In early August, we’ll be traveling to Tennessee for a special outreach focused on encouraging children through wildlife, conservation, and inspiration.
As part of this mission, we’ll be giving gift bags to kids in rural communities—simple gifts that can inspire a lifelong love of God’s creation while reminding them that they are seen, valued, and loved.
The first time we gave gifts in the Smoky Mountains was on the North Carolina side and we met this awesome family and gave them cool gift packages while viewing elk.
We’re asking for your help. And we need it because funds are pretty low and we really feel led to put this project together. You have been generous in the past and I believe we can get these items ordered through our readers and by extension you will be blessing these kids and aiming them toward a love of wildlife.
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We’ve created an Amazon Wish List filled with affordable items that will go directly into these gift bags. The list includes Tennessee wildlife field guides, plush black bears, wildlife-themed bracelets, educational items, and other small gifts designed to encourage young nature lovers.
These may seem like small things, but we’ve learned over the years that a field guide can ignite a passion for wildlife, a stuffed animal can bring comfort to a child facing challenges, and a simple gift can open the door to conversations that have a lasting impact.
If you’d like to be part of this mission, simply choose one or more items from our Amazon Wish List. They’ll be shipped directly to us so we can prepare the gift bags before we head to Tennessee.
Every purchase, no matter how small, helps us bless another child.
Thank you for partnering with us through Higher Calling Wildlife as we share hope, encourage a love for God’s creation, and invest in the next generation of wildlife conservationists.
We can’t wait to share stories and photos from this Tennessee mission when we return!
Chester Moore
Follow Chester Moore and Higher Calling Wildlife® on the following social media platforms
One of the greatest blessings of the Wild Wishes® program is watching a child experience something they never thought possible.
We’ve watched fear turn into excitement.
We’ve seen children battling critical illness smile again.
We’ve watched kids who have experienced unimaginable loss discover hope through God’s incredible creation.
Those moments are why we do what we do.
Today, we’re asking for your help with two important needs that will help us continue reaching children through wildlife, conservation, and the love of Christ.
Help Us Grant a Shark Wish
We’re currently raising $750 to grant the Wild Wish of an incredible young girl whose greatest dream is to have a close encounter with sharks.
If you’ve followed Higher Calling Wildlife very long, you know sharks have become a special part of our ministry. Through documentaries, conservation work, educational programs, and countless articles, we’ve worked to replace fear with understanding while showing people just how remarkable these misunderstood animals really are.
Chester granting a shark cage dive encounter with Juno and her Dad at the Denver Aquarium.
Now we have the opportunity to give one young girl an experience she’ll never forget.
The funds will help cover travel, lodging, admission, meals, and other expenses needed to make this Wild Wishes® encounter a reality for her and her family.
Our goal is simple: raise $750 and make this dream come true and also to help us send some shark gift packages out to a few kids as well.
If you’d like to help, you can give directly to the Shark Wishes Fund here:
We’re also raising $250 to purchase a new action camera for the Wild Wishes program.
As we continue to grow, video has become one of the most effective ways we can reach children and families. Every Wild Wish, every expedition, every conservation project, and every outdoor adventure has the potential to inspire thousands more people when we can share those moments well.
Whether we’re filming a child seeing a shark for the first time, photographing bighorn sheep in the Rockies, exploring mountain streams with young conservationists, or documenting wildlife encounters across Texas and beyond, quality footage allows us to preserve those memories and tell stories that encourage others to get involved.
Just as importantly, these videos help us introduce new families to the Wild Wishes program, inspire support for future wishes, and encourage more young people to discover God’s creation. We believe media will become an increasingly important part of our ministry moving forward, allowing us to reach far more children than we ever could through in-person events alone.
Our goal is to raise $250 to put a new action camera into the field so we can continue telling these stories with excellence.
$750 will help grant a life-changing shark encounter for a deserving young girl.
$250 will help us purchase a new action camera to document more Wild Wishes experiences and wildlife expeditions, allowing us to share those stories with even more children and families.
No gift is too small. Whether you can give $10, $25, $50, or more, every contribution helps us move closer to these goals.
Most of all, thank you for believing in the mission of Higher Calling Wildlife. Thank you for believing that God’s creation can open hearts, restore hope, and change lives. And thank you for helping us continue creating unforgettable experiences for children while sharing those stories with the world.
Together, we can grant another Wild Wish and inspire many more to come.
Chester Moore
Follow Chester Moore and Higher Calling Wildlife® on the following social media platforms
Today is Giving Tuesday, and we’re inviting you to be part of something truly life-changing.
