Somewhere along the line, the outdoors stopped being a place and started becoming a competition.

A title. A hierarchy. A club.

And it’s hurting the very thing people claim they want to protect.

If the goal is truly to get more people, especially women, outdoors — hunting, fishing, hiking, learning conservation, shooting bows, camping, whatever it may be — then why are so many immediately met with criticism the second they don’t fit someone else’s definition of “real”?

Apparently You Have to Prove Yourself First

You don’t hunt enough. You don’t travel enough. You don’t know enough. You post too much. You wear makeup. You don’t look outdoorsy enough. You’re too new. Too feminine. Too social media. Too inexperienced. Too excited.

It’s exhausting. And it almost always comes from the same people preaching about “getting more women involved.”

The hypocrisy of that should bother us more than it does.

Not Everyone Enters the Outdoors the Same Way

The truth is: not everyone enters the outdoors the same way.

Some people were raised in it from childhood. Some are learning in their 20s or 30s.. Maybe even later. Some hunt every weekend. Some save all year for a trip or two. Some are hardcore backcountry hunters. Some started fishing last summer. Some just purchased their first rifle.

None of that makes someone fake.

People Learn Differently — And That’s Not a Character Flaw

People learn differently. Some women watch one YouTube video and confidently head into the woods alone. Others need someone beside them the first few times. Some learn by trial and error. Some book guides because they need hands-on experience before they feel safe enough to even start.

None of that makes someone less authentic.

We don’t shame people for hiring personal trainers before they learn proper form in the gym. We don’t shame people for taking classes before starting a career. But somehow in the outdoors, needing guidance or community before you feel confident is treated like a character flaw.

That mindset isn’t protecting outdoor culture. It’s shrinking it.

The outdoors is not a niche identity where people have to suffer enough before they’re allowed to belong.

Here’s What Actually Matters in The Outdoors

Do you care about the environment? Are you willing to learn? Are you respecting the land, the animals, and the people around you?

That’s it. That’s the whole list.

Not whether you’ve earned the right aesthetic. Not whether you’ve hit some imaginary threshold of credibility that the internet invented.

I’ve traveled through several counties, rediscovering and falling back in love with my home state of Michigan — and have been lucky enough to explore a few other states through hunting and fishing too.

I’ve invited women to join me. Some friends. Some strangers. Some have never hunted before. Some are much more experienced than I am. 

I recently decided to start documenting the process — the learning curves, the mistakes, the excitement — because THAT is what’s actually relatable. Or at least that’s the content that inspires me. And besides, if that content fails to resonate with anyone other than myself, it’ll serve as my own personal scrapbook instead.

Nonetheless, I’ll tell you what I know for certain: there are far more women quietly interested in the outdoors who are terrified to even try because they’re afraid they’ll be judged by the very community they’re trying to join.

That should concern us a lot more than whether someone is “outdoorsy enough.”

The Outdoors Is Not a Title. It’s a Relationship.

The outdoors isn’t a title handed out by the internet’s self-appointed gatekeepers.

It’s a relationship. With the land. With nature. With challenge. With yourself.

Some people grew up in it. Some people are just finding it now.

Both are valid.

And if someone documenting their learning process, booking a guided hunt, or sharing their excitement online bothers you more than the fact that fewer and fewer people are connecting with the outdoors at all — the issue isn’t their authenticity.

Maybe it’s your ego.

The Women I Remember Most

The women I remember most in this space aren’t the ones who tried to prove they were the most outdoorsy.

They’re the ones who made other people feel welcome enough to try.

You can value ethics, skill, conservation, and hard work without turning the outdoors into an exclusionary club. People are allowed to learn publicly. People are allowed to be beginners. People are allowed to enjoy it differently than you do.. More than you do. Less than you do.

And maybe — just maybe — the woman posting her first fishing trip, asking questions, or documenting her journey online today becomes the woman who introduces five more women to the outdoors tomorrow.. Even if she still has no clue what she’s doing. 

That matters too.

Because one woman trying despite being inexperienced will always do more for the future of the outdoors than a handful of people sitting online deciding who’s worthy of it.

So maybe instead of asking whether someone belongs here yet —

ask yourself whether you’re making this space better by being in it.