How do I make my girlfriend an outdoor woman?

[Ely Lake Expert]

Ladies I need your help here.

My girlfriend is a complete city girl. She doesn't really have any interest in the outdoors and I am trying to change that. The farthest I have gotten is getting her to ride on and drive my fourwheeler a little bit and go for a walk on the ice last winter. She said she will come out in the boat only if I keep any fish far away and out of her sight. I want her to try the things I enjoy but I'm not being very successful.

Any advice?

[Redlantern]

Get a new girlfriend or accept her as she is. Reverse the situation. She wants you to enjoy going shopping for shoes and spending time with her friends watching Grey's Anatomy. Ain't gonna happen. As long as she doesn't mind you spending some time doing your thing, you got a good situation.

[goblueM]

+1

if you must, try just having her go along in the boat and read a book or something. create fun situations. i definitely have alienated girls by pressuring them to do well fishing, rather than just back off and let them have fun however they want

she'll either learn to like the outdoors, or you'll get to have a hobby where you can get away

[Rippinlip]

No pressure on her is the best solution.

My wife was far from a outdoorsy type, but she started like you just explained, and I never forced the issue.

Let her grow at her own pace into the outdoors and it may or may not happen.

If you want to be with her, like her for who she is and you never know what will happen.

Low and behold my wife now owns her own wheeler, schedules out Mille Lacs Ice fishing trips and started Bow hunting last year.

Am I blessed? You darn right, but I never forced the issue and it all came together.

Forgot to add, my wife is also a member on here now.

Have your lady check this site out.

If she would not have enjoyed the outdoors to this point, I would still be with her and enjoying it.

[waterfowler10]

My girlfriend was the same way when I met her she came with me to G Mtn one time and saw the pink remington shotguns so of course she had to have it, so I said if I got it for her she had to come shooting with me, she agreed and she ended up liking it now she has a pink camo bow, a pink fishing rod, and a pink ice fishing pole and she likes coming fishing and hunting with me when the weathers nice, she got her first deer two years ago and caught her first mounter walleye on the river this spring, now the mounts are slowly making there way upstairs from the basement lol

[FishinChic1]

I'm with Red Lantern on this one.

Don't force her into anything. You probably already knew she didn't like outdoorsy things when you met her and you still chose to become her boyfriend, so don't complain that she doesn't want to fish with you!

But also, if she really doesn't want to do that stuff with you, she needs to still let you go and do it with the guys. So don't let her make you feel bad that you go and she doesn't, because it's her choice not to. It's who you are, and you need to do it for you.

Either find a girl who is outdoorsy or deal with the one you have not wanting to do that stuff. You'll either gain new experiences with her in the city, or you'll be miserable because she can't share your passion. Maybe she'll come around, but that's a gamble that you have to take.

[gundy89]

My wife is from the country but she's definitely a city girl too. I don't mind it at all becuase it gives me some alone time. She does come out in the boat with me on occasion. If you do want her to come along. I would get her a nice pink rod, and either fish some sunnies or drown some suckers on a hot sunny day. My wife loves to sit in the sun and read a magazine so she'll drag a sucker in the back of the boat while I cast for muskies. We'll have a conversation and I have some someone to take pictures and net fish. She mentioned this winter that she wanted to sit in the deer stand this fall. We'll see if anything comes of it. I'm not going to hold my breath or push her along though.

[Ed Carlson]

Encourage her to come along and hang out. She may not like fishing at this point but the nature part may be to here liking...it may grow on her..ya never know..or not...but she will just as likely let you know one way or another.

Try a underwater camera out on here once, she may find the connection there to get things rolling on the fishing thing?

Who knows, maybe she is just into running the boat, sun tanning and/or reading a book...let her find out what works for her.

If nothing does in the end, well.... you gave it a try, and she should appreciate the effort none the less.

[sdpikehntr]

All I can say is, Good Luck. I must say I have not had any issues like this personally, as my wife likes to hunt and camp just as much as I do. I do however, have a buddy with this conflict, they are starting to enjoy each others activities, only because they want to spend the time together. They found that it doesn't matter what they are doing as long as they are in each other company, but... it is give and take, not all one sided.

[jeffreyd]

while my wife wears the pants, tells me what we are watching on the set, what time i am going to bed, and the list goes on, i am still the boss of the house when i am with my buddies. now with that in mind, if you can agree to these terms, you will have a long relationship. what if you just invite her to go boating, no fishing, just cruise the lake, and then after you make a loop tell you you might as well troll while cruising. this will open the door. good luck, nothing like breaking in a new women to the rules of manlife. of course you know there is only one set of rules, hers. good luck.

[FishinChic1]

I find it funny that I'm the only woman that has replied lol.

From a woman's perspective, she'll do it if and when she wants to, so if you invite her to do anything at all and she says no, don't take it personally, and respect the fact that she just isn't into it all. Force anything on a woman and you will face her wrath! Not cool. I guess it depends on both of your ages. Being in my mid/late 20s, I can tell you that we're stubborn and pretty set in our ways right now. I think women get a little more flexible when they're getting older and don't care as much what other people think because they already have plenty of life experience...

I'm curious what other women think!

[jeffreyd]

my wife is getting meaner as she gets older, maybe i got a dud, lol. one thing about it she lets me go and do what i want for up to an hour each day. so when i get home i need to start laundry, cleaning, and cooking. but i cant miss my stories at 12. wait that just sounds wrong.

