Along my career path, I was privileged to meet and befriend two people who are considered icons in the Conservation Industry -- Dan Cabela and Shane Mahoney. These men have influenced me, greatly, not only in discussing hunting's past, present and future (i.e. our hunting heritage), but shaping much of what I believe, today, as keys to our American successes in conservation. In addition to relating our accomplishments in 75 years of hunter education, which has positively and greatly influenced hunting's future, I believe Dan and Shane help us articulate the success of our collective management efforts (North American Model of Wildlife Conservation Model) throughout the world. They continually ponder our actions and help us quantify and qualify the benefits of hunting and wild game harvest - the sustainability and responsibility piece. They have collaborated to make their efforts and messages even more meaningful.

With Dan's new series (2nd year) as shown on the History Channel entitled, 'Hard Truths of Conservation" and Shane's Wild Harvest Initiative, each pose meaningful solutions and dialog towards dealing with a wide diversity of audiences. Along with Michael Sabbeth's The Honorable Hunter, who we've included in many hunter education trainings, Dan and Shane help us, as hunters, show others the virtuous actions and conservation benefits that positively impact everyone, worldwide!

This is April -- always a BUSY Hunter Education month!  We hope to see you at either (or both) Becoming an Outdoors Women weekend in Rockport, or THEIA Hunter Education Instructors Conference in Kerrville. I also wish you a safe and successful turkey season!  I know your students appreciate lessons learned -- keeping them safe on their spring hunting adventures. THANK YOU for your dedication and passion!

Photos:  Dan Cabela (top photo) and Shane Mahoney (bottom photo) receive speaker recognition gifts from Steve Hall, Hunter Education Coordinator, and Monica Bickerstaff, N TX Regional Hunter Education Specialist, respectively, at consecutive HE Instructor Meetings during the Dallas Safari Club Conventions held each year. Both are popular orators with professionals in the outdoor and hunting industries, worldwide hunting guides and conservation organizations. Thanks to both for their support of the Texas Hunter Education Program!

Steve Hall, Hunter Education Coordinator

Texas Hunter Education Instructor Association

APRIL 26-28th, 2024

Attendees: PLEASE BRING a SILENT AUCTION ITEM to support YOUR organization!

Y.O. Ranch Hotel and Hill Country Shooting Sports Center will host the Central Texas THEIA Conference in April. Please get it on your calendar NOW!  Come help us celebrate your successes, attend the latest training seminars, and enjoy food and comradery with your fellow instructors from throughout Texas.

TPWD Staff Host: Morgan Harbison, Central TX Hunter Education Specialist

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Our keynote speaker for the 2024 THEIA Conference is Chad Waligura, owner and co-host of Able Outdoors. Chad grew up in a small town on the Texas gulf coast where he fell in love with the outdoors. Even after being paralyzed at the age of 17, Chad was back in the woods within three months relearning how to hunt. He has continued his love of the outdoors by writing, hunting, fishing and listening to others' stories. Chad was named Buckmasters' American Deer Foundation's Challenged Hunter of the Year and was chosen for Safari Club International's Pathfinder Award. He founded Able Outdoors to provide other able sportsmen and women the information they need to get back into the field again after facing similar challenges. Chad looks forward to showing the world about what can be accomplished." - Cheryl LeJune - THEIA/Area Chief, Tomball.

Heidi Rao, SE Hunter Education Specialist and BOW Coordinator, and Monica Bickerstaff, N TX Specialist, and the rest of the hunter education staff and BOW Instructors will welcome another group of women looking for new outdoor experiences based on introductory and advanced training sessions held at Becoming an Outdoors-Woman.  This month's workshop will be in Rockport and, once again, the workshop filled up online in record time. Hunter education and target shooting activities will once again dominate the selections, but because it is held on the coast, it also will feature saltwater fly fishing, fishing and bird watching, so the workshop is considered popular for these opportunities.  We'll see you there -- all working together to "break down barriers towards women's participation in the outdoors including an introduction to hunting and sporting arms.

(L to R): HE Instructor Charles Edenfield - Saginaw, and N TX Hunter Education Specialist, Monica Bickerstaff, present a "Certificate of Appreciation" Laurie DiPalma-Green – Shoot Smart Range Manager and Chip Bulkeley, Assistant Manager.

