BOW in Wisconsin
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Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) offers hands-on, outdoor workshops held in a safe, supportive atmosphere with patient, enthusiastic instructors. No experience or special equipment is necessary.  BOW is for adult women of all ages and fitness levels.

The program began in 1991, offered through the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The first workshop, held at Treehaven Field Station near Tomahawk, filled to capacity with over 100 participants. This successful program, founded by Dr. Christine Thomas, has become popular in more than 40 states and several Canadian provinces.

Today, Wisconsin's BOW program is still going strong, and we still hold multi-course workshops twice a year at Treehaven Field Station as well as Beyond BOW events almost every month. In 2016, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the program, and with the response we get from our participants, we expect this is only the beginning.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS!

Meet the Coordinator, Peggy Farrell​

Peggy Farrell is the director of the Wisconsin Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program. In her 24 years with BOW, she has welcomed thousands of women to the outdoors by teaching them beginner-level outdoor skills to help them enjoy nature and  become more confident. 

She has mentored new deer and turkey hunters coached beginning shooters and coordinated hundreds of BOW workshops in the state.

Farrell's outdoor writing has been published in magazines including Wisconsin Natural Resources, North American Hunter, and North American Fisherman and has been featured in a variety of newspapers and online publications. 

Her diverse background includes training in natural resources, journalism, public relations, advertising, editing and publishing, and hunter education. Farrell has a master's degree in environmental education from UW-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources and is an instructor for an environmental literacy course titled "People, Resources and the Biosphere". She also coordinates the Central Wisconsin Prairie Chicken Viewing Project and is a state R3 coordinator and Hunter Mentor Trainer.

She lives on a small farm outside Amherst, Wisconsin with border collies Oona and Andrew, Carl and Charlie the fainting goats, several fancy-breed domestic chickens, and geese, along with her husband Robert Smith. Farrell's interests include turkey hunting, gardening, music, poetry, baking bread, and fishing. 
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We are always in the process of updating our database. Most of our communication is by email for reasons of speed, efficiency, and finances. However, we have many people on our contact list for whom we don't have current email addresses. If you haven't gotten any email from us in the last few months, you might be one of these people. Contact us HERE with your most current email and other contact information (including what state you're from) so we can keep you in the loop!