Two weeks ago, the 300th child came through our Wild Wishes® program—a milestone that represents hundreds of young lives touched with hope, encouragement, and the healing power of wildlife. Many of these kids have faced deep trauma, loss, or ongoing hardship. Wild Wishes® grants wildlife encounters to hurting children, creating moments of joy and wonder that often open the door to emotional and spiritual healing.
For nearly seven years, Higher Calling Wildlife has been leading transformative wildlife expeditions with kids across the country—Colorado, Wyoming, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, and Florida. These trips provide powerful outdoor experiences, Christ-centered mentorship, and the chance for kids to encounter God’s creation in unforgettable ways. The mountains, forests, coastlines, and wild spaces we explore become places where hope is restored and purpose takes root.
Watch our mini-documentary on that program here.
We also serve countless youth in foster care through other facets of our ministry, offering support, encouragement, and opportunities many would never otherwise receive.
This year, however, we’re behind on donations compared to recent years. To continue saying “yes” to every child who needs us—and to start 2026 strong—we are asking for your support.
Help us grant more Wild Wishes® encounters to hurting kids
Equip us to serve children in foster care through specialized outreach programs
Support ongoing Higher Calling wildlife expeditions and mentorship
Allow us to reach more kids for Christ through our wildlife-based ministry
Ensure no child is turned away due to funding
Every donation, big or small, makes a direct impact. You can bring encouragement, hope, and unforgettable wildlife experiences to children who desperately need them.
Thank you for standing with us and helping transform young lives—one wild wish at a time.
I would normally say it’s great to be back after an expedition but I honestly wish I was still in stunningly beautiful Colorado.
Hey, don’t hate on me-fellow Texans! The heat index was 108 today.
We had a great time working with young people in our Wild Wishes program and other young people we are working with in a mentoring setting.
I’ll have a video recap next week but for now here are some of the photos the young people took on the trip.
Wild Wishes girl Kamille took this shot of a mule deer doe in Colorado Springs.
Our Wild Wishes girl Juno takes a great photo of a bull elk. You’ll see it in the next shot.
Juno’s elk photo turned out great!
Thirteen-year-old Delilah captured a beautiful moment between a cow moose and her young calf near Estes Park, CO.
Speaking of calves, Amber Borel got this great shot of a elk cow and calf. Many of the elk in the Estes Park area have collars to help track movements.
My daughter Faith got this great shot of a big bull elk.
We’ll be posting a video and more photos soon.
The mission fo what we do is to bring children facing special challenges to wild places and mentor them in conservation. We are teaching them to use photography to raise awarness of wildlife and the issues they face.
And we need your help as we have more expeditions planned.
Take a moment to think about your dark moments as a child and what it would’ve meant if you got to do something like this.
The Wildlife Journalist® and Higher Calling blog publisher Chester Moore was awarded the National Wild Turkey Federation’s (NWTF) “Advocatus Magni Award” for being an outstanding advocate of wild turkey conservation and hunting.
Moore received the award at the NWTF Texas banquet in College Station, TX and said it a true honor to be recognized by such a prestigious organization and for something he believes in wholeheartedly.
“As turkeys go, so do America’s forests. If we get turkey conservation right then everything from whitetail deer to gopher tortoises and wild sheep benefit,” he said.
In 2019 Moore embarked on a quest to raise awareness to turkey conservation and began by photographing the Grand Slam of turkeys around the nation in one year.
Two Rio Grande gobblers the author photographed on his Turkey Revolution® quest in 2019.
“There’s much more to come. This award inspires me to do even more and explore things like the link between turkeys and sheep in their shared range. It’s going to be a great year,” he said.
The highlight will be taking a group of teen’s from Moore’s Wild Wishes® program into Colorado on a search for wild sheep, turkeys and elk in the mountains.
These Higher Calling Wild Wishes Expeditions will take these young people who have a critical illness or loss of a parent or sibling on a special conservation mission trip to raise awareness to sheep, turkey and elk habitat and conservation issues.
You can subscribe to this blog by entering your email address at the subscribe prompt at the top right of this page. You can contact Chester Moore by emailing chester@chestermoore.com. Subscribe to the podcast by visiting thehighercalling.podbean.com.
For Immediate Release—Wild Wishes® grants wildlife encounters to children and teens with a critical illness or loss of a parent or sibling.
Part of the outreach of Chester and Lisa Moore’s nonprofit Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center® outreach, the 100th child received a life-changing wildlife encounter in Sept. 2019.
