By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer
Females get away from daily routines, take on new challenges outdoors – and find they can do what they set their minds to.

Outdoors women don’t heed rainy weather and 100 women proved it at Camp Caribou in Winslow one recent September weekend.

They also proved if they put their mind to it, they can do anything. At least that’s what several participants of Becoming an Outdoors Woman said.

The program, also known as BOW, is available across North America and takes different tacks depending on locale. Maine’s September event attracted women from as far away as Texas and the Canadian Maritimes, but most live in Maine.

They come for a variety of reasons. Besides learning skills that include chain saw use, kayaking, shooting and fly casting, women came for vacation or simply to gain more confidence.

If nothing else, it gives them a chance to escape the rigors of daily life.

“Are you thinking about your home life or your everyday life?” asked master Maine guide and instructor Bonnie Holding during lunch break. She received a resounding “No!”

According to participant Miriam Bader of Hampden, the program gave her a greater appreciation for the outdoors and wildlife.

“It’s wonderful to have this with just a group of women,” she said. “Many have never been away from home.

“It’s good for them and their families,” she added.

Charlene Coor came from Austin, Texas. She had taken a BOW program in her home state. She and her husband drove to Maine together “wrapping a vacation around (the class).”

She has fished in deep water but wanted to learn to fly cast. The program provides a way to have new experiences inexpensively, she added. Most gear is provided.

“It’s just the women,” she said. “It’s nice to be around others who aren’t any better than you are. You aren’t intimidated and you can do a lot more than you think you can.”

According to Lois Wagner of Milo, the best class was finishing school.

Despite the moniker, finishing school has nothing to do with prancing around balancing telephone books on one’s head, but it does involve skills – those often relegated to men. Under the instruction of V. Paul Reynolds, women learned how to use a chainsaw, secure a load, start an outboard motor and change a tire.

Wagner, 63, already splits her own wood, but had never used a chain saw. On her own since her husband died unexpectedly in June, she decided to learn how to do the things he typically did. She plans to have a new solar-powered home built on 72 acres where the couple lived for more than 20 years before moving into town five years ago.

“It involved so much more than I thought it would,” she said. “I learned to do things my husband always did and reconfirmed the things I knew.”

Shy by nature, Wagner said she almost backed out at the last minute. The program forced her to interact with others – her husband was always the outgoing one, she said.

“I have a hard time dealing with strangers, striking up a conversation,” she said. “It helped me to accept the fact that I can do this.”

Her advice for future participants: “Take the things you’re interested in even if you have a little knowledge about it. If you think you might be interested in something, there’s so many avenues you can take with these classes.”

According to Maine’s BOW Web site, more than 2,000 women have participated in a BOW program since the first workshop was held in 1997. In addition to the three-day introductory skills workshop held annually in the fall, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife sponsors several other focused-skill programs offered throughout the year.

According to Emily Jones, a public relations specialist for IF&W, participants do not need to take the three-day workshop to participate in the others.

“But (the three-day program) is what gets them hooked,” she said.

For more information, visit http://www.state.me.us/ifw/education/bow/index.htm or call Jones at 287-8069.