on the part of the instructor or classmates."

He was asked if they are seeing more female members.

"We see more family memberships for sure, which often include husband, wife as well as any children, which is always very, very encouraging. The more families we can get outdoors the better. Sometimes the limiting factor is they either don't grow up in a household that has hunting or fishing as part of their family background or they may be new arrivals to Canada. Something that they're looking to get into and try out. The more opportunities we can provide them the better off we think it is."

Smith says the content of the course didn't differ from what they would teach a mixed class. He notes they focused on non-restrictive firearms which include rifles and shotguns that are used for hunting and target shooting.

"It's all the same content," he explained. "We always adapt every course, whether it's a mixed class or in this case it will be a women's only class. We'll adapt it to the speed of the students. Either way, it's going to be a minimum 8-hour class for the firearms safety and another 16 for their hunter education. We will have ample time to do all the theory as well as all the practical section to ensure that everyone is safe before they get out in the field."