Ready to take that newcomer hunting? Rather than re-live the sitcom that was my first hunt – and that’s not counting my bad shooting – try the suggestions I outline in this video to ensure success and cultivate a new hunting partner. Remember, everything is unfamiliar to your new recruit, so don’t presume they will come prepared, mentally, logistically, or emotionally. And it’s up to you to manage expectations – for shooting skills, “luck,” and even the weather. Keep things upbeat, and celebrate every aspect of the hunt, not just a full game bag. Good luck, and thanks for taking a newcomer hunting!

https://youtu.be/_hcC6GIufCA

Join the +ONE Movement

From small game and upland birds to big game, waterfowl and even the creatures that define the term “top of the food chain,” hunting offers a priceless bond with the natural world, food for the table and a welcome respite from the world’s daily grind. One hunt can be all it takes to create a new hunter for life. With your help, we can recruit the next generation of hunters and shooters and grow America’s hunting heritage like never before. Join the +ONE Movement and invite a friend on your next hunt. Share your passion with posts on social media with #PlusOneMovement and #LetsGoHunting.

As an experienced bird hunter, you know there is much more to a successful day than a full game bag. And when you’re helping a newcomer become a hunter, sometimes it’s all that other stuff that becomes most important. Not everyone is a crack shot like you (hah!). And each new hunter has their own priorities for what makes a fantastic day afield. So when you’re working with a new hunter, don’t forget to talk about all that other stuff: share photos, tell stories, talk strategy and tactics, describe the terrain and scenery. Okay, then brag on your dog. Sometimes, it’s about gathering wild food, heart-pounding excitement, or quality time with friends and family. Whatever it might be, give your newbie plenty of reasons to go hunting with you … besides a heavy vest. Watch the video, then share all aspects of a hunting trip with your new hunter.

https://youtu.be/Xm2Szonc_U8

 

Join the +ONE Movement

One hunt can be all it takes to create a new hunter for life. With your help, we can recruit the next generation of hunters and shooters and grow America’s hunting heritage like never before. Join the +ONE Movement and invite a friend on your next hunt. Share your passion with posts on social media with #PlusOneMovement and #LetsGoHunting.

Do you have a desire to learn how to source your own protein? Have you always wanted to learn more about hunting but weren’t sure who to ask? Would you like to introduce others to the many benefits of hunting while also helping to ensure the future of hunting? If you answered yes to any of these questions, or if you are just curious about the Field to Fork program, then we invite to you learn more about the program and how you can get involved! For more information on Field to Fork, or if you are interested in replicating or participating, email Hank Forester. https://youtu.be/PS1td3Wgfrw QDMA’s Field to Fork is a food-focused hunter recruitment program for adults from non-hunting backgrounds piloted in Athens, Georgia in 2016 by QDMA Hunting Heritage Programs Manager Hank Forester and Charles S. Evans, the Georgia R3 Coordinator with the Georgia Wildlife Federation. Hinging on a unique approach involving recruitment at a local farmer’s market, visitors were asked if they wanted to sample from a spread of venison sausage, grilled backstrap or venison jerky, and they were provided with a handout titled “Why Should You Hunt Deer?” They were then offered the chance to participate in a season-long mentored hunting program that would teach them how to hunt and acquire a wild, healthy, local, sustainable source of food on their own. Learn more about Field to fork here: https://www.letsgohunting.org/articles/can-a-piece-of-grilled-backstrap-save-hunting/

By Scott Linden New hunters are the future of conservation, and many of you are embracing the concept of finding and helping them. Keep up the good work! But you also love watching your dog. It’s why you go hunting. Bird dogs work hard, are beautiful to watch, and boy, the adrenaline rush when the bird gets up!

https://youtu.be/bwl3XNJZ-tc

If you’re a bird hunter, you probably will never forget that first point or flush. Odds are, it’s what made you into a hunter. But did you ever think of your dog as a way to recruit new hunters? Inviting a friend to help you train your dog is a fun, convenient, safe way to introduce the magic of dogs — and hunting — to a newcomer. Watch the video to find out how and why — and while you’re at it, take the +ONE Pledge today and introduce someone new to hunting. You May also be interested in: https://www.letsgohunting.org/articles/5-things-to-look-for-in-a-hunting-dog/

