The phenomenon of (female) hunting in Spain: the number of women with weapons licenses doubles in one year

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"My mother played the

movie for me and when the dreaded hunter who kills the mother appeared, she said: 'Look, that's your father'."

Begoña Coronel's mother thus tried to dissuade the hobby that was beginning to sprout in her little daughter.

Begoña and her brother accompanied their father to the hunts that were organized in the area of ​​Ubrique (Cádiz) and she began to get hooked on

Perhaps because women could not or did not want to enter it.

Although she was always clear that what her father did was what she liked.

And in 2007, at the age of 23, she obtained her weapons license.

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Hunt... on Instagram and TikTok

At the age of 18, Pilar Montero,

the 'influencer' of hunting, took it out.

With almost 81,000 followers on Instagram, she has turned her hobby into a way of life.

She breathes, hunts, podenquera and also... nurse.

During the week, Pilar puts on her white coat and helps the elderly in the nursing home where she works in Murcia.

On the weekend she wears war paint, a camouflage look and hugs her Beretta Brx1, caliber 308 win.

that is suitable for both hunting and stalking.

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The hunting influencer attends to Yo Dona: "I started with the simple objective of being able to

There is a tendency to believe unfounded ideas that are far from reality, so I decided to publish more professional photos and with worked texts to that the non-hunter public could know what we were doing. Little by little my profile grew until today."

passion for the field

On TikTok, his videos accumulate thousands of views.

And sometimes, too, dozens of insults and threats from animal rights groups.

Pilar is very active against the harassment that the hunters receive.

"The current situation is critical,

It is inadmissible that those who do not know the field, its management and way of life, are the ones who dictate the rules that will mark its future", and criticizes the new Animal Welfare Law approved by the Council of Ministers.

In her profile, she makes it clear that a hunter can go to the field with a perfectly done manicure and a well-marked eye line.

"I consider myself a brave woman, with iron ideas, so I am a hunter by choice, a lover of the countryside by vocation and passionate about nature by conviction, that is true feminism.

says Pilar bluntly.

Twice as many jackets in a year

In 2021, the records of the Ministry of Culture and Sports collect

Almost double that in 2020, which was 2,429.

Most of them are registered in Andalusia, Catalonia and the Valencian Community.

And this has been the second year in which a Spanish Small Game Hunting Championship has been held exclusively for women.

One of the first, a symbol of female hunting in the 70s and 80s, is

the grandmother of another young hunter,

Pilar is now almost 90 years old, she broke two national Ibex records in Beceite (Teruel) and in Gredos, and several gold medals.

Hunting organizer

So his granddaughter could not have a better reference to become fond of this sport.

She has learned so much from her grandmother that Lucía now

She receives clients from all over the world, especially Americans, to participate in hunts.

"At first it was difficult for them to trust me, being young and a woman, to organize their hunting trips, but little by little and through word of mouth I have been able to carve out a significant niche for myself," she explains.

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Lucía acknowledges that there are certain types of hunting that require more effort and "don't look for anyone to shake your hand."

That it is not worth saving efforts, that it is a matter of attitude and that there are times when a woman's physique may be inferior to that of a man, which can harm skill in the mountains, but "it is

The price of a position

And it has seen an evolution in the role that women have played in hunting.

The usual thing was to see them as companions of the hunter-man and, increasingly, they appear as active hunters together with their parents, friends or partners.

Hunting is a socially widespread activity, with

Begoña pays around

for a position in an average hunt.

It is the price of the place from which they shoot.

But depending on the category of the hunting ground, it can be 800-900 euros, "I share those with my father, there are two rifles at the post, and you double the chance of getting the piece."

But you can get to pay up to 2,000 or 3,000 euros per position, where hunters have the guarantee of getting a high number of pieces.

They all agree in their respect for nature and animals.

And they are clear that even if they know how to get on a heel, they are happier in boots and with their rifle on their backs up the mountain.

"It is a means of

and putting the most ecological and ethical meat on the table," says Pilar Montero.

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