Originally published in the 2025 March/April issue of Safari Magazine.

It has been said that change is the only constant, and that is so true. Change is our friend. SCI views change as an opportunity. We welcome it. We embrace it.

Change has been good for SCI. The change in our Convention from Reno and Las Vegas to Nashville has been extremely successful. Witness the record-breaking Convention a couple of months ago.

As hunters, we change hunting seasons with changes in weather and geography. For example, we change from hunting deer and ducks in the fall-winter to hunting wild turkeys in the spring. And then we change again when safari season in the Southern Hemisphere kicks into high gear during the late spring and summer months.

Similarly, we change from the Convention season in the first part of the year to the local Chapter banquet season a little later, leading to the Board of Directors meeting in May. The point is that we routinely change as we go along our life journeys (the word “safari” means journey), so it’s not a mystery or anything to cause fear.

Rather, it offers opportunities to become stronger, spread our influence further and live our mission to protect the freedom to hunt and promote sustainable use wildlife conservation worldwide.

As much as some change takes us to new and uncharted territory, other changes can take us back to the future.

For example, SCI’s expansionary efforts over the past few years are foundations to Make Hunting Great Again. Historically, hunters were revered in societies around the world because we literally put food on the table.

Hunting was widely considered a noble pursuit through time, only to become vilified by anti-hunters in recent decades. It’s time to change that and return to the social realization that hunters are effective stewards of nature and that we are the good guys.

Change is in the air globally, especially in the U.S., following the election of Donald Trump in his second term.

As much as he realigns the way government interacts with people and institutions, we must realign the way hunting is viewed by the masses of non-hunters.

We may never change the minds of the hardcore anti-hunters, but we can change the understanding of those who are neither for nor against hunting — the vast majority of people around the globe.

We are changing the hearts and minds of hunters and the population at large through our effective communications efforts that are coupled with our associations and cooperation with government agencies around the world.

Sporting Conservation International was formed as an umbrella organization with numerous groups under it. SCI continues to grow quickly and widely.

Part of this overall expansionary initiative is to enter into various kinds of partnerships and other arrangements that will result in SCI serving as a hub around which the entire hunting world revolves.

This means changing things consistently and broadly. Hunting is one of the world’s oldest activities, and it is time for us to reclaim our rightful place.

We will do that by engaging the world at large with our message of hope and accomplishment and by assuring that there are huntable levels of wildlife in wild places forever.

That’s how we Make Hunting Great Again.

The post Make Hunting Great Again appeared first on Safari Club.

Originally published in the 2025 March edition of Safari Times.

This is the time of year when SCI and its members around the world put purpose into their passion and passion into their purpose.

Between important meetings and some hunting, it’s the kind of mix of activities that sees the remaining months of SCI’s fiscal year through June fly by.

For example, this month Cinegética will be held March 20-23 in Madrid, Spain. This is the biggest hunting show in that country, and it is destined to grow even bigger via the joint venture SCI has entered with the originators of that show.

The SCI European Committee will meet during Cinegética. The European Committee has become a powerful force for hunting on that continent. Never has SCI’s presence there been bigger or more important.

SCI’s involvement in Cinegética is an integral part in our expansion efforts in Europe and throughout the rest of the world. We have created an umbrella organizational structure called Sporting Conservation International that weaves Safari Club International and aligned organizations into a cohesive tapestry of pro-hunting, pro-sustainable use conservation into a very large and increasingly influential global conglomerate.

Hence, SCI will mean both Safari Club International and Sporting Conservation International. Under the greater SCI umbrella will be all our wholly owned organizations, like Texas Trophy Hunters Association as well as our partnerships like Cinegética.

By speaking with a unified voice through a combination of outlets, SCI will represent the largest and strongest organization of hunters the world has ever known.

As I stress continually, the future of both SCI and hunting rests on six pillars: Advocacy, Convention, Hunting, Chapters, Membership and Conservation. SCI’s mission of protecting the freedom to hunt and promoting sustainable use wildlife conservation worldwide will be accomplished under the SCI umbrella.

Meanwhile, it is time for members to plan to attend Lobby Day on May 15 and the SCI Board of Directors on May 17 in Washington, D.C. During Board meeting week, there are other activities like important committee meetings and social activities at SCI’s world headquarters, which is also known as the Hunters’ Embassy.

All members are welcome and encouraged to be there in May, especially for Lobby Day because that’s when members visit the offices of Congressmen and Senators to encourage votes for items that help hunting and against items that harm hunting.

