Western Outdoor Times - Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!

You all amaze me! Thank you for another productive and engaging gathering of the Hunting and Angling

Heritage Workgroup this past Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018 – it is one for the books for sure.

For those that didn't make it, below is a quick recap. If you want to see the full presentations, shoot me

an email and I'll forward them to you, dburt@azgfd.gov.

Overview:

 37 attendees total

 8 first‐timers (20%, includes 1 new organization – Arizona Huntress Facebook group)

 17 + unique organizations (some attendees represent multiple groups)

 12 Department staff representing, executive, recreation, education, shooting ranges and

Regions 2, 3, 4 & 6

 Director Ty Gray spoke at the AM session and shared his appreciation and thanks for the

HAHWG, he commented on how you are leading the nation and gave insights on the direction of

the Department.

 Guest speaker Eric Dinger of Powderhook, presented his app which is a platform for chatting,

questions, digital mentoring (badge for HAHWG coming soon), social support and event listings

based on location services. It is available for iPhones and Androids. He also challenged everyone

in the room to take someone new out hunting or fishing – and to tell your friends to spread the

word. Check out his video for the call to action; https://youtu.be/p‐nEPOyP0FA. For info, app,

etc .: http://www.powderhook.com, eric@powderhook.com or 402‐560‐1678.

 3 Event host presented on the sustainability of their events, and shared how they've adapted to

challenges to keep the event going and improving with the following tips:

o Cibola: Advance planning, scale back activities, community involvement / gratitude

o Boot Camp: Partners, online registration, okay to change target audience

o Skills Camp: Advertise in nontraditional venues, screen out repeaters, quality over

quantity

 Thank you to meal sponsors: Yuma Valley Rod and Gun Club, Youth Outdoors Unlimited and

Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association. A special thanks to Karen at Muffin but the Best for

the cowboy breakfast and enchilada lunch.

2017‐18 HAHWG success

 6 pages / 56 events by type (new) in regs:

o 29 Introductory; 7 Beginner; 10 Developing; 10 Intermediate; and 0 Experienced (need

to pilot one of these to provide "continuation with minimal support" and complete the

adoption sequence, like the old "unit watch" – any volunteers?

 All 56 events listed on online event registration syst

o 19 hosts (43%) used online system

o 587 students registered online

 19% (112) "This will be my FIRST time"  

 28% (164) "Only a COUPLE times"  

 64% (377) "Never Attended This event"

 46% (270) "Never Hunted Event Animal"

 Upcoming Research, as a follow up to the  '15 Focus Group Study

o Surveying All Event Hosts – info, satisfaction, improvements, focus, input

o Mining, evaluating registration data / event types

o Will be at summer meeting to present findings

Work Session on Mentoring and Guide –

The discussion on draft guide on mentoring (attached) and mentoring in general was well received.

Please take a moment and review document and send any input to dburt@azgfd.gov for finalizing and

adding to the HAHWG Tool Kit. An idea to create a checklist for talking / orienting mentors, and then

mentor to mentee checklist of questions to ask for consistency, safety, and to be prepared for the

activities. Steering Committee to work on and bring back to the summer HAHWG meeting to continue

conversation, and expand on ways to recruit mentors, train, and develop.

Follow up information requested by participants:

 AZGFD has a new logo (attached), and is now a branded house, not a house of brands – this is to

assure the public knows who we are, to resonate with a changing public, be more modern, and

attract new customers and support for wildlife conservation.  

 NWTF R3 Coordinator coming to Arizona on 3 year contract – will be on board in a few months

and based in Phoenix, will be a resource to HAHWG, help with event coordination and

resources, increase our capacity and grow our successes. Exciting stuff, more to come.

 Future – bring back event kits with keepsakes, regs, info, upcoming events for 2018‐19

 Develop online resource center for all to access, porta potty vendors, best practices, checklists,

past presentations, data, and information – looking at public Google Drive.

 Recovering America's Wildlife Act HR 4647 – seeking legislation to provide additional funding to

state wildlife agencies for conservation efforts using existing  funds from energy and mineral

estimated at 1.3 billon dollars annually

 Pittman‐Robertson Modernization Act HR 2591 – seeking to update language to allow the use of

funds for recruitment, retention and reactivation efforts

 How Wildlife is funded through excise tax on hunting, shooting, angling and boating items

collected at the manufacturer level – Wildlife & Sport Fish Restoration info:

https://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/AboutUs/WSFRintro/index.html

 AZGFD Fair Chase info: https://www.azgfd.com/Hunting/FairChase/, presented by Darren

Tucker, Region 3, Field Supervisor, East Sector, dtucker@azgfd.gov

 Volunteer info for habitat projects, forms and info: Jamie Lyons, jlyons@azgfd.gov (Steering

Committee will work on how to do at HAHWG events)

 Play Again Film ‐ https://youtu.be/tfKwCpmH60w, good video to motivate for getting outdoors

Attendees Closing Comments:

 We can't be passive about R3, it's time to play offense and be proactive to get new people

involved

 Guest speaker, Eric Dinger, and technology were valuable, thank you (3+ made comment)

 Continues to be good meeting for networking and connecting with others

 Meeting is still valuable and worth the drive / time

 Camp / Event Host reports was good focus, I learned from it

 Don't be afraid to change focus of event (based on event host report)

 Heard new voices, new approaches

 Call to action – "take someone hunting" hit me

 Idea on soliciting past attendees as mentors

 Non tradition recruiting / advertising to bicycle clubs, REI, and on hiking trails versus hunting

stores and regs – good idea and tip, let's do more (3+ made comment ‐‐ consider as topic for

summer meeting)

 WCC License plate, and grant program

 Amazing group, good representation across the board

Next HAHWG Meeting / Campout – July 21‐22, 2018 in Flagstaff at the Arizona Nordic Village – Be

There!