Throughout history there have been women whose shooting skills made — or make — them stand out. Now, it might be someone like Annie Oakley who immediately comes to mind, but we have a few other people to talk about. We’ve put together a list of five of the greatest women who shoot, and we didn’t restrict ourselves to an era. No, this is a list of our top five sharpshooting women, past and present, in no particular order. Our goal is to introduce you to some women who shoot — really well — that you might have never heard of before.
Lillian Smith
Everyone is familiar with Annie Oakley and her connections to Wild Buffalo Bill and his show, but not as many people know who Lillian Smith was. Interestingly, Lillian Smith was also part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild Show, and she was a gifted sharpshooter. History.net gives the following historical account of Smith’s shooting abilities:
The 14-year-old girl exhibited no anxiety or hesitation when she hoisted her 7-ound Ballard 22-caliber rifle. From a distance of 33 feet she target swaying glass balls hanging by wires from the wooden figure of a deer suspended in midair. With unfailing aim she fired from her right shoulder, then from her left shoulder, and, finally, shooting with the rifle held upside down and backward over her shoulder, sighting with a hand mirror. Not once did she miss. Still aiming backward using the same mirror, she shot at 10 glass balls sprung in quick succession from a trap—and burst them all before they hit the floor. Wing-shooting champion Crittenden Robinson was so confident in the marksmanship of this girl performing at an April 1885 exhibition in San Francisco that he volunteered to hold up an ace of clubs, the middle of which she perforated without pause. For her finale the little lady performed her most noteworthy feat: Using a Winchester rifle, she burst 100 glass balls in 2 minutes, 35 seconds, beating by a heartbeat champion William Frank “Doc” Carver’s record of 2 minutes, 36 seconds.
According to historians, Lillian Smith was a national star and performed for people like Mark Twain and Queen Victoria. Not much is known about her rivalry with Annie Oakley, only that it existed and that Oakley made getting rid of Lillian Smith a condition of her signing a new contract with Buffalo Bill. Apparently, Bill chose Oakley.
Tatyana Baramzina
While there are female snipers in history who receive attention for sheer number of successful kills, some should be remembered for other reasons, such as bravery. Tatyana Baramzina was a sniper for the Soviets who made the ultimate sacrifice. She actually started her adult life as a kindergarten teacher, but when Germany became a threat to the Soviet Union, she decided to alter the course of her life to fight the Nazis. Tatyana Baramzina got into being a sniper in an interesting way. In 1941 she started training as a nurse in night classes, but during the day she was learning to be a sniper. Eventually, she was sent to a sniper school near Moscow, and at the end of about two years total of training, she was assigned to the 3rd Belorussian Front.
Now, Tatyana Baramzina was a skilled shot. She’s credited with 36 kills but historians speculate there were far more. When her vision became a problem after only a matter of months, she was reassigned to work as a telephone operator on the front lines, which was a lot more dangerous than it might sound. For example, the battalion she was assigned to went behind enemy lines and it was during that time she was credited with 20 of her 36 kills. She was a fighter, through and through. Unfortunately, the Nazis ended up capturing her and torturing her for information about the Soviets. She didn’t tell them anything, despite horrific torture, and they eventually killed her. The Soviet Union did give her the “Hero of the Soviet Union” award after her death.
Kenda Lenseigne
One of the famed shooters of the modern era who doesn’t get as much press as you might expect is Kenda Lenseigne, a national and world champion shooter. Kenda Lenseigne is currently the only woman to ever win Overall at a CMSA (Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association) World Championship. That happened in 2009, and since then she’s just kept on winning. Today she’s known not only for her stellar shooting from horseback but also for her work as a horse trainer and brand ambassador. Some of her CMSA wins include:
- 2009 Overall World Champion
- 2010 Overall National Champion
- 2011 Central US Overall Champion
- 2012 Winter Champion Cowgirl
- 2012 Overall National Champion
- 2012 and 2013 Western US Champion
- 2014 Overall World Champion Cowgirl
- 2017 Overall Winter Champion Cowgirl
- 2017 Overall National Champion Cowgirl
- 2017 Overall Western US Champion Cowgirl
- 2017 Overall World Champion Cowgirl
- 2018 Overall Western US Champion Cowgirl
- 2018 Overall National Champion
- 2019 Overall Winter Champion Cowgirl
- 2019 Overall National Champion Cowgirl
- 2022 Overall World Champion
Kenda Lenseigne isn’t just an impressive shot, she does it from horseback. While moving. It’s a niche skill and one that takes a lot of training and dedication.
Zhang Shan
In the Olympics, shooting is often separated by gender. But there was a period of time when skeet was mixed, with shooters competing against one another regardless of gender. In Barcelona 1992, the shooter to take gold in skeet was Zhang Shan, a Chinese woman whose shooting prowess was and is amazing. The Olympics records give this account of her win (all spelling is from the Olympics.com/en site):
In the qualification round, Zhang hit all 150 targets and became the only female shooter to advance to the 24-strong semi-final.
In the semi-final she repeated her perfect score by hitting 200 targets. Her brilliant performance saw her break the Olympic record and equal the world record mark.
Looking back on that incredible showing two years later, Zhang had this to say to CCTV: “At that time, I was no longer me, just like a machine running freely according to its preset programme.”
Six shooters fought for medals in the final round. Feeling fatigue and a high level of pressure, Zhang’s accuracy decreased. But although she did miss two targets, none of the male competitors could catch her. She won the gold medal with a score of 223, becoming the first and last female shooter to win the Olympic mixed shotgun skeet event in history.
During the medal ceremony, Zhang was lifted into the air by the silver and bronze medallists. The precious moment was captured by the legendary Chinese shooter XU Haifeng, who won the first-ever Olympic gold medal for People’s Republic of China at Los Angeles 1984.
After Zhang Shan’s win, skeet changed to separating the men and women so they no longer competed against one another. Although she hasn’t had any other wins quite as historically notable, Zhang Shan has gone on to win a lot of other titles including a silver medal at the XIII National Games in 2013. She was 49 at that time, and by all accounts continues to enjoy skeet shooting today.
Anette Wachter
In the long-range shooting world, Anette Wachter is known as the 30 Cal Gal (for the exact reasons you might presume). Anette Wachter has a slew of trophies and titles including a trio of national records, six National Team Championships, NRA High Master Class, and dozens of international shooting trophies. She literally has shelves full of awards and competes in a number of shooting sports including 3 Gun, multi-gun, long-range, and precision rifle.
Anette Wachter will tell you she’s a firm believer in the value of visualizing wins and making them happen. Of course, aside from what she refers to as “consistent visualization” she’s also a hardcore shooter who trains extensively with both dry fire and live fire. She explained part of her visualization practices in an interview with Accurate Shooter:
I have found that a lot of my success in competition has come through what I call a “mental rehearsal.” I actually visualize every stage of the match and I visualize the success of the match and winning the match. I actually visualize that round going down range into the target, and the target coming up with a dead center X. I visualize this over and over. If you visualize success you will achieve success.
She’s certainly a talented competitor and one who’s always been happy to give advice and tips to interested shooters. Oh, and as if her trophies aren’t enough, she also designs and makes custom jewelry. Anette Wachter is multi-talented, dedicated, and a force to be reckoned with.
Who’s your favorite woman who shoots? Tell us about her in the comments.
