Growing Up a Girl in Men’s Spaces

I’ve been hunting for over 20 years. As a girl in her mid-twenties, this means I have spent most of my life in deer blinds, sitting around campfires, and trying to find my place in a world of men.

Let me take you back to 2005, to when I was walking around camp in clothes that were entirely too big for me, with my hair in braids and wearing boots I practically tripped over. I so longed to fit in. I knew I loved hunting from the get-go, but feeling confident in the environment was a completely different challenge.

I had to learn early on the balance between “being one of the boys” and embracing all the things I loved about being a girl, my favorite of which was always outperforming the boys.

As a young girl, I was often the only female hunting in camp. Sure, there were wives, sisters, and girlfriends in camp, but they were often there to observe, not to hunt. At times, it felt like I had to work twice as hard to prove I belonged there. I wanted to be seen not as the little girl tagging along, but as a hunter. I wanted to earn my place.

Over time, I realized that fitting in wasn’t really the goal. The goal was finding confidence in who I was. Being a girl in men’s spaces has taught me that I don’t need to change myself to belong. I can be competitive, driven, and capable while still embracing the things that make me uniquely me.

I can put on makeup if it makes me feel better going out to sit in a blind. I can curl my hair if it makes me comfortable. I can paint an entire blind pink (although I never would) and still have a very deserving place in the hunting space.

Looking back at myself all these years later, I am beyond thankful for the discomfort that came with entering that space so young. It taught me how to speak up, have confidence, and stand strong in who I am as a young woman. The lessons I have learned in the outdoors have extended far beyond hunting. They have shaped the way I approach school, leadership opportunities, and challenges in everyday life.

Today, I am proud to see more young women entering the hunting community than ever before. If my younger self could see where I am now, she would realize that she never needed to fit in at all—she simply needed the confidence to take up space and know that she belonged there all the while.

By Libby Gear, past-recipient of the SCI Youth Hunter Award and coordinator of the Young Hunters Group social event at the SCI Convention.