This is a hunting blog, not a fashion blog. But my challenge in finding suitable clothing and equipment is important to being able to be successful and safe while hunting, so I wanted to post at least one more time on this issue. For those who manufacture hunting gear, women are a huge market. There has been a push to get more women into hunting but the gear hasn’t quite caught up. I had the same issue in the Army. Women can’t just be issued smaller gear. Those that manufacturer clothing and equipment need to understand that men’s and women’s bodies are different. Duh!
My guess is that most women in the military have been tossed a size small body armor vest and told that’s all that’s available. Deal with it. That is, if the woman is lucky enough to get a small. Personally I was issued a large. It was absurdly huge on my 5’2″ body, not to mention completely ineffective and probably dangerous.
Hunting clothing was much the same. My first pair of pants were so big on my legs that I kept getting them caught on barbed wire fences and tree branches. They didn’t last long. Fortunately last year I found some pretty good gear that was made for women. I like UnderArmor gear, but it is a bit pricey. If you can afford it, it is worth the money. I bought a pair of pants and a vest from “Girls With Guns” and wore those all hunting season. They fit well and were functional and durable. I liked them so well I bought a jacket for this year. I also noticed there are a couple more companies dipping their toes in this market.
My advice is that if they want women to buy what they are selling, ask women for their input on design. And although I am sure models are wonderful people, they aren’t necessarily the best folks to use for size and shape models. Ask some everyday women who have actually hunted. We would love the input.
Real Women Hunt 
It is SO hard to find quality hunting clothing at a reasonable price. This problem is magnified if you are a woman. Most of my hunting clothing is also recycled Army stuff. Usually good quality but doesn’t always fit great.
Why can’t women find a decent orange vest? I bought one a few years ago that was made for a woman, but it was $$. I think it should be easier to find this basic piece of hunting clothing that IS a safety requirement for most seasons.
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I cannot stress this enough. I am actually in the slow process of trying to develop my own line of hunting clothing because I am so frustrated with the selection. For me, I mostly hunt waterfowl which, if any woman has even looked for hunting clothing in general knows, the limited selection gets even smaller with waterfowl camo. I have had to deal with ill fitting clothing as well being a 5’3″ and 120 pounds. All I want is high quality camo made into clothing for women that actually fit our bodies and are actually warm. I cannot tell you how many times I have ordered women’s hunting clothing and it would maybe keep a snake warm in the desert. Women hunt. Women hunt in cold weather. I just want to start a clothing line that produces affordable and high quality hunting clothes that actually look cute. Granted, it won’t take off until I’m out of school but I’m so happy that more women are facing this problem! We need to find a solution!
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Thank you for your comment, Tia. I am not a waterfowl hunter but my daughter is and you are absolutely right. Best of luck with your clothing line.
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This is a great discussion for women hunters to have! I have been frustrated so many times… but not just in re: hunting clothes. I was having this great conversation with my badass friend Toni about how I also have a really hard time finding motorcycle riding gear. The safety aspect you mentioned is paramount to me. When will sporting clothes designers realize that it’s simply not enough to “shrink and pink” the men’s clothing?
I look forward to hearing your suggestions, product reviews, etc. If you want some inspiration or ideas on where you could go with this, there is a blog I also follow for women motorcycle riders here: http://www.gearchic.com/.
Best of luck!
Addie
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