You know, it works like that where I live too, in rural western Michigan, which is mostly forest, river bottoms, and marshland. The soil in most places is less than ideal for farming, so there are lots of unpopulated areas and wilderness.

The population isn't dense, given those conditions, and many people use the wilderness for recreation and – believe it or not – to significantly supplement their food supply by hunting. Deer are overpopulated due to a killing off of top predators, so humans now fill that role.

Deer (and turkey) hunting is huge, a very common social custom. Put two or three deer in the freezer during the autumn hunting season, and a family has a lot of meat for the winter. Maybe they don't strictly need it. They could buy beef at the supermarket. Nonetheless, the deer meat decreases their food budget, increases the diversity of their diet, and reduces their reliance in the industrial food chain.

And now comes my main point. Despite the fact that deer hunting is a stereotypical male activity, rural Michigan women hunt A LOT. Many women I know hunt more efficiently than men, less interested in taking a prize buck with amazing antlers than in filling up the freezer for the winter.

You wouldn't necessarily know that if you didn't live here, because the hunting that gets written about and celebrated in pop culture is hunting for bragging rights, hunting as male bonding, hunting as an opportunity to abuse alcohol with the bros, etc.

Meanwhile, women are quietly hunting for food, and doing it quite effectively. They're often fishing quite effectively too, by the way.