Cambridge, Ohio – Quail hunters and conservationists have banded together in Ohio's Guernsey County to form the Ohio Hills Chapter of Quail Forever (QF). The chapter hopes to create wildlife habitat areas in the region and foster youth involvement in habitat projects and events to connect the next generation to wildlife habitat conservation."There's a need, because of urban sprawl and clean farming, for Quail Forever in this county and the surrounding area," said Adam Fraley, the chapter's newly-elected president, "After talking things over with the local Soil & Water Conservation District, it became pretty apparent that the best thing we could do was start a Quail Forever chapter."

Centre, Ala. –  Quail hunters and conservationists have formed the Southeast's newest Quail Forever (QF) chapter, the Coosa Valley Chapter of QF. Starting with habitat work, the chapter hopes to rekindle an interest in quail, quail hunting and bird dogs in DeKalb, Cherokee, Cleburne, Calhoun and Etowah Counties in Alabama, and Floyd and Chattooga Counties in Georgia. "We're a group of fellows who dearly miss the good old days of seeing, hearing and hunting the bobwhite quail," said Freddy Reynolds of Leesburg, the chapter's newly-elected president, "Most of our members don't even hunt quail anymore, but they have a dear recollection of a grand tradition. We all love bird dogs and really want to do something to help future generations of folks experience 'Old Bob' in the wild."

The group feels the best way to accomplish this goal is as a QF chapter. Pheasants Forever launched Quail Forever in August of 2005 to address the continuing loss of habitat suitable for quail and the subsequent quail population decline. QF chapters promote local, state, and federal conservation programs that help landowners protect environmentally sensitive acres for quail and other wildlife. They also employ the organization's unique model of empowering local chapters with 100 percent control of the chapters' locally-raised funds to complete habitat and youth education projects in the chapters' own communities.

Traveling with Kevin to the SCI convention is always an adventure.  Your mind is on overload the entire time that you are there.  Going to the Sable luncheon on Friday is a treat for me.  Every year the luncheon gets better.  The Safari Club International Sables are dedicated to continuing our outdoor heritage.

The efforts are primarily pointed to the youth. 

• The American Wilderness Leadership Schools (AWLS)
• Becoming an Outdoors Women (BOW). 
• Safari in a Box is a teaching tool for K-12 giving information about wildlife and how hunters promote wildlife conservation. 
• Sables scholarships’ programs.

This year of course was filled with the silent auctions, live auction, and the great champagne pourers who earned over $5000.00 in extra funds from the ever-lively ladies.  The Artie Dean Harris Band returned and hopefully will return again next year. 

The highlight for me was when Artie introduced Little Emily Smith from Fairfield Ca.  Emily went on a hunt to South Africa June of 2008, with Unico Guides.  She had this great picture of the warthogs that she shot.  To me this is what it’s all about.  The future of the Sable Ladies is in the hands of these beautiful little Ladies.

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HuntingLife.com joined over 300 organizations in signing the following letter to Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, Obama Administration.  Our hunting heritage is important to safe guard and the next several years are going to be very important to what we are trying to accomplish.

Download the Letter to Carol Browner here.

All MDF chapters will consider providing local matching grants for schools interested in the National Archery in the Schools Program.

NASP was started in 2002 in 22 Kentucky schools and has expanded to 5,000 schools in 46 states, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. During the 2008 school year 16,000 certified instructors taught archery to some 1,000,000 students in grades four through twelve. 

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Al Morris, a member of the Hunter’s Specialties Pro Staff, and his hunting partner Garvin Young recently won the 2008 annual World Coyote Calling Championship in Cortez, Colorado. They are the only team ever to win back-to-back and to capture three World Championship titles.

Morris and Young came in first in a field of 128 two-man teams who entered the event.

The contest is held over a day and a half, where participants try to call in and shoot the highest number of coyotes. Al and Garvin managed to take 18. The second place team finished with 13 coyotes.

“This year we hunted an area south of Cortez in New Mexico on some Navajo Nation land,” said Al. “We did some extensive scouting and found a location with plenty of coyotes that hadn’t been pressured by hunters. We did some late evening and early morning howling on our Mac Daddy Howlers to locate the coyotes. According to our best guess there were around 100 coyotes in the area.”

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Reno, Nevada – Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) is pleased to announce that Camron Tribolet of Fort Wayne, Indiana and Louis Riccardi of Nutley, New Jersey are the 2008 Pathfinder Award recipients.  They were formally recognized on January 23, 2009 at SCI’s Annual Hunters’ Convention in Reno, Nevada.

