Higher Calling Wildlife® is back with a brand new episode featuring Dana Dykema of the Ignite podcast from the Women Hunt program of the Wild Sheep Foundation.
In this conversation, Dana talks about the growth of Ignite and how the podcast is helping communicate messages of conservation and hunter advocacy.
The episode dives into modern wildlife management and how regulated hunting helps support healthy wildlife populations and habitat conservation.
We also talk about mentorship, education, and why it is important to create opportunities for new hunters and outdoors enthusiasts to learn about conservation and hunting traditions.
As Higher Calling Wildlife returns, this episode is a great reminder that conservation is about much more than wildlife alone. It is about protecting habitat, preserving outdoor traditions, and making sure future generations have the chance to experience healthy wildlife populations and wild places.
We salute the Women Hunt program and the leadership of Chair Renee Thornton for all of their work in creating new stewards of these resources.
If you care about conservation, hunting, or the future of wildlife management, this is an episode you will not want to miss.
To call it comprehensive would be an understatement as the ladies learned everything from gun safety and wildlife identification to field dressing and venison preparation.
The heart of the course was learning to shoot accurately under different kinds of conditions with guidance by world-class shooters and instructors.
This was the first major public step of Women Hunt™ and it was a big one, helping to create an on-ramp for women with an interest in immersing themselves in the hunting lifestyle.
My interest in the project is two-fold.
For starters, I hate when limits are put on people and believe women who wish to hunt, especially those who don’t have easy access to mentors should be able to participate without being overlooked or marginalized.
The second reason is what women can bring to wildlife conservation.
Bea Segura harvested her first-ever whitetail during the hunt. She is excited about providing the healthy meat for her family. (Photo Courtesy Bea Segura)
As someone who runs a nonprofit for children and wildlife, I can tell you all but two of our volunteers are women. I have learned when women commit to something they give it their all and come into causes with a servant’s heart.
And statistics bear this out.
According to a 2014 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women are 30 percent more likely to volunteer than men.
Tiffany Osburn of Texas took this big whitetail doe. Her goal is to become a guide/mentor for youth hunting programs in Texas. (Photo Courtesy Women Hunt/WSF)
That’s a huge a gap and in my opinion as more women enter the world of hunting and wildlife conservation, women will take volunteerism in this world to new heights.
That translates to more wildlife and habitat impacted in a positive way and it also creates a more family-friendly environment amongst hunters.
And the more women who buy hunting and fishing licenses and join groups like the Wild Sheep Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation, Dallas Safari Club and others, the bigger voice we have in the halls of legislature and at the ballot box.
That’s all for the future but for now there are 12 new very empowered and outdoors-educated women coming out of the WSF’s Women Hunt™ at the FTW Ranch.
The state of the hunting and outdoors world doesn’t change overnight but having had the opportunity to meet these ladies, I wouldn’t be surprised if they start making waves very soon.
Their determination to become the best, most conservation conscientious hunters possible is inspiring and their passion for the outdoors is contagious.
Chester Moore
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