Between now and the meetings in D.C. in May are the many wild turkey hunting seasons in North America. These are among a relatively few open hunting seasons this time of year and, as hunters, we are true to ourselves when we’re out in nature, actively hunting. Gobble, gobble. Bang, bang.

Also, between now and the D.C. activities in May, many SCI Chapters will hold their annual fundraisers. I look forward to what is known as fundraising season because it is an opportunity for me to meet members in their local communities.

I invite all members to join local chapters and to support their activities because Chapters are the local face of SCI and the work chapters do to help hunting, conserve wildlife and help fellow humans is critical for the future of hunting worldwide.

Together we win and when we win, hunting wins. I thank all members for your dedication to SCI and hunting.

The post Purpose And Passion appeared first on Safari Club.

The post 2025 Advocacy Events at SCI Convention appeared first on Safari Club.

The post SCI Congratulates Doug Burgum on his Confirmation as Secretary of the Interior appeared first on Safari Club.

The lawsuit contends that BLM violated key federal laws and regulations, including the Administrative Procedure Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and most importantly, the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019. The Dingell Act mandates that federal lands be open to hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting unless specific exceptions apply. BLM’s own policy reinforces this principle, and approximately 99% of BLM lands are currently open to recreational shooting.

The decision to restrict nearly all shooting on the Sonoran Desert National Monument violates the Dingell Act and these other laws.

Previously, nearly 90% of the Monument was open to recreational shooting. However, after lawsuits by environmental groups, BLM adopted a proposal to close nearly 99% of the area to shooting. Neither the radical environmental groups nor BLM, in this instance, assessed how these shooting closures would affect Pittman-Robertson Act funds. Recreational shooters contribute most of these excise tax revenues, which exceed $1 billion annually and are critical for conservation efforts in all 50 states.

SCI, SAF, and the NRA are committed to protecting public land access for all Americans. This lawsuit aims to ensure that federal agencies uphold their legal obligations to balance conservation with recreational opportunities, safeguarding the future of hunting, shooting, and conservation funding for generations to come.  For the same reasons, SCI was prepared to sue over the complete closure of target shooting on the Bears Ears National Monument—but BLM reversed course over pressure from SCI and other groups, and kept shooting open.

“The Bureau of Land Management’s politically motivated decision to restrict recreational shooting is an affront to our heritage and the conservation principles that hunters and recreational shooters have championed for decades,” said SCI CEO W. Laird Hamberlin. “With new leadership under President Trump’s administration, we are optimistic that federal agencies will return to balanced, science-based decision-making that prioritizes public access and upholds the law.”

“This lawsuit isn’t just about recreational shooting; it’s about holding federal agencies accountable to the people they serve,” added SCI President John McLaurin. “The BLM’s decision disregards its responsibilities under federal law and undermines the significant contributions of sportsmen and women to funding conservation. We look forward to working with the new administration to ensure that public lands remain accessible for all citizens.”

Background:

For over 50 years, SCI has been the leader in defending the freedom to hunt and promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI is unique in the scope of its ability to defend and advance the freedom to hunt. SCI is the only hunting rights organization with a Washington, D.C.-based national and international advocacy team and an all-species focus. SCI also mobilizes more than 150 chapters and affiliate networks representing millions of hunters around the world.

The post SCI, SAF, NRA Jointly Sue BLM over Unjustified Closure of Recreational Shooting on Sonoran Desert National Monument appeared first on Safari Club.

If you haven’t already registered and signed up for one of the SCI block rooms in hotels, they are the best rates in town if you want to be next door to the Convention Center. You need to start looking now, picking out your rooms and getting the best registration packages!

I’m looking forward to meeting everyone who can join us at the SCI Convention Jan. 22-25, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee. You’ll be glad you decided to go and will enjoy a great experience! There are lots of changes, new happenings and the greatest vendors, events and dinners ever!

This issue of SAFARI Magazine is the “Convention Issue,” which, at more than 200 pages, is by far the biggest of the year. It includes the Convention Auction Preview Guide, which contains hundreds of exciting items that will be available in the many auctions that will be conducted.

The Convention is SCI’s biggest fundraiser each year, and the auctions account for a significant amount of that revenue — money that we use to realize our mission to protect the freedom to hunt and promote sustainable use wildlife conservation worldwide. Thanks to your generous participation, SCI is the WORLD LEADER!