By Josh Honeycutt It’s no secret, our hunting heritage is in trouble. According to the National Survey of Hunting, Fishing, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, for most of the past decade, hunter numbers have declined significantly. Fortunately, there are many organizations working to help reverse this detrimental trend—and who have taken the message of NSSF’s +ONE^SM Movement mentoring initiative to heart. The NSSF^®, the trade association for the firearm industry, launched the +ONE Movement in 2019. Designed to encourage seasoned, experienced target shooters and hunters to extend an invitation to someone new—especially those people who have never handled a firearm, gone hunting and, most importantly, don’t come from families or communities where these pastimes are handed down from one generation to another. NSSF research has shown that there are millions—really, millions—of people who want to learn about firearms, target shooting and hunting but don’t know where to turn to start that journey. The +ONE Movement works to make that connection. The +ONE message resonated with those in conservation and anxious to invigorate their R3 (recruitment, retention and reactivation) efforts. Here are the stories of just a few of those organizations and how they’re finding new R3 success.

National Wild Turkey Federation

Located in Edgefield, South Carolina, the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) Hunting Heritage Center is over 700 acres of R3 activity, with its Outdoor Education Center’s premier forestry and wildlife habitat used for deer, turkey and small game mentored hunts, as well as learn-to-hunt programs. The Palmetto Shooting Complex is also used to help create hunters via its sporting clays, trap, skeet and 3D archery courses. “The Palmetto Shooting Complex is an outlet to reach those who are shooting enthusiasts but who may not hunt,” said Travis Sumner, NWTF’s Hunting Heritage Center and habitat manager. “Our Winchester Museum is also used as an outlet. Through our tours there, we are able to reach those who are interested in hunting.” [caption id="attachment_3531" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Travis Sumner helps a new hunter during an NWTF dove hunt.[/caption] NWTF also partners with the U.S. Forest Service, South Carolina Forestry Commission, American Forest Management and other groups to conduct hunts. Last year, NWTF helped conduct 17 hunts reaching hundreds of participants, while the Winchester museum hosted thousands of guests and the Palmetto Shooting Complex entertained tens of thousands of shooters. NWTF also touts an established landowner program with 18 private properties used to conduct R3 hunts and events. “For those of us who are seasoned hunters, we need to be aware that what we have enjoyed for years is in danger,” said Sumner. “We all need to get involved, and we offer opportunities for hunters to become mentors, including a yearly mentor workshop for those individuals who would like to help with these hunt programs.”

Mule Deer Foundation

Like other non-profits, the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) runs a series of R3 programs, but it really shines with the M.U.L.E.Y. (Mindful, Understanding, Legal, Ethical, Youth) Program. “The program was created to help reverse declining hunter trends by actively engaging youth in a variety of hunting and shooting sports activities, while also teaching conservation principles, safety and ethics through mentored, hands-on experiences,” says Jared Hinton, MDF’s Outreach Coordinator and Conservation Partner Liaison. [caption id="attachment_3533" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Volunteers help run one of the M.U.L.E.Y. trailers.[/caption] According to Hinton, the M.U.L.E.Y. program trailers serve an average of 20,000 youth per year. With these, coordinators and volunteers emphasize safe handling of bows and guns. Youth received reinforced lessons by practicing on an actual range. They also learn the basics of ethical, responsible hunting, with a focus on conservation. MDF encourages potential mentors to work with local chapters.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

