Here are some ideas on how to get involved and doing your part to contribute to the future of bowhunting in America.
Mentor Someone New
Mentor a new hunter and share your skills and advice. If you’re passionate about bowhunting and practice safe, legal tactics, you can introduce others to the sport by becoming a mentor. Taking new people bowhunting is a fun, rewarding and sustainable way to keep hunting relevant. Plus, you’re creating the next generation of bowhunters who can keep the tradition alive. State Wildlife and Fish & Game Departments hold hunts for youth as well as for people who have never hunted.
Volunteer For Habitat Work
If you care about the future of hunting, you can make a difference through hands-on habitat work. Volunteer to clean up public lands, plant native species, remove invasive species or work on other outdoor-related improvement projects, like wetland restoration or prescribed burns. Connect with your state wildlife agency or conservation organizations and learn about nearby opportunities.
Participate in a Conservation Fundraiser
If you want to get something in return when you give, look for a fundraiser that gives the proceeds to conservation programs or projects. For example, the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) hosts numerous Conservation Cup Golf Scrambles across the country. People pay to play, and the funds funnel into habitat restoration projects. Look for similar opportunities, including State sponsored fun runs and food fundraisers that benefit the outdoors.
Help a Child
Children rely on adults to make decisions and buy hunting-related items. If you know a child who comes from a nonhunting background but is interested in hunting, offer to sponsor, or help them. Give the guardian funds or pay for the child’s hunter safety course, hunting clothes, license or hunting equipment. Alternatively, many State Wildlife Agencies, like the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources, allow people to sponsor a child interested in attending the department’s Conservation Camps and other events. Look for these opportunities near you.
Attend a Wildlife Organization Banquet
Conservation organizations like State Bowhunting & Archery Associations, the NWTF, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation or National Deer Alliance have annual events and banquets. Proceeds from ticket sales, raffles and auction items are put toward hunting and conservation efforts. Attend these events for a fun evening or weekend outing while supporting your favorite pastime.
Positively Represent Hunting
Only 4% of the American population hunts, meaning the other 96% actively or casually watch, analyze and critique what hunters do at home and in the field. Represent hunting positively when you are Online and in person.
Abide by Hunting Rules and Be Courteous
Poachers put most hunters in a negative light. Always follow all hunting rules and regulations and do your part to ensure the public sees hunters acting responsibly. Be mindful of the impression you leave with others. It will impact the future of hunting.
Support Other Hunters
Whether someone hunts with a gun or a bow or one time or hundreds of times, they’re still a hunter. If other people participate legally, acknowledge, and support them. We’re all in this together.
Educate Nonhunters
You might know how hunters give back to — and get involved with — conservation, but your nonhunting peers might not. Spark a conversation and share all the ways hunting is good for wildlife and the environment.
Encourage Nonhunters to Support Hunting
Don’t stop there. After informing nonhunters about hunting’s benefits, ask and encourage them to support hunting. We need their support, approval, and votes from the nonhunting community if we want to continue hunting.
We are all about helping the future of bowhunting at Bushmen Safaris and have been archery only since 1986. Contact Dani Anderson-Baker at [email protected] or call 208.322.5902 to learn more about the bowhunting opportunities at Bushmen Safaris.
Portions of this article originally appeared on the Bowhunting.net website