Ladies In The Outdoors is passionately committed to supporting and celebrating women who love the great outdoors and is thrilled to unveil the finalists for our 2024 Calendar Contest. Our deepest gratitude goes to each contestant, sponsor, and enthusiast for your vital role in spotlighting these remarkable women and their achievements, all while sharing their love for the great outdoors. We deeply value your involvement in our empowering journey!
Ms. Robin Doke, Oklahoma
Ms. Marissa Feguson, Indiana
Ms. Alexus DeBlieux, Louisiana
Ms. Colleen Began, Minnesota
Ms. Pamela Woods, Pennsylvannia
Ms. Mazie Kibodeaux, Louisiana
Ms. Kellie Stebbins, Kansas
Ms. Shelia Connelly, Kentucky
Ms. Barbara Adams, Pennsylvannia
Ms. Lisa Beumer, Missouri
We extend a heartfelt thank you for your unwavering support. Don't miss out on the 2024 Ladies In The Outdoors calendars, now available at www.ladiesintheoutdoors.com.
It is nothing to see several alligators in the bayous and lakes while swimming or fishing being an outdoorsy woman from Louisiana. Many times, you are counting more than fingers and toes combined will allow! 80% of the year is spent freshwater fishing, deep sea fishing, and bowfishing down in south Louisiana with Ashley and Nick Cheramie (Midnight Blue Bowfishing) who
have quickly become great friends. Once bowfishing season started slowing down and it became alligator season, we received a call from Ashley and Nick asking us to come down and hunt gators. It has always been a topic while at the camp sitting around enjoying a true creole dinner. Of course, it was an immediate “we’re on the way.” We packed the gear and the dogs and hit the road! Ashley cooked one of her amazing meals the night we got there while we planned out our next day. The next morning, we set out looking for alligators and checking hooks. It was a steep learning curve because we had a few on immediately, but nothing huge.
We finally came to a spot thick with water lilies and grass making it unpassable and having to switch boats to access past it. Immediately when coming onto the final spot, we knew we had a gator on, but he was not easy to get to and had bedded himself underneath the flotant. After many attempts, we were unable to get the alligator and almost gave up trying. We were only able to slightly get a hold of his tail, but not his head which we needed. We came up with the idea to attempt to get his tail and try to pull him out that way. At first it didn’t work and bent the push pole. We were afraid that the line would snap, and we would lose him. After one last ditch effort, we pulled backwards with the boat and his tail in hand and finally were able to pull him from the brush. Immediately the gator came up aggressively and I knew I had to get the shot as soon as the chance came. The next time his head came out of the water, I took the only shot I had and got him. We won that battle but still had another ahead of it. How do we load this big ole gator in the tiny boat we swapped to? Three people and a 10ft + gator in a small mud boat was a feat, but we managed it! I could not contain my excitement, especially after the work it took to even get to him. This is a memory that will last a lifetime.
Aside from the “gator excitement,” I am 26 years old and grew up in a small town in Louisiana where you don’t meet a stranger. Growing up, I spent every second outdoors hunting, fishing, rodeoing, and many other outdoor activities. I have my Bachelor of Science in Nursing and am an emergency department/ trauma registered nurse. I am a travel nurse, so I get the opportunity to visit and see many different places as well as hunt some of those areas while on an assignment.
The 9-point buck I harvested in my picture has a lot of sentimental memories for me. I had been archery hunting almost every single day that fall and I never saw this particular buck before. See, my dad had passed away in May that year and he was always my mentor for hunting since I was raised the youngest of 5 older brothers. Me, being the only girl, I was included with the rest of my brothers to learn to hunt. My Dads birthday was always around the first day of rifle season so it was always a big deal in my family.
So, I was sitting in my treestand on the first day of rifle season and about 9:30 am as I'm realizing that tears were coming down my face from missing my dad on what we considered, in our family, a family holiday. I asked out loud for my dad to "please send me a buck!!!" At 9:45 am that day I looked at a group of doe to my left and then decided to look back in front of me and there this buck stood approximately 30 yards broadside!!! I took my shot and he instantly leaped and took 10 steps and got his hoof stuck in a downed log and fell hitting his head against a tree and never moved from there. He had done himself in. I instantly looked to the sky and said "Thank you, Dad, for sending him!" Not only did he send him to me, but also made sure I didn't need to track him or let him suffer. I miss my dad everyday but especially during hunting season when a lot of great stories and memories were made.
I’m a small-town girl from Porum, Oklahoma that didn’t grow up hunting and fishing. I grew up playing every sport my little school offered and it was only about 10 years ago when I was introduced to hunting and fishing and I fell madly in love with it. My passion and desire to be in the woods or wetting a line has only grown immensely each passing day. For me it’s so much more than just harvesting an animal or landing a large fish. It’s hard for one to explain it unless you’ve experienced it yourself. It’s everything that goes into the hunt long before the actual hunt and long after a shot is taken or after the hook-set for me. The harvesting of a beautiful animal is merely the icing on the cake. I’ve been extremely blessed to have harvested many beautiful animals and I’m thankful for all the support and help I’ve had along the way. None of it would have been possible without it. I hope to continue to learn and grow in the sport and never take for granted the freedoms we have here that allow us to be able to do it.