Ladies, Know Your Place – It’s in Hunting!
When Libby Gear received the Young Hunter of the Year Award in 2023, she had no idea that a whole community of women in hunting existed. She was her father’s hunting buddy. Neither her sister nor mother were interested in hunting, but she accompanied her father on every trip outdoors. Each year she went to deer camp surrounded by men and boys. And every year, someone would ask her father (right in front of her!), “Don’t you wish you had a son?” His answer each time? “She can do anything a boy can do.” So, she kept showing up, kept hunting, kept developing her skills in the outdoors. She earned the nomination for Young Hunter of the Year Award and got it. And now she is devoted to helping other young women, and youth in general, along their hunting paths.
Gear originally attended the Annual SCI Convention to accept an award, but the most valuable thing she got was a sense of belonging. She says she found her “place.” As a young woman surrounded by males in the sport she loved, Gear says she struggled to reconcile two personas, that of a hunter and dedicated outdoor lover with that of the feminine young woman.
“When I went to the Convention and the WGH Mix & Mingle, I realized there is an entire community of women who are very feminine and love hunting at the same time,” she says. “I can be both, and there are lots of other women just like me. It was so eye opening and inspiring!”
She went back home determined to bring more young women into SCI and to become an advocate for young hunters. With that goal in mind, she organized an event aimed at bringing youth hunters together at the 2025 Convention. Modeled after WGH’s Mix & Mingle, the Youth Hunters’ Ice Cream Social attracted 30 young hunters to socialize and get to know each other. For 2026, Gear has gone a step further. She wants to empower young hunters. So, she has helped organize an event offering hunters ages 15-25 the opportunity to speak with a panel of previous Young Hunter Award winners about their hunting journeys and how to follow suit. The event will let them make connections, get answers to questions of concern to young hunters, make friends and learn about different opportunities open to them. After the panel discussion, attendees can socialize over beverages and finger foods.
Gear says she hopes that other young hunters will be as inspired as she was. “I met my role model and mentor at SCI,” she says, referring to Maddie Demaske, SCI Associate Litigator and the 2026 Diana Award winner. “When I was a kid, I witnessed the trophy permitting issues emerge and the fight over hunting access in Alaska develop. Now SCI is working on reforming the Endangered Species Act and I want to do that kind of work. Maddie helped me when I wrote my law comment on the issue for school.”
Inspired by Demaske to become a hunting advocate, Gear has since begun law school with hopes of working for an organization like SCI, Texas Trophy Hunters Association, or other group that aligns with her values to protect species and promote the hunting lifestyle.
Additionally, Gear serves on the SCI Lubbock Chapter board of directors and wants other young hunters to know about the opportunities open to them in SCI chapters and that there is a community they can step into and help pave the future of hunting.
The Future of the Field Social Hour for young hunters takes place on Saturday, February 21 from 2 – 3 pm in Room 202BC at the Music City Convention Center during the SCI Convention. No RSVP is necessary, and attendance is free. Be sure to bring the young hunter in your life to the SCI Convention in Nashville, TN, February 18-21, 2026.