Eva Shockey Reveals Book Deal, Talks Women in Hunting
Eva Shockey, the popular hunter and television host, announced on the FOX Business Network that she is working on a new book about her life outdoors.
Shockey has signed a deal with Penguin Random House, and the book is due to hit shelves sometime in 2017, she said in an interview Monday on “Mornings With Maria.”
Shockey also said she and husband Tim Brent, a former professional hockey player, are expecting their first child.
Shockey has co-hosted her father’s Outdoor Channel show, “Jim Shockey’s Hunting Adventures,” for the last eight years. In 2014, she became just the second women to appear on the cover of Field & Stream magazine, which featured Shockey as one of hunting’s rising stars. The Canadian-born Shockey is also an Under Armour (NYSE:UA) athlete and Cabela’s (NYSE:CAB) brand ambassador.
The number of female hunters, gun owners and sport shooters is climbing, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The NSSF estimated that 19% of hunters were women in 2013, compared to 10% in 2001. Over the same period, the number of female hunters surged 85% to 3.3 million.
The industry’s growth can be partly attributed to farm-to-table trends, according to Shockey. Consumers who want fresh, organic meat are increasingly pickup up hunting.
Hunters have “turned it into a farm-to-table movement,” Shockey told the FOX Business Network’s Sandra Smith. “We’ve been doing it before it became trendy.”
Shockey also said younger women are getting involved in hunting and sport shooting because mainstream movies and TV shows, such as “The Hunger Games” and “Arrow,” “highlight hunting and shooting and make it look cool.”
With the number of female hunters on the rise, a growing list of states has approved blaze pink safety gear. States including Wisconsin, Louisiana and most recently New York now allow hunters to wear fluorescent pink as an alternative to the traditional blaze orange.
Shockey said the addition of blaze pink wouldn’t make her more or less inclined to hunt, but “it’s giving us more options.”
“Women are the fastest-growing demographic in hunting, so we need to feel like we’re welcome and we fit in,” she added.