Chester and Lisa Moore in Colorado scouting for location for Higher Calling Wild Wishes Expeditions.
Higher Calling Wild Wishes Expeditions goes to a new level by taking teens from the program on expeditions to teach wildlife conservation through mentorship in wildlife photography, social media awareness raising and fundraising skills.
“We noticed that many of the young people we work with who face these great challenges are looking for a way to help and give back. We are creating these opportunities to give young people an avenue to not only understand conservation but a way to get involved,” said Chester Moore.
Reannah fits a radio collar on a desert bighorn sheep at Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area courtesy of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.
Two pilot projects initiated the program in 2019.
Wild Wishes girl Reannah changed her degree and school (now a Texas Tech student) to work with conservation after her wish encounter as a high school senior in 2018.
“It give me even more inspiration to pursue a career in working in wildlife conservation.”
Wild Wishes boys Amos and Jaxon got to take part in a special catch-and-release conservation mission for Guadalupe bass in west-central Texas. The trip was featured in Texas Fish & Game magazine and the boys learned how using the photos they took on the trip could raise awareness to problems facing stream fisheries.
Jaxon was excited to catch his first-ever Guadalupe bass
Special challenges usually disqualify young people for experiences like this. We are creating special opportunities for them only.
In 2020 we are doing our first expeditions into Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain National Park as well as our second annual Guadalupe bass trip.
Can you help sponsor one of these trips? Any size donation is appreciated.
You can subscribe to this blog by entering your email address at the subscribe prompt at the top right of this page. You can contact Chester Moore by emailing chester@chestermoore.com. Subscribe to the podcast by visiting thehighercalling.podbean.com.
You can subscribe to this blog by entering your email address at the subscribe prompt at the top right of this page. You can contact Chester Moore by emailing chester@chestermoore.com. Subscribe to the podcast by visiting thehighercalling.podbean.com.Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area (WMA)—The chuffing sound of helicopter blades sounded faintly in the distance.
As a crowd of biologists and technicians from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD), Tech Tech, and Sul Ross University, among others, looked upward, the helicopter appeared.
Flying above the 6,2000-foot peak of Elephant Mountain in this remote area of Brewster County, it looked blurry at first.
A pair of bighorns is safely brought to the ground as the sun rises over Elephant Mountain in Brewster County, TX. (Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.)
But upon approach, details became apparent, and so did it’s cargo.
Two desert bighorn sheep blindfolded and secured in safety gear hung from the helicopter and were soon gently placed on the ground.
After detachment, the ground crew quickly moved the sheep to tables to thoroughly examine them.
They gave the sheep everything from fecal examinations to blood tests and took tiny ear clippings for DNA records.
“I can’t believe I’m getting to see all of this,” said Reannah Hollaway, a first-year wildlife student at Texas Tech.
Reannah is part of our Wild Wishes® program that grants wildlife encounters to youth struggling with critical illness or loss of a parent or sibling.
As a high school senior, Reannah’s initial wish was to encounter sea turtles. But while attending her first school of choice in 2018, she reflected on her wish experience and decided to go into the conservation field.
In fall 2019, she transferred to Texas Tech and now dreams of working on behalf of wildlife.
When TPWD”s Project Leader of Trans Pecos WMAs, Mark Garrett, approached her with a GPS collar in hand, she wasn’t quite sure what was happening.
But as officials brought in a big ram, she realized she was getting to put collar it.
“This will give us much information on its movements and allow us a better understanding of what these sheep are doing after we move them to Black Gap Wildlife WMA,” Garrett said.
Reannah fits a radio collar on a desert bighorn ram. (Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.)
After overcoming a few understandable nerves, Hollaway enthusiastically fitted the collar and watched as the crew moved the ram into a transport trailer.
In the course of the next few hours, she took ear clippings and helped take a blood sample from several ewes.
Desert bighorn sheep restoration in Texas in many ways centers on Elephant Mountain WMA. Donated to TPWD in 1986 for sheep propagation, it has been highly productive for desert bighorns, and when the area reaches carrying capacity, TPWD officials move part of the herd to other locations that could use a population boost.
These efforts supported by groups like the Texas Bighorn Society, Wild Sheep Foundation, and Dallas Safari Club have seen bighorns reach a population of around 1,500 in the Trans Pecos.
And after years of importing sheep from states like Nevada, TPWD offcials are now able to use Texas sheep to stock available habitat.
