According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Delaware Seashore State Park on Delaware’s Atlantic Coast is to be the setting for the 2023 Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program the weekend of October 13-15
The park is welcoming BOW participants to the three-day program starting Friday, October 13. The 2023 event marks the 24th year Delaware has hosted the program sponsored by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife. Registration deadline is Tuesday, October 3.
BOW offers a variety of 3.5-hour and 1.5-hour courses taught by DNREC staff and volunteer instructors, who share their expertise and provide instruction in a safe, supportive and non-competitive atmosphere. The cost of participating in the full BOW weekend is $200, which includes meals and lodging, along with instruction in and use of necessary outdoors equipment and supplies.
As always, BOW participants can choose from a wide range of hands-on courses. This year’s offerings include Saltwater Boat and Surf Fishing, Outdoor Survival Skills, Intro to Archery, Intro to Birding, Cooking Your Catch (fish preparation and cooking), Nature I.D. Hikes, Crabbing, Clamming, Intro to Wildlife Trapping, and others, including Forest Bathing, an eco-therapy known to the Japanese, who popularized it, as “shinrin-yoku” which means “forest bathing” or “taking in the forest atmosphere.”
A specialty course this year at BOW is a mentored crossbow deer hunt, limited to five participants. The course involves learning how to safely use a crossbow and taking part in the mentored hunt in a designated area within Delaware Seashore State Park. Hunt participants are required to have a Delaware hunting license and hunter education certification prior to the event.
Again, BOW registrations must be received by Tuesday, October 3; find more information about Delaware BOW weekend and register at de.gov/bow.
