HUNTING -- With the help of a sociologist's research, my Sunday Outdoors feature story related insights on the growing ranks of women hunters.

Here's another insight gleaned from the women’s panel discussion at Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Rendezvous in Spokane in March:

You can’t lump women in one basket any more than you can stereotype men in terms of their likes and attitudes about hunting.

Hunter Yana Robertson, creative director for onXmaps in Missoula, cringed at the marketing of women-shaped fishing waders and hot pink guns and camouflage. “Just treat us like any other sportsman,” she pleaded.

On the other hand, some women enjoy the look and comfort of anatomically contoured fishing waders. I've seen plenty of testimonials that a pink-stocked shotgun was the ticket that got a woman to try out the target range.

And pink camo? Don't shoot it down on sight.

U.S. military testing in the 1990s found hot pink to be one of the most visible colors in to the human eye – a major safety consideration– yet because hot pink is a a blend from opposite ends of the rainbow, deer see shocking pink as neutral gray, researchers say.

Strong women may not just embrace hot pink in their hunting camo, they might also buy it for their kids, as well as their boyfriends and husbands.