As the leaves change colors and we check over our hunting gear, ripe with excitement, it's hard to imagine that our hunting heritage might ever be in danger. However, the reality of world politics keeps intruding into our autumn dream of changing leaves, crisp breezes and big bucks. Many current hunters are aging out of the sport, and there aren't enough new hunters to take their places. That's why the NRA and the First Hunt Foundation (FHF) have just teamed up with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), joining forces to save the future of this sport ... and our uniquely American way of life.
Oh yes, people absolutely do hunt in other parts of the world. However, America is pretty much the only place where hunting is the sport of "the common man" (which of course includes women). In Europe and Asia, hunting is for the wealthy and privileged. In the United States, our public lands and public hunting opportunities are for the public ... but that doesn't mean that there isn't a powerful contingent of people and organizations who wish it were otherwise.
Those forces can be best countered by American voters who understand how important hunting is to us as people and to our land as a complete ecosystem. That's where what we here at the NRA call "the R3s" come in: Recruitment, retention and reactivation. That means bringing in new hunters, keeping existing hunters, and even bringing back hunters who have walked away from the sport.
FHF believes that, too. Having mentored hunting experiences can create a permanent desire for youth and other interested persons to start hunting as a part of their culture. FHF is working to establish mentors and chapters throughout every state in the United States, and eventually every province in Canada. First Hunt Foundation believes that the NRA can help them recruit mentors and raise awareness much further and faster than FHF could do on its own. And, in turn, the NRA believes FHF’s programs are the best hope for saving hunting. That's how memoranda of understanding are born!
FHF President Rick Brazell says, “We have worked closely with the NRA Hunters Leadership Forum in the past and together we developed the nation’s first online mentor training course (The ABC’s of Outdoor Mentoring) and they also helped us establish the Hunting Heritage Endowment which is managed by the Midway USA Foundation (Hunting Heritage Endowment). It just made sense to have a more formal relationship showing we are all in this together. I’m excited to see where this might take us.”
Peter Churchbourne, Managing Director or the Hunters’ Leadership Forum relates, “The United States is losing hunters at an alarming pace, and the most effective organization that is producing new hunters year after year is the First Hunt Foundation. They are doing it better, more efficiently, and in larger numbers than anyone else in the country. For HLF’s Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation programs, there is no better investment than the First Hunt Foundation.”
When two powerful organizations work together, it gives us hope our hunting heritage will stand the test of time. FHF and the NRA know we cannot do it alone and applaud all those engaged in the R3 effort. More gets done when everyone works together.
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