Lots of outdoorsmen find out too late in life that the wife they chose wasn’t prepared for the lifestyle that they love to lead. If the woodsman had only let their brides know firsthand what kind of man in which they were getting involved, then many marriages, doomed from the beginning, could have quite possibly saved.

Most outdoorsmen pride themselves in being able to provide meat for the table, while flaunting their plumage early in their juvenile years, but unfortunately when that lifestyle becomes common in the every day life of the female, rumors revile that she will usually look for greener pastures- seeking a more suitable mate.

The female will still seek a dominant counterpart that will hunt, gather and provide even though she has assumed the matriarch position in the relationship. But in the outdoor world, according to all us guys, it’s still all good.

What guy doesn’t like a gal who will take charge when it comes to gutting a deer or cleaning a mess of fish? What does a good old-fashioned country gal, or city gal have to do to land a feller like me or someone like me?  

I have compiled a partial list containing a few requirements of what any female should apply to insure a healthy and long lasting relationship with any typical fisherman, hunter, trapper or any type of outdoorsman that falls within one of these categories.

First of all, the bride-to-be doesn’t have to be pretty, as beauty is only skin deep and all of us know that ugly goes clean to the bone. Pretty is definitely a plus when having a photo taken with a trophy buck or a tournament winning bass, but when you return home and it comes time for the skinning, it really doesn’t matter what you look like as long as you know your cuts of meat and you can whet a knife that will split hairs.

A woman who doesn’t mind the aroma of venison cooking throughout the house seven months out of the year is an added bonus, and more so, if she is the one doing the cooking.

Most hunters will agree that very few things are more attractive than a lady dressed from head to toe any time during the day in Real Tree or Mossy Oak camouflage, and those women who can incorporate this into their wardrobe during a formal outing will win the hearts of more suitors than they can accommodate.

A woman dressed in rubber boots, backwards ball cap, Carhart hunting vest leaning against a scaly bark hickory with a double barrel twenty under her arm early in squirrel season is a beautiful sight to behold. A woman who thinks Hoppe’s number nine powder solvent smells just as good used as a cologne as it does in the gun cabinet, will find marital bliss with her new trail companion.

Finding a lady who has come from a family of outdoorsmen is definitely a plus, especially those who have inherited their father’s fishing equipment. There is nothing more rewarding than not only having a completely stocked tackle box of your own, but to have an additional tackle box filled with antique plugs and trout flies that are worth more than the house you and your new bride recently purchased.

The perfect bride would not hesitate to hold the opposite end of a deer while you were carving away the back strips, nor would she delay to tell you to step out of her way whilst she did the carving.

The perfect bride would wade waist deep in the creek along with you and jump ahead to take the frog you had spotted only to add to her bragging rights at the end of the night. The perfect bride would become just as excited as you would be with a “get in free” coupon to the upcoming gun show. The perfect bride would sit along side you and your companions at deer camp and not feel unwelcomed or out of place, and she would also bring valuable conversations and insights to the table about the past as well as future hunts.

The perfect bride would marvel at the sporting catalogs that seem to pile up in the living room rather than toss them away with yesterday’s garbage.

Last but not least, the perfect outdoor bride would not walk in front of you nor follow behind you, but walk beside you hand in hand as the two of you journey into the vast unknown wilderness as one.  

As you grow old together, you will collect a lifetime of memories that both will reflect upon when silver has taken the place of gold and youth has given way to time.  Good luck and happy hunting.  

God Bless America and join the NRA.