What this means is that when you buy hunts, gear and services at the Convention auctions, you are directly supporting SCI and our mission. Auctions are critically important! So bid high and often! It’s for the Freedom to Hunt and Sustainable Use Wildlife Conservation!

But the Convention is all about SCI and YOU, too! We do raise critically needed funds, but we also have a great experience at the biggest, the best, the most entertaining Hunting Convention you’d ever want to go see! So, take advantage of everything that makes the SCI Convention unequaled in opportunity, value and just pure enjoyment!

Old friends, new friends — opportunities to talk about hunts taken and to be taken! It’s in Nashville! In short, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better place to have a big hunter/conservationist party! Come celebrate the Hunting Convention unlike anything else on earth and celebrate the most effective pro-hunting/pro-wildlife organization on the planet!

Historically, SCI took the lead when our Convention became known as the only venue in the world where safaris for any huntable species in the world could be arranged and where any of the guns, gear and other equipment needed to hunt could be obtained right there in one place at one time. The best way to benefit most from the Convention is to attend all four days and evenings.

There is so much to do, so much fun to have and so much to learn. But come for one, two days or four: I’m betting you’ll be back again and again!  It is that good! So much to see and do: Beretta Gala on Tuesday night; the Weatherby Gala and the SCI Broadway Bash Wednesday night; The “Night of the Hunter” followed by the Opry Experience at the Ryman Auditorium on Thursday night; the Freedom to Hunt event with the legendary rock and roll band Kansas on Friday night; and the Grand Finale Gala on Saturday night will be highlighted by the Diana, Hall of Fame and GSCO Pantheon Awards.

During the Convention daytime hours, don’t miss the Sables Luncheon, the Hunters Advocacy luncheon and the Veterans’ Breakfast!

The evening events alone are worth attending! The auctions alone are worth participating in! The Convention Show Floor, with over 900 exhibitors offering the best products and services available in the hunting world alone, is worth seeing! In other words, the SCI Convention is the best deal in the world! This year, join thousands of us attending the Convention and invite your friends to join you there. They will appreciate your introducing them to everything SCI has to offer.

To register and attend the Convention, go to convention.safariclub.org.

See you in Nashville!

The post Time for the Greatest Hunting Convention Ever appeared first on Safari Club.

Attendees representing SCI, including Treasurer Joe Pedersen, Federal Liaison Nick Uberti, and Digital Marketing Specialist Chris LaCivita Jr., facilitated the important discussion during the fishing trip with Senator Vance about the future of conservation, the role of hunting and fishing in public policy, and the significance of sportsmen and women’s involvement in this critical election year.

At the heart of the conversation with Senator Vance on the water and during the interview was a crucial issue on the ballot this year: protecting the rights of sportsmen and women. Senator Vance stressed the need for hunters and anglers to understand the stakes in this election and emphasized how former President Donald Trump expanded hunting and fishing access during his presidency. Senator Vance alsowarned that current Democratic leadership, specifically Vice President Kamala Harris, rolled back those gains.

“People who hunt and fish care the most about conservation – they care about the balance more than people who never spend any real time in the environment,” said Senator Vance. “We want to create the kind of administration that listens to the people most connected to these wildlife management problems and has a pragmatic approach.” 

“I would like to thank Senator Vance for his time and for advocating for pro-hunting, pro-conservation policies in our nation” said SCI Treasurer Joe Pedersen. “Michigan’s 660,000 hunters will play an important role in deciding which candidate wins this November, so make sure to remind your hunting, fishing, and shooting friends to vote or even go together to the polls.” 

“Senator Vance is a steadfast partner of the outdoor sporting community, and we are grateful that he took time out of a busy election season to discuss the issues most important to sportsmen and women across the country,” said SCI CEO W. Laird Hamberlin. “Make no mistake – the right to hunt and fish is on the ballot this year. Sportsmen and women will make the difference in battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia. We need every hunter and angler to vote on or before November 5th to protect the freedoms we hold dear.”

“SCI has an incredible history of promoting the interests of American sportsmen and women, and we’re so grateful for their sponsorship of the Ruthless variety program with Senator Vance,” said John Ashbrook, co-host of the Ruthless Podcast.

Links:

Ruthless Competition, JD Vance Goes Fishing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDalucFrvLg&t=1s

EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance FIRST Post-Debate Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi3Z6tqVrNw

Background:

For more than 50 years, Safari Club International (SCI) has led efforts to defend the freedom to hunt and promote wildlife conservation worldwide. With a global network of more than