Best Female Shooters of All Time
In honor of National Women's History Month, here's a list of badass females in a male dominated sport. This list is not in numeric order, nor are they ranked as greater than one another. They are great in their own instance, and we take no position to try and rank them.
#1. Calamity Jane; Martha Jane Cannary May 1, 1852 - August 1, 1903
The oldest of six children, she was the two-faced devil and angel who went after the rivals as a frontier soldier while passing compassion to the needy ones.
Altogether, she was a well-known frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and raconteur.
Jane worked in several roles during her lifespan as a dishwasher, cook, waitress, dance hall girl, nurse, and ox team driver.
Additionally, she was also widely popularized as the one who wore men’s attire and an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok.
#2 Annie Oakley; Phoebe Ann Mosey August 13, 1860- November 3, 1926
Anyone who has dived into the shooting arena is well-known with this particular name as one of the greatest shooters.
Annie had a problematic timeframe surrounded by poverty. She was born in Ohio’s rural area near the state’s border with Indiana. Additionally, Annie was the sixth of the total nine children of her parents.
Due to the poverty, Annie could attend school during her late childhood and adulthood. However, she was into shooting since the early age of seven and later supported her family by trapping and selling games.
As her professional career flourished, she adopted Oakley’s stage name and often represented herself as a sweet and cheerful persona.
Throughout her career, Annie also stood as a pioneering point for women to use firearms.
#3. Lyudmila Pavlichenko; Lyudmila Mikhailovna Belova July 12, 1916 - October 10, 1974
This Russian shooter is the most successful female sniper in recorded history for those unknown, with 309 confirmed kills.
Lyudmila was born to her parents Elena Trofimovna Belova and Mikhail Belov in Bila Tserkva.
From an early age, she was described as a tomboy who gave her all in competitive sports, and later when their family moved to Kiev, (the capital city of Ukraine, also known as Kyiv) when she was 14, she enrolled in a shooting club.
In Kiev, she completed her educational story and also attended the civilian sniper classes. During the rest of half of her life, she fought in the war when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
By the time she had accomplished 187 kills on the realm, even the Nazis had feared her, and those instilling fear earned her the name “that Russian bitch” in the German land. After gaining 309 kills, Lyudmila toured other continents to promote the war effort.
#4 Margaret Murdock; Margaret L. Thompson August 25, 1942
Margaret is the pioneer stop for women in the competitive shooting realm. She is the foremost lady to win a medal in Shooting at the Summer Olympics and also the first to win an individual open World Shooting Championship.
Margaret, a former United States Army officer, is well-known for her confidence and success in international shooting competitions. Indeed, she is one of the shooters who broke the male stereotype in the arena.
Initially, Margaret commenced shooting at eleven; however, she faced numerous restrictions for her women’s gameplays. Thus, her professional journey first started with Kansas State University and other major championships.
Following it, she joined the U.S. Army as a shooting instructor at Fort Benning. With the four years of service, she came out as a rank of major.
#5 Lena Miculek: March 22, 1995
Lena Miculek is a professional practical sport shooter who has been on the field since her earliest days. Also, she was born in a legendary family where both her parents Jerry Miculek and Kay Miculek, are competitive shooters.
Due to her strong background, Lena is donned with numerous titles. It includes a gold medal at the 2017 IPSC Rifle World Shoot in the Open division, Lady category, and three gold medals in the IPSC Shotgun Standard division, Lady category, 2012, 2015, and 2018 IPSC Shotgun World Shoot.
Since the age of eight, Miculek has been in love with it; however, she has competed professionally since 2011.
#6 Ashley Rheuark Born in 1999
Starting at the early age of ten in the field, Ashley made her way to team Team Glock when she was eighteen in 2017. Well, she initially started shooting after falling in love with the sport as she went deer hunting with her father.
Thriving all her way along, Ashley has bagged titles as the Ladies Champion in USPSA Multigun Nationals, World Speed Shooting Championship, IPSC Nationals Production Optics, and IPSC Rifle World Shoot. In the meantime, she is also an IDPA Distinguished Master.
Furthermore, she is a 2x Overall Winner of the A Girl & A Gun Fall Fest Multigun Challenge.
#7 Ginny Thrasher; February 28, 1997
Young and talented, she is the first Gold Medalist in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Prior to being a sport shooter, she used to be a figure skater, which she switched later in 2011.
What inspired her on the field was her hunting trip with her grandfather. As we go for her background check, Ginny was born to parents Roger and Valerie Thrasher and had two brothers.
Alongside shooting, Ginny Thrasher is quite fond of traveling and public speaking. Altogether, she is also a 12x All-American winner.
#8 Eva Shockey: January 5, 1988
One of the best female shooters with a package full of talents, and hence, she flourishes and thrives in numerous roles.
Well, she is an outdoorswoman, conservationist, acclaimed bow hunter, social media influencer, brand ambassador, and television personality.
Eva Shockey was born to parents Jim Shockey and Louise Johann. Well, it hasn’t been long that she commenced shooting as she started only at the age of twenty. Anyways, she is an avid hunter like her father.
Among her fandom, Eva is best-known as Martha Stewart of the Outdoors. Additionally, she has the hunger for hunts as every shooter searches for. Back in 2015, she hunted the moose that fed all the guests at her wedding.
#9 Diane Sorantino
Ever since she stepped into the industry, Diane Sorantino has been a renowned shooting competitor. Well, she is a gun-friendly woman who commenced her journey back in 1993 for the shooting clays competition.
Glancing at her titles, Diane is a 4x Ladies World Champion, 5x U.S. Open Ladies Champion, 3x Ladies National Sporting Clays Champion, and 5x National FITASC Ladies Champion.
Currently, Sorantino is a member of the National Sporting Clays Association Hall of Fame. However, as a fun fact, Diane is focused on her full-time career in law enforcement and holds Chief of Police.
and last but not least;
#10 Julie Golob Born in 1977
Julie is a professional markswoman who left the army to pursue her career in the shooting.
As a matter of fact, she commenced shooting at the early age of fourteen, and just three years later, Julie was competing in the US Practical Shooting Association (USPSA).
At present, she holds the record of bagging all the three records of USPSA Limited National Championships, USPSA Open National Championships, and the World Speed Shooting Champion in a single year.
Even during her tenure in the army, she stood as the U.S. Army Female Athlete of the year. In the meantime, she is also the one to win national titles in all seven USPSA divisions and a national title in all six USPSA divisions.
Currently, she is an Army Instructor Training School certified shooting instructor. Likewise, she takes shooting classes at National Shooting Sports Foundation and is a head trainer for the NRA’s Women’s Love at First Shot program.