In 2023, the old Winchester shooting range, museum and gun store in Fort Worth was sold to Shoot Smart.  For some time, the Winchester complex hosted hunter education courses taught by volunteers like Edenfield. Shoot Smart was soon faced with the challenge of whether to continue to allow hunter education or not. Their business plan called for their instructors to be employees (rather than subcontractors or volunteers).  So, it was a big step to allow the department to continue to conduct classes using volunteer instructors. It is to the credit of new ownership - specifically, Roxanne and Jim Laney, who realized that supporting Hunter Education is in the best interest of both their business and in advancing the cause of shooting sports overall. THANKS!

2024 HUNTMASTER Training!

MARCH 22-23 - Mason Mtn. WMA

Welcome to 2024! Our Huntmaster Training Schedule for this year is OPEN for registration. Huntmaster Training prepares volunteers to perform four primary functions: 1) running hunts, 2) recruiting youth, volunteers, and landowners, 3) promoting TYHP and 4) assisting with volunteer training.

Interested in becoming a Huntmaster? Register for one of the trainings now at https://www.texas-wildlife.org/twa-events/ *More trainings to be added soon* To be a Huntmaster, you will first need to Create a Volunteer Account with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

In 2024, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department developed and launched new materials and platforms to attract shooting sports participants and help the range and the target shooting community better communicate opportunities and issues. Target shooters have significantly increased the collections of excise taxes for use by states to fund conservation efforts and hunter education programs. Developing ranges, services and educational opportunities continue to be a priority, but will be significantly enhanced going forward.  Get out and shoot the bull!

Photo: Participants at Becoming an Outdoors-Woman workshop take rifle, shotgun and handgun workshops to learn safe handling and shooting skills.

Photo:  Burnie Kessner, retired TX-NASP Coordinator, volunteered at the 2024 tournament is shown here with his son, Lee, whose school also participated. Many active and retired employees of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), joined the many dedicated volunteers and additional sponsors including Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation, Toyota, Texas Hunter Education Instructor Association and Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation in presenting this extremely popular event year after year.

Athina Guerrero, a high school sophomore, has been a City Kid and hunting since the 6th grade.  Using a .300 WIN MAG, she successfully took this handsome bull alongside Leon Measures, the founder and longtime leader of City Kids Adventures in San Antonio, "Our spring break 2024 was an action-packed weekend filled with adventure and learning. We started by stalking-N-shooting a nilgai at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. Then, we traveled to Vanderbilt University to visit Adrian and Jacob's future school, accompanied by 9 other kids. Along the way, we toured the U.S. border patrol check station in Encino for a hands-on learning experience. We participated in two service projects: cleaning up litter left by illegal immigrants at the Cage Ranch and clearing a hiking trail at Pajarito Ranch for future hog hunts. Additionally, we visited one of our sponsors, Shorty's Custom Paint, in Dallas, where we gained valuable insights about hard work and maintaining focus on our goals. It was a week of learning, serving, and experiencing the opportunities life has to offer outside our comfort zones. We're grateful for the support of our 'village' in shaping the next generation.  Until our next adventure, get outside" - Coach Leon McNeil, HE Instructor

Hunter/Bowhunter Education Instructor training -  - Killeen

Heidi Rao, SE Hunter Education Specialist, said, "A very good friend of mine owns Mountain Creek Range (MCR), and has been trying to get his staff and friends trained as Hunter Education Instructors. Since I was in his backyard, helping with the NASP tournament (see above), I offered to train them after the tournament!"

L to R: Bobby Burroughs, George Sinner, Cecil Prime, Tony Torres (MCR Owner), Stacy White, Rick Butts, and Susan Franz

Rao added, "Several of the new instructors are bilingual, and will be teaching some courses in Spanish.  The group is also excited to be able to attend our conference in Kerrville."  She concluded, "Then, I was leaving the store, and one of the local police officers pulled up.  He was disappointed that he missed the training, so I invited him to attend the new instructor course at the conference. Already planning a day off work that weekend, he said, "I'll be there! Thanks Heidi!"

