HUNTERS ARE ON THE RISE IN ALBERTA- And Many Of Them Are WOMAN ♀️

By Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: Beneath an overcast sky, crouched in a field of brown timothy grass, Fatima Dhooma fires a single echoing shot. This is just her third time hunting, but her marksmanship rings true — she's successfully brought down a deer. 



Dhooma approaches the animal gingerly and kneels in front of it, overcome with emotion.



"There is something about that experience that will forever leave an impression on me."

Dhooma is one of the many, if unlikely, people in Alberta who have turned to hunting in recent years as a means of food provision.  



While hunting has been in decline across Canada, numbers in Alberta are seemingly on the rise. 



From 2016 to 2020, hunter license sales for Alberta residents have gone from 127,020 to 151,724.

Allan Orr with the Alberta Hunter Education Instructor's Association (AHEIA) attributes the upturn in part to organizations like his, which are seeking to demystify hunting for those who have never done it before.



"We're working so hard to include women and young people in hunting and things accessible for them."



Dhooma completed her hunter education certificate online and went on mentored hunts with Orr offered through AHEIA.