Located in Missoula, Montana, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) uses its Visitor Center and museum next to the administrative office building as an opportunity to educate both existing and new hunters. “Our Elk Country Visitor Center receives over 44,000 visitors per year,” says RMEF Hunting Heritage Program Manager Bruce Rich. “Nearly 5,000 of those are in hosted monthly Hunting Heritage and Conservation Outreach programs or in formal tours for schools, daycares, summer camps and other groups.” These programs are focused on not only creating new hunters but also communities of hunters who can help serve one another once recruited. [caption id="attachment_3532" align="aligncenter" width="650"] A look at the RMEF facility helping to create new hunters.[/caption] RMEF also partners with other organizations and facilities and contributes about $1.3 million per year to promote the shooting sports, hunter education, hunter advocacy and outreach, mentored hunts, outdoor skills instruction and natural resource education in sponsoring approximately 400 Hunting Heritage and Conservation Outreach programs per year. This program reaches more than 220,000 people annually at facilities across the country. “Connect with a local RMEF chapter to learn more about what they have going on and opportunities to help out with a volunteer project,” Rich says. “Ensuring the future of our hunting heritage is a crucial part of RMEF’s work.”

Ducks Unlimited

Ducks Unlimited (DU) is well-known for hosting youth hunts, Green Wing Days and other programs to introduce kids to the outdoors. Interestingly, it’s now focusing significant efforts at the high school and collegiate levels. It has 54 collegiate DU Varsity chapters across the country. Those members are helping to spread the hunting heritage message to their peers — all in the name of recruitment, retention and reactivation. [caption id="attachment_3534" align="aligncenter" width="650"] More than 200 students from 54 chapters attended the 2019 Third Term summit.[/caption] Part of this program includes Third Term, a college leadership summit that focuses on collegiate DU chapters. Gathering students from across the country, Third Term was started in 1984. “We use our headquarters to bring in hundreds of students from across the country,” says Mark Horobetz, DU Manager of Youth and Education Programs. “This symposium includes an R3 breakout. It’s a social event, but they bring in all walks of life — people who’ve hunted and people who haven’t.” These breakouts share insight on ways attendees can reach potential hunters, how to approach them, and methods for retaining them one recruited. “These students collaborate together to introduce new hunters to the outdoors,” Horobetz says. “ We have volunteers who come and help.” Once back at their respective colleges, these young adults work to share hunting with other students on campus.

Powderhook

While the above use their physical facilities to critical effect in their R3 efforts, Powderhook went online. Co-Founder and CEO Eric Dinger says it’s a purpose-built app that helps new hunters get started by making local experts available to answer their questions. “Powderhook makes available thousands of local groups and events,” Dinger says. “Our local experts program capitalizes on local, current information only someone in an individual's region might know. It's easy to read about ‘where to place the shot’ on the internet, but much more difficult to figure out when to take that day off of work to time the rut or which person at the local [hunting store] knows their stuff.” Thousands of people use the app to jumpstart their journey as hunters. It’s free, and there are experts in every state ready to help those in need. According to Dinger, it’s one of the only apps on the market that’s solely dedicated to helping create more outdoor participants. “Existing hunters can become local experts on Powderhook and offer their wisdom and experience to the people seeking it in the app,” Dinger says. For existing hunters, serving as mentors goes a long way towards reversing the decline in hunter numbers. Teach new hunters until they are ready to embark on this journey alone. Then, they’ll be prepared to serve as a mentor, too, and pass hunting on down the line.

President Donald Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), H.R. 1957 into law. This historic federal law is among the most meaningful legislative measures for sportsmen conservationists ever.

https://youtu.be/GTGVHnckmXo

The GAOA is a leap forward to delivering on the promise of sustained wildlife conservation, public land hunting and recreational shooting for current and future generations of outdoorsmen and women. The bipartisan legislation ensures full, dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and addresses the maintenance backlog of public lands and water projects across the United States. Those projects include wildlife habitat conservation, road and trail repairs and increased recreational access to our public lands and waters. The GAOA provides $9.5 billion over five years for deferred federal public lands and waters maintenance projects, with $3 billion set aside for infrastructure restoration on hundreds of millions of acres for increased access for America’s sportsmen and women. The Great American Outdoors Act also provides $900 million annually for permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The legislation also ensures that a significant portion of LWCF funding is dedicated to increasing public access for hunting, recreational shooting, fishing and outdoor recreation. Sportsmen and women play a critical conservation role in the nation’s wildlife resources and to date, hunters and purchasers of firearms and ammunition, collectively, are the single largest source of wildlife conservation funding, contributing more than $13 billion since the enactment of the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act.