Hunting naked. Whaaaaat?
No, this is not a new reality show.
Perhaps you have seen those pictures pop up on Instagram or Facebook, you know…the ones of half-clothed women holding a gun, bow, or fishing pole. Or maybe holding a fish in just the right place.
As with most things in our society, sex sells. Companies know this and promote these types of pictures to sell their product or stop you from scrolling to click on the picture. Of course, these pictures typically have thousands of likes (mostly from men), but are you really taking that woman seriously while you are looking at the picture?
Funny thing is, some of these pictures have women holding their bow upside down, their fishing pole with the reel upside down, wearing short shorts in deep woods, “driving” a boat in a tiny bikini without the keys in the ignition, wearing their camo lingerie in the woods, etc.
The reality is – most serious outdoors women do NOT look like that when they are doing these types of activities. It is just not feasible to not wear a top bowhunting from a stand in Minnesota in 30-degree weather.
{Read More: Kill vs. Harvest: Which Term is Correct?}
Every time I see one of these pictures pop up in my feed, I roll my eyes and get a little angry. These photos give a bad name to those women who take hunting and fishing seriously. One picture of a half-clothed woman holding a bow upside down knocks that level of respect down. Women who (pardon my language) bust their asses to go out there and do the work in the hunting and fishing communities are the women I take seriously, the women I want my children to look up to. Pictures that should be getting thousands of likes are the ones with women succeeding in whatever they are doing outdoors and don't have to use nudity to get those likes.
We know what these pictures are really for and we know they will continue to pop up on our social media. As serious outdoors women, we can only do our part to promote the hard work we do, and others do.
