Hunting and Angling Heritage Work Group

[CouesWhitetail]

For the last couple years I have been involved in the Hunting and Angling Heritage Work Group. This is a group of sportsmen, conservation groups, outdoor-related businesses and AGFD that have come together to focus on ways to promote hunting and fishing and outdoor activities in Arizona. The hope is to keep the hunting/fishing tradition alive well into the future.

 

This past Saturday and Sunday we had our winter meeting up at the Horseshoe ranch (an AGFD property north of Phx south of Camp Verde). The HAHWG holds meetings twice a year and these two day meetings are designed to help provide the tools needed for outdoor groups to grow and to find ways to reach people that are not yet connected to the outdoors. This is the group that prompted me to create the women's javelina hunting camp that focuses on getting adult women a chance to learn how to hunt.

 

The first day of the meeting was held in an open barn and it was VERY windy and cold!! In fact, I got so cold I had to sit there with my sleeping bag over me to stay warm enough or else I would have had to jog in place just to stay warm (which I did until I remembered my sleeping bag!). You know it's cold when a bunch of outdoorsmen are shivering during the meeting! I felt bad for the presenters who showed up in nice (but not warm) clothes to share their information with the group. But the wind died down about 8 pm and made for a very nice evening around the campfire.

 

The wind was so strong that we had to hold our plates down while enjoying the evening meal after the first day of the meeting.

 

Craig McMullen and Doug Burt of the AGFD have poured a ton of time and passion into making this working group very productive. I encourage anyone who is interested in helping to promote the future of hunting and angling to get involved with this group. Most of the sportsmens groups are members of this working group. During this recent meeting we learned more about marketing and promoting an intangible product such as the amazing experience of getting outside and hunting. Much of our time in the working group is focused on improving the many youth and adult hunting camps that are conducted by the sportsmens groups so that we are maximizing our time and being as effective as we can be with the limited volunteers and financial resources we have.

 

I find these meetings to be encouraging and depressing at the same time. We discuss threats to the future in hunting, the drop in ranks of hunters and yet we also find ways to help encourage participation in the outdoors. There are many fine people involved in this pursuit and I find it uplifting to know that these people are giving of themselves for the future of hunting.

 

Yuma Valley Rod and Gun Club provided all the food for this meeting (with a grant from the WCC license plate tag fund)and WOW was it good!! Tri-tip steak over the grill and some phenomenal deserts (decadent chocolate cake and cheesecake were my favorites) were the highlights.

 

Many thanks to the Yuma guys!!! I just can't say enough about how great the food was. They served a perfect breakfast on Sunday morning with eggs, biscuits and gravy and bacon. Yummy!

 

 

 

I didn't take many pictures this weekend, but I hope that others who attended and who frequent this forum will add their pics. Steve Clark was there and I think he took lots of pics, so maybe he will share....

 

I encourage you all to think about what you are doing to expand the number of hunters/fishers in Arizona. Take a non-hunter hunting or fishing soon! or volunteer to help at the many fine hunting camps that are offered in this state. And think about joining the HAHWG to learn more about what you can do to reach out to non-hunters and as they say at the meeting...make sure those non-hunters are at the very least on the "positive side of neutral" when it comes to hunting issues.

 

If you want to get involved in this group email Doug Burt with AGFD, DBurt@azgfd.gov He will add you to the groups mailing list and let you know the details for our next meeting which will be at the end of June/early July.

[elkaholic]

Thank you Amanda- For bringing this group HAHWAG to the attention of the members here on cwt. hopefully it will make its way accross all the sites! It's what we need more of here in Arizona to continue a hunting/ fishing heritage. Hats off to all those traveled near and far, to braved the elements for a great cause .

[rthrbhntng]

Here is a link from Ben, a blogger, to his blog and article on the HAHWG meeting. It is always a good feeling to participate in these meetings with groups that have the interest and willingness to introduce kids and newcomers to hunting, fishing, trapping and the outdoors. We can turn the tide!

 

AZWANDERINGS