By Larry S. Moore

Women represent the fastest growing segment of the shooting sports and hunting.

The National Sporting Goods Association survey results indicated that women participating in hunting increased by 75 percent over the last five years. The Association estimates there are 3 million women hunting and as many as 5 million shooting regularly. The number of women hunting with bows has increased by 176 percent.

I talked to two women who recently started hunting to get their views.

A leaked memo from the U.S. Department of the Interior reveals plans to set aside millions of acres of federal lands, currently open to a multitude of users, as new "National Monuments." Basically, these designations could be established by a stroke of President Obama's pen with no oversight.

The memo identifies approximately 13 million acres in nine western states for "National Monument" designation under the 1906 Antiquities Act. The Act allows the President to make these designations without Congressional approval or local input.

The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance (USSA) is deeply concerned as prior Monument designations have caused trouble for hunters and wildlife conservation. For example, President Carter created millions of acres of National Park Service Monuments in Alaska which immediately closed the areas to sport hunting. It took a subsequent act of Congress to undo many of these hunting closures.