So I was tooling around native plant resources and I ran into this “Becoming an Outdoors-woman” thing. They offer weekend workshops in hunting, fishing, and outdoorspersonship, and there’s one up at Clemson this May. I was thinking maybe that would be fun to do with my mom - I don’t care for hunting and fishing myself, but learning to mountainbike or orienteering sound like a lot of fun. (I like shooting clay things, just not real live things.)
Has anybody done one of these workshops? I don’t usually just run off and go to things I find on the Internet, but they look perfectly reputable. I was just hoping to get some opinions from the peanut gallery.
I’ve never done a program like this (since I already pretty much am one) but I looked through their website, and it really looks like it could be a lot of fun for someone with the inclination to try these things, but without someone handy to teach them. And it’s pretty neat that they’re all grouped together in one workshop - for instance, it would be pretty easy to find a hunting course (NRA sponsors a lot of those) but to find one where you also get to learn mountain biking and rappeling might be a little rarer. Lots of those skills look like the type where it really does help to have someone knowledgeable showing you the way, rather than floundering around on your own. They have a picture of a woman shooting a crossbow and someone dangling from a line, and both of those are probably best first experienced supervised.
You might not love all of the things offered, but I’ll bet you really enjoy at least some of them. I’d love to do some of that with my mom. They seem to have a lot of sponsors, which seems to be a good sign for their credibility. I would suggest contacting them and asking for a reference from someone who’s gone through their program and will be willing to talk to you about it.
I did the BOW thing with my mother one year. It was informative and fun. I took classes on stuff like canoeing, birdwatching, and identifying local trees and flowers. (I’m not much into the hunting aspects, but there’s plenty of stuff on that, too, if it’s your thing.) There are usually plenty of classes to choose from.
While I only went once, my mother goes every year and always has a blast, even when she’s taking classes she has already taken. I think she enjoys the social aspect as much as the classes themselves. She’s made a lot of friends over there. She would certainly tell you that it’s worth the money and time. I would, too.
Give it a shot. I think you’d be happy you did. Oh, and if you can, try to register early so you can get the classes you want most. They can fill up fast.
If I can convince my mom, I think I just might go! Of course, talking her into the classes I want to do might be more of a problem - she isn’t really the muzzleloading type.
I don’t know if it’s the same organization, but one of my coworkers does this sort of thing, where women go off for a weekend hiking/camping/learning woodland skills. She really seems to enjoy it.
I’ve never heard of them, but if it’s anything like Women in the Outdoors you will really enjoy it. My wife has been to two of their events. They have all kinds of cool classes; firearms of every type, dutch oven cooking, turkey calling, archery, etc.
They don’t chase boyfriends and husbands away (although we can only watch, not play!) so I went along with her and her friends last year and took some photos and short videos:
You broads are tough! I’m a hothouse tomato. If I can’t plug in my curling iron or take a hot shower, you can count me out. I’ve tried camping. The drinking beer part was great. The beanies-n-weenies were great. The rest of it…not so much.
I love seeing the beauty that is nature. I just need the comforts of home to truly get the most of it.
