By Laura Walter

Would you rather go kayaking or fly fishing? Take a guided hike or go crossbow hunting? Practice archery or campfire skills?

These activities and more are part of Delaware’s Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program. This October, nearly 60 attendees from about six states camped all weekend at Killens Pond State Park for the 2024 event. DNREC has hosted this for over 20 years, usually in autumn, at a different state park each year.

On Friday afternoon, the women have both their gear and their anticipatory Day 1 smiles as they meet to hike toward their first session.

“They’re really just super-pumped to be outside on a beautiful weekend like this. All our instructors are experts in the field and have just as much fun as the participants,” says Patrick Ruhl, Delaware BOW coordinator.

In the pavilion, instructor Ashley Melvin hands pocket-sized tree guides to the dozen women of her Tree ID program. “You don’t always have to know the answer. Knowing where to find the answer can be more powerful,” Melvin says. The pocket reference guide is perfect since there’s no cell phone service in the woods anyway, jokes one woman.

Nearby, insect expert Ashley Kennedy is showing trays of the critters to her Insect ID group. “Being an entomologist is kind of fun because once you start caring about insects, they’re all around us,” she says. They’re always something to explore.

Some BOW programs teach guests how to benefit directly from nature: survival skills, foraging and fishing. Other programs focus on fauna: birding, waterfowling and pollinators. Even nature hikes have different angles: journaling, painting, geocaching and the peaceful “forest bathing.”

“Everyone can try something that they might not [typically] get to experience, and then they get instructors that are knowledgeable, so they’re not just searching Google and hoping for the best,” said Rob Brennan, a BOW co-coordinator. “It can be daunting getting into something you don’t know, but then you have that hands-on experience, and you realize it’s something you can do. It’s for everybody.”

Mentored hunts and archery are special programs for instructor Mark Ostroski from the Division of Fish and Wildlife. He’s seen everyone from 80-year-olds to young women hitting targets. “It’s exciting to see them excited. And we offer so many things … there’s something here for everyone.”

Down the road, another group is prepping a campfire dinner. They already chopped cilantro, avocado and onions, while ground taco meat sizzled in cast-iron skillets. Soon they’re packing apple slices with brown sugar and butter in tin foil packets to bake for dessert.

“Fire, knives and outdoors!” one woman exclaims. What’s not to like?

It’s fun to run around the woods and beach, trying new activities in a safe setting—and anything seems more doable once you’ve learned it once.

Plus, there’s friendship. Participants often stay in touch, even sending photos from their own hunts to the instructors. And by running around state parks, ponds and wildlife areas, they get a solid knowledge of public lands, so they can continue to use and share these resources into the future.

As the sun fades, the fishing group packs their rods. I still remember asking one woman why she attended the weekend. “When s--- hits the fan,” she said, such skills could help her survive. This felt especially poignant because Hurricane Helene had just ripped through the American south—and it took days to understand the full impact due to downed phone and internet communications. Those people might be using these outdoor survival skills right now, she suggested. That’s a fair point, I said.

We rely a lot on technology and supply chains, but knowledge is power—and it’s empowering to know how to catch your own dinner, or identify which plants are edible or toxic.

Plus, we live on this earth among fish, trees and insects. We see through brighter eyes when we can identify what we’re looking at.

Most U.S. states have hosted their own BOW programs, the goal being “to provide women with the opportunity to learn skills that encourage and enhance participation in outdoor activities, like hunting and shooting sports, fishing and boating, and non-harvest recreational activities.” It’s designed for women, although men may participate.

Watch for Delaware’s 2025 Becoming an Outdoors-Woman info at dnrec.delaware.gov/fish-wildlife/education-outreach.

Bay to the Beach: Byways is an opinion column in which we explore interesting places and projects on the Delmarva Peninsula. Videos and more photos at baytobaynews.com/bay-to-the-beach-byways