This award is presented to individuals who are faced with overcoming a physical challenge or disability, discovering previously unexplored regions of self-esteem, self-worth, courage, persistence, and determination. The recipients are individuals who have a “never quit” attitude and who are recognized as ambassadors for other “pathfinders” seeking leadership when faced with similar challenges. In honor of this award, SCIF coordinates world-class hunting safaris for the annual Pathfinder Award recipients.

“Hunters who are as passionate and dedicated about hunting as Tribolet and Riccardi should be commended for their hunting achievements, and their perseverance to continue participating in the sport they love should be a testament to all sportsmen and women,” said SCI President Merle Shepard.

“Both of these men represent the qualities that we see in true ‘pathfinders.’  They exemplify the leadership, determination and courage of those with similar challenges and should serve as an example to the entire hunting community” continued Shepard.

Reno, Nevada – Safari Club International (SCI) is pleased to announce that MaryAnn Sachman is the 2009 winner of the prestigious SCI Diana Award.  
 
Named for the huntress of Roman mythology, the Diana Award recognizes the women of SCI who have excelled in international big game hunting. Award winners have shown exemplary ethics in the field, remained committed to the mission statement of SCI, and have personally given their time and energies to enhance wildlife conservation and education.
 
MaryAnn Sachman is a lifetime member of SCI and has been a member of the New York Tri-State Chapter for many years, where she has chaired various committees and events.  She has served on the SCI Board of Directors as Chapter President and is a member of the SCIF Hunter Legacy 100 Fund.
 
Under Sachman’s leadership the New York Tri-State Sables donated over $40,000 to organizations and direct need recipients.  She has supported rhinos in Zimbabwe, sent thousands of pounds of books to Africa, provided funds to the Girls Scouts of America to visit Africa and has sponsored students and teachers attending the American Wilderness Leadership School.  
 
The chapter also funded programs such as the Roosevelt Sanctuary, the Leithen Valley Trophy Hunts, Zambia Village Project, Disabled Hunter program and Dream Hunt.  Under her leadership and vision, the NY Tri-State Chapter is once again growing strong with new members and chapter participation.
 
The Diana Award was conferred upon Sachman this week during SCI’s 37h Annual Hunters’ Convention, in Reno, Nevada. 

The tradition of hunting has captured the attention of a few Palo Alto High School students. Although hunting is limited in California, they search far and wide for the best game in the country and beyond.

Posted Wed Jan. 21, 13:07:40 PST 2009
By Cassie Prioleau of The Viking

Courtesy of Elliot Beckstrom   Beckstrom proudly lines up 18 ducks after a day of hunting in Arkansas.

Palo Alto High School sophomores Elliot Beckstrom, Cory Valenti and Alex Zarem are not your typical athletes. They are not exempt from P.E. for their sport and they do not have coaches. They do not belong to a team; their only uniform is their camouflage and they do not have an opponent. They are hunters.

Beckstrom, Valenti and Zarem discovered the Southern-dominated sport through friends and family. They hunt as often as they can, including occasional after-school trips to nearby hunting areas. Traveling as far as Canada and Georgia to hunt better game, they are like any other Paly athletes; they are incredibly committed to their sport.

For Beckstrom, Valenti and Zarem hunting is more than a sport, it is a tradition. Originally a means of survival, hunting has evolved into a sport and a passion passed down from generation to generation. The appeal of the outdoors reels young people to the sport.

For Zarem and Valenti, their families originally introduced them to the sport. Zarem's father hunts and took him to get his hunting license when he was eight years old. Valenti first started hunting at age 12 and grew up in a family where the sport has always been prevalent.

Attending the 37th Annual Hunter's Convention as a press writer is always a privilege and a responsibility that I take very seriously.  This year was no different and for me the joy is in the journey of getting to know so many different people and learning about the things that they are working on.  I also get the joy of going to so many different seminars and learning about the great work that is being done by members and volunteers for these great organizations.  Robert Deitz, II is one of those great volunteers who is incredibly passionate about his hunting, very passionate about Safari Club and active personally and politically in spreading the message about the great work being done by hunters in both conservation and humanitarian work.

Robert has been a champion of the Blue Bag Program with the SCIF since the programs inception.  This week Robert gave a seminar to the membership at the convention and I really enjoyed the seminar. 

The Blue Bag program provides the opportunity for hunters to hand carry humanitarian aid into countries and places all across the world.  SCIF provides a blue duffle bag to be filled with items that third world countries cannot get access to.  Items like crayons, balls, aspirin, coloring books, band aids, etc that can help local schools, hospitals, aid centers in creating good will and real assistance.

Attached are 3 separate files that were created by Robert Deitz, II and Eva Wison, Director of Humanitarian Services for SCIF.

Download them here:

Sponsor a Blue Bag Article

Share a Blue Bag Presentation

Blue Bag List of Recommended Items

http://www.safariclubfoundation.org/