[sdpikehntr]

so when i get home i need to start laundry, cleaning, and cooking. but i cant miss my stories at 12. wait that just sounds wrong.

Sounds like you need to draw a wage for maid service. Then it wouldn't sound so wrong.

[jeffreyd]

well i do i get my allowance of 20.00 per week and if i turn in my receipts i get to keep any left over.

[Musky hunter 82]

I'm truly blessed as well, my wife liked to fish when I met her but really didn't hunt at all. I took her bow hunting one fall she went to a stand with a camera so she could take pictures, and I went to a different one to hunt. I'll never forget the look on her face when i came to get her. She was smilling so big, and when i asked her what happened, she said a spike buck walked right under the stand and didn't even know she was there. Now she goes deer hunting every year with her trusty 30/30. The only bad thing is that her first two years she shot bigger bucks then I did. But I wouldn't change a thing.

[SkunkedAgain]

You can mod your car/boat/ice shack but you shouldn't attempt that with your mate. Either embrace who they are or find someone else. It's really that simple. The root of many relationship problems is one or both parties believing that they can mold the other person into something that they are not. Sometimes the differences are what make the bond stronger.

[HugoBox]

My wife loved to fish and would grouse hunt with me as well when we first started dating many years ago. No between kids and the regular family grind she doesn't much care if she gets out. That said, she knows that I get a little squirrely if I don't get my fix of time on the water. I've adapted as well though, since we have kids I fish a lot more at night after everyone is in bed- that way I can still do the regualr family stuff. I guess my point is, whether she wants to do the same stuff as you or not is up to her. But... make sure that you are still able to do the stuff you want.

[mrklean]

right when you put make her into something is where you started off bad. I have found you cant make them into anything unless they want to. Like someone said before go to cabelas, or gander or someplace like that and make sure she sees the more feminime stuff that usually sparks an interest then just work from there my gf deer hunts and loves it but she is just starting to like fishing, i had to buy her a pink pole first but its always a work in progress

[goblueM]

and here i was thinking that pink guns and fishing rods might possibly be offensive to outdoors women

[FishinChic1]

Nope, I have two pink shakespeare poles, and a pink laminate stock Ruger 10/22 with a black barrel. It's sexy! We can still be girlie and love the outdoors! It puts a special flare into the sports! And the guys at the range think my gun is awesome lol.

[Lisa Almquist]

Another pink lover??!! Could it be??!! Yay!! I really really really want one of these:

I already have a St. Croix Legend but it isn't as pretty as these!

Quote:

Either embrace who they are or find someone else. It's really that simple.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I really wasn't much of a fisherchick when I met my husband. Not that I was adverse to fishing, it was because my family wasn't into it at all. I've learned a lot from him and really enjoy fishing with him.

[4WheelinMama]

When I met my husband (Rippinlip) I wasn't an outdoor person. He likes to fish and has hunted ever since I met him. I never thought I could even think about killing an animal and my hubby said he would never push me into hunting. Then a couple years ago he was doing 3D shoots and that seemed interesting and he said I should go to Cabelas and just try and shoot a bow and see how I liked it, we went down the next day and bought a bow. I started doing the 3D shoots and love shooting my bow and doing those shoots. Then last year I decided to take my try at bowhunting and I Love it and am planning on going back out this fall. Partly because I shot and missed like 2 deer and am determined to get one this year and because I LOVE IT!!! We also got a couple 4 wheelers and love to go 4 wheeling and camping. I'm glad that I have been trying new things and can now consider myself an outdoor person. I think that if my hubby would have pushed me into these things I may not have enjoyed doing them. Be patient she may come around and want to try the things you like to do.

[NETim]

Very early on I innocently started up a slide show of previous trips to Lake of The Woods at my parents' house. All those beautiful Kodachrome reds and azure blue skies on the screen were too much to resist I guess.

heheheheheheheh

The downside of course, was that in no time at all, she started kicking my butt.

First to catch a 48" muskie, first to catch a 40"+ pike, first with 18"+ smallie and first with 25"+ walleye.

However, it's very much worth it. She understands the importance of fast, pretty boats.

[Lisa Almquist]

Quote:

The downside of course, was that in no time at all, she started kicking my butt.

Quote:

However, it's very much worth it. She understands the importance of fast, pretty boats. smile

These two statements are cracking me up! Too funny!

Like 4wheelinmama says, just be patient. If she wants to go out with you great! If not, at least you can say you didn't try.

[Erin_Meyer]

This one's easy, it's all there for you. My wife was timid about the outdoors too, but after 9 years she can't wait to go. It started with fishing, just go to a lake with lots of fish, you have to treat them like kids keep them intrested! It didn't take long and i got a picture of her kissing a northern! After a few years deer hunting she finally got an 8 point buck last year, droped it dead. But she won't set foot on the ice, well i can't have it all.

[shizzy]

the best thing to do is let her know there is an open invitation to come along anytime you go out. even if its just to tag along, read a book or whatever. I did this with my wife. she can hop in the boat anytime she wants, no questions.

I have been with my wife for about 5 years and just over the last year or so she has started to come out in the boat more and she even came out to visit me on the ice a few times. This spring I finally got her to toss a bobber in and she was thrilled to catch some sunnies.

keep it easy and mellow and let her decide her involvment.