These ewes are tagged, collared and ready for release at Black Gap WMA. (Photo by Reannah Hollaway)
“It’s exciting to see how so many people have rallied around the bighorn program, and we are always excited to be able to take sheep from one place to another to expand their range in the Trans Pecos,” said Froylan Hernandez Texas desert bighorn program leader.
While scanning the area for photo opportunities, I noticed Reannah looking into one of the transport trailers.
“He’s beautiful, and his number is 8,” she said, referring to the identifying ear tag.
“I think I’ll name him Brian. He looks like a Brian.”
“Brian” the bighorn-aka No. 8 is trailered and ready to be released at Black Gap WMA. (Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.)
The young lady looked at the gorgeous ram in awe, and in her eyes, I could see the same wonder that has kept me enthused about wildlife since I was a little boy.
When business is slow, assignments are challenging, and real-life issues settle in, these moments are what keeps someone who works with wildlife motivated.
As me, my wife Lisa and daughter Faith made the eight-hour trek from Alpine to the Houston area to bring Reannah home; the happenings of the day dominated the conversation.
The sheep were beautiful.
The people were kind and gracious.
The helicopter operation was incredible to witness.
And Reannah getting to take part in this process was unforgettable and inspired a young lady to move forward in her studies and life with enthusiasm.
Ancient pictographs created by first nations people like the Jornada Mogollon of Texas and Fremont Culture of Utah adorn rock walls and caves in the desert Southwest.
Bighorn images inscribed on rocks in Utah by the Fremont culture. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)
Among these rock paintings are striking images of bighorn rams.
It is not clear whether these first nations people hunted sheep, but their reverence was evident.
Today desert bighorns still inspire.
Whether it is wildlife journalists like myself, wildlife biologists, hunters, landowners, or an aspiring student like Reannah, these animals leave an imprint on the human spirit.
Their mere presences move us to make the world a better place for sheep and other wildlife.
Port Aransas, TX—The smiles were even bigger than the waves.
As the white foam of breakers hit the beach, Lauren Scott and Reannah Hollaway were beaming.
The two recent high school graduates are best friends and share an equal love of sea turtles.
Reannah participated in our Wild Wishes® program last April getting to meet an injured Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle and giant river otters at Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX. That facility rolled out the red carpet for her.
Wild Wishes® grants exotic animal encounters for children with terminal illness or loss of parent or sibling.
After her wish, Reannah informed me that her friend Lauren also loved sea turtles and had a dream of releasing one that had been rehabilitated.
As I began working on that project a series of events unfolded that I can only describe as divinely inspired.
The Amos Research Keep (ARK) at Port Aransas offered an opportunity for the girls to tour their facility and release two green sea turtles back into the Gulf. So, on Aug. 10 we paid them a visit.
ARK’s Alicia Walker who hosted the visit shows the girls an injured baby hawksbill turtle.
This big turtle was covered with barnacles and getting back a healthy appetite.
Lauren was happy feeding green sea turtles fresh romaine. Unlike other sea turtles, greens are vegetarians which is they love the seagrass-thick habitat of South Texas.
After learning much about the ARK’s inspiring work and seeing many sea turtles, the highlight of the day had arrived. It was time for the turtle release.
As I watched the girls put on their latex gloves and move the turtles out toward the water, I saw worries melt away. I saw that hint of anxiety that I have learned to pick up working with children facing loss and serious illnesses disappear. I saw two young girls being young girls and living that rare, surreal dream come true moment.
You think those girls are happy or what?
When Lauren and Reannah lowered the turtles into the surf and watched them quickly swim away, a tangible feeling of freedom filled the air. It’s the kind of freedom ARK provides many sea turtles and injured shore birds but there was something else.
This event inspired two young ladies facing challenges in life to see that great things can happen-even the very biggest dreams coming true.
I want to thank Alicia and everyone with ARK who went far out of their way to accommodate this wish. And I want to thank everyone who supports the Wild Wishes® program.
You are helping young people in more ways than you know.
Lauren and Reannah will never forget the day they stepped into the blue-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico and set free their favorite animals. And neither will I.
Those two young ladies will for the rest of their lives wonder where those turtles ended up and how their lives turned out. Those are the kind of thoughts that not only bring smiles but inspiration.
There are no guarantees but the turtles got a fighting chance and they got it because people cared.
Listen to the podcast inspired by this story below.
Chester Moore, Jr.
(To subscribe to this blog enter your email address in the box on the top right of this page. To contact Chester Moore e-mail chester@chestermoore.com.)
