
Women in the outdoor scene has historically been a taboo thing. As of the last few years, it seems that women having a role in the outdoor space has grown and boy am I happy to see it. Sometimes finding our place and figuring out where you fit in when it comes to hunting, fishing, and the outdoor world as a female can be kind of tough. Whether its... "no girls at deer camp" or "Sorry, just the guys".. it can be difficult to build a circle around you that supports and shows you the ropes to progress as a hunter or angler or to even just get your toes wet in the outdoors.
My outdoor journey began as a young girl fishing in Northern Michigan with my Grandpa. Nobody else in my family was active in the outdoors while I was growing up, and I didn't have any friends that had a passion for it like I did. I was never taken hunting with my Grandpa, Uncle and cousin because why would a girl be at deer camp, right? Luckily, my now fiancé has allowed me to fully embrace my love for hunting, fishing, camping, and all the other fun outdoor activities.

He's taught me everything I know when it comes to the pursuit of an animal with a bow or a gun. Don't get me wrong, I love him dearly BUT, I was in search of finding some girlfriends that I could share this passion with.
In 2020, I stumbled across an instagram account called @herwindernessco. The pictures they were posting were of groups of women doing some bad-ass stuff from fishing in Montana to hunting Axis deer in Texas.

I continued to follow along with all the trips they were setting up and watching the company grow. I even bought some merchandise from @wildernessclothingco_ because it honestly was such cool stuff.

Two years later, I was so sick of doing all my outdoor activities by myself or just with Nick, on a whim I last minute booked a South Carolina catfishing and striper bass trip with Her Wilderness. I had no clue what I was getting into and I was really nervous about what the people would be like and having no clue who these other people were. I thought, "how bad could it be right?.... If they like fishing, they've got to be cool". The process of booking and making payments to Her Wilderness was seamless. I was contacted almost instantly by the trip coordinator, Courtney Jordan, to become a part of the facebook group with the women going on the trip.

We were given an itinerary and we knew the expectations and plans for the trip almost immediately. Housing, food, etc. was handled and we just made our payments. I almost kind of thought this whole thing was too good to be true and there had to be a catch. Theres no way theres women who actually want to organize catfishing with strangers... that would be too perfect for me.

I drove down in my tacoma from Ohio to South Carolina and I was met at the air-bnb by some awesome people. For some reason, it had felt like I knew them for a lifetime. It was a mix of ages, experience, careers, and locations.
Let me tell you, we had a blast. I knew right away that I would forever be making trips with Her Wilderness at least once a year. We went out to dinners, had a bon-fire, fished off the dock, fished with an awesome charter (Wolfe's Guide Service) , and shared a ton of laughs along the way. I was HOOKED.

That following year, I wanted to do another. I contacted my best friend and decided to do a van-life trip in California. I had the same experience as the first trip when it comes to the simplicity of booking, payments, and communication. This trip was
coordinated by the owner of the company, Mackenzie Thompson. She went above and beyond to pack in as much adventure and site seeing in the short amount of time we would be traveling.

When I say this was a trip of a lifetime, I mean that. I cried on multiple occasions due to the sheer beauty of the national parks and just because I was so happy. We stopped at Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite, 17 Mile Drive, Monterey Bay, Morro Bay, and Santa Barbara. We slept in our @cabanavans in Sequoia, Yosemite, and a winery.

The vans were equipped with air-conditioning, heat, a toilet, a shower, a stove top, running water, and a queen size bed. Like I said, things were seamless.
There is something very special about sharing these experiences with women from all over the country, of all ages, with the same goals of experiencing the outdoor lifestyle. Ive kept in contact with many of the people I have met through the trips and I cannot wait to continue to make plans and trips in the future with these women.

Her Wilderness has opened the door for experiences that I don't know I would have ever had the opportunity to have. Depending on the trip you decide to go on, they are very reasonably priced for everything that you get! Wether you've been hunting and fishing your whole life, or you've never been before, any of these trips are for you. I highly encourage every single woman out there to go on at least one of these trips and truly experience Her Wilderness.

Create: We aim to create educational, exciting, laughter packed trips + events for women to feel more confident within the outdoors.
Connect: We seek to connect like-minded women across the nation to share their passions + create lifelong memories together as a community.
Conserve: We ensure to promote wildlife and habitat management by teaching best practices and supporting relevant + impactful conservation organizations.

You can follow along with the Her Wilderness adventures on their instagram
Purchase high-quality Her Wilderness merchandise https://herwilderness.co/shop/


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