Jose Garcia - Irving

Jose Garcia recently submitted this photograph saying, "When not teaching Hunter Education, I am teaching archery to 5th grade students from a local elementary school at James Ray Scout camp." Certified since May 1993 has certainly made an impact in hunter education (inducted to Texas Hunter Education Hall of Fame in 2009 and selected as TX Instructor of the year in 2015).  He teaches an average of 11 Hunter Education courses per year, including one in Spanish. He has been a Texas Youth Hunting Program (TYHP) Huntmaster (see article above) for over 20 years. He has also been an Assistant Scoutmaster (BSA) for Troop 773 in Irving, a BSA Section Director for National Camp Shooting Sports Southern Region and serves on the BSA National Shooting Sports Task Committee. He is an NRA Training Counselor and USA Archery Level 2 Instructor. Thanks for all you do for Texas, Jose!

Heidi Rao - SE TX Hunter Education Specialist, “Howdy,” Area Chief Hunter Ed Instructor, Cheryl LeJune - Tomball, Hunter Educationn Instructor, Krista Liewald - Cypress. 

"Howdy began his life as a napkin doodle. Hap Hunnicutt, former chairman of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) Parade Committee and current executive chair, created HOWDY in 1993 as a stylized letter 'H', for Houston. Clad in a jaunty cowboy hat, gloves, and cowboy boots, his legs curve outward to give the impression of a gait molded by a horseback-riding cowboy. He sports a bushy blue mustache and eyebrows and has an orange complexion. One presumes he’s meant to match the Astros’ or Dynamo’s team colors. On the contrary, the burnt orange is deliberately intended as an homage to Hunnicutt’s Alma Mater, the University of Texas at Austin. His white cowpoke duds are intentional as well, evoking the uniforms worn by the Longhorn Band. Howdy and his handlers wander the grounds of HLSR all month and happily pose for hundreds of photos a day!" - Heidi Rao, SE TX HE Specialist.

Retired Special Game Warden, Lewis Rather - Fredericksburg, who teaches Criminal Justice at the Fredericksburg High School, has incorporated the Texas Hunter Education program into his Law Enforcement classes. As a result, he invited retired Marine Corps Major, Devin Mullen, who heads up the JROTC program at the high school, along with Coach Chad Flick, who teaches PE and Outdoor Adventures, the Outdoor Tomorrow Foundation program, to help teach Hunter Education. Over 50 students were certified in March.  Way to go!

At a recent Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow (CLFT) Program held in Salt Lake City, UT, a total of five of the instructors are Texas CLFT Instructors: Ryan Luna - Alpine (1st photo teaching firearm handling and basics), a newly certified Texas Hunter Education Instructor, Monica Bickerstaff, N TX Hunter Education Specialist - DFW (2nd photo teaching gun cleaning), and retired game warden, Albert Flores - Rockport (3rd photo teaching eye dominance); Laura Andersen - Rockport and Steve Hall, Hunter Education Coordinator - Austin.  "It just worked out that way," said the CLFT leader for the workshop in Utah, Jolie Vollers from Iowa.

L.J. Smith - Mississippi Hunter Ed Coordinator (retired)

L.J. Smith later created his own company, L.J. Investigations, and during nearly three decades of work, he investigated a total of 556 tree stand incidents throughout the country.  He and longtime friend and colleague, John Louk, Treestand Manufacturer's Association (TMA) have trained many Texas instructors as tree stand safety instructors, using TMA standards and much of what L.J. learned from his investigations.  Thanks to them, we teach tree stand safety in all hunter and bowhunter education courses - to prevent the #1 cause of hunting incidents in North America, falls from stands.

Mary Carrier - Boater Education

"It is with a heavy heart to report that a former colleague in hunter education's sister program, Mary Carrier, passed in March. Our sincerest condolences to her family and friends - may her sweet memory bring us comfort going forward, teaching safe, responsible outdoor behaviors.

Mary retired from TPWD two years ago after serving as the Boater Education Training Specialist in Galveston. She was a delight to work with and always had a positive attitude. Working at events or conferences with her was a hoot, she could "reel" anyone into the booth! She never met a stranger. RIP Mary, you will be missed by many."

Mary Carrier for her induction into the National Safe Boating Council Boating Safety Hall of Fame! https://bit.ly/MaryHallOfFame.  Mary has built a strong network of volunteers, working tirelessly to help make Texas waterways safer with Texas Parks and Wildlife Boating and Water Safety.