We joined the world in celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) earlier this year by shining a spotlight on women in the outdoors and those who make it a better place for all. We shared the stories and words of advice and encouragement of leaders, role models, mentors, mothers, sisters, and daughters to uplift and empower all the women who share the outdoors. We have met and gotten to know many more incredible women since March 2022, and we simply couldn’t wait until IWD 2023 to introduce you to more Women in the Outdoors! One of the women we are proud to call our friend at Savage is Ruth Soucie. This is her story!

Ruth Soucie

I am co-owner of Midwest Precision Shooting, a Match Director, a member of the NRL22 national advisory board, competitive shooter, and the host of the NRL22 podcast.   

My advice to women in the outdoors is to keep knocking on doors, getting involved, and finding advocates in your sport of choice.  The men and women in the shooting community have all been fantastically supportive and have really become like family.  The bullet always tells the truth- it doesn't matter your age, your gender, or race and people in this industry respect that.  They are intrigued by women who can show up and out shoot the men and have been wildly supportive in my experience. Don't be afraid to ask questions or for advice.  Find a community of other ladies in the sport and if you don't have one, CREATE one by encouraging other women to get involved!

I absolutely love teaching other women how to get started with competitive precision rimfire rifle competition. My favorite thing has been encouraging and teaching other women the language of the sport, making them more comfortable and confident showing up at matches.  Hearing their success stories motivates me to keep going on my personal journey. 

Recently a female shooter mentioned she saw me win a match she was attending as a spectator and it inspired her to start shooting.  That is HUGE for me.  I love seeing more and more ladies involved in the sport.  My proudest moment in competition was my first big match win- taking first place in my first big match after jumping from Ladies into the Open class was an incredible feeling.  I know women can get out and finish in the top spots at matches and I wanted to prove it.  Being able to do that so quickly was really exciting. 

Women in the outdoor industry face a lot of challenges in terms of some marketing which is still aimed purely at men.  We are out here looking for products too and while "sex sells" for your male audience, it's not selling ME on your products.  I sense a major change in the industry in the last several years but a few groups are still a little behind the times in that area.  Products also seem to be designed around the average size of men.  Length of pull and grip size are two things that a lot of chassis/stocks have issues with in terms of fitting youth or female shooters.  I am hoping to see that change soon as well.  It's much easier for a larger person to adapt to a setup that is too short or too small versus someone adapting to a setup that is too large for them.  I have spoken with several vendors about these issues and tried to point the issues out and explain what I see when coaching and teaching women and youth and helping get their rifles properly fitted for them. 

Also, bathrooms!  We joke sometimes about there being a "ladies class" specifically for matches where there aren't enough or adequate bathrooms for women.  It's much harder to perform well at an all-day match when you aren't properly hydrated which means you're going to have to go sooner or later.  I have seen a lot of progress in this area as well and have spoken out about the issue to other match directors many times to educate on the challenges of being a female in a field match without adequate bathrooms.  The last thing we want to do is pop a squat in a field full of men with no tree coverage!

Follow Ruth Soucie:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruth.a.soucie/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruth.soucie/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ruthsoucie
• Podcast Link: https://soundcloud.com/nrl22/
• Business Page: www.midwestprecisionshooting.com 

Read more Women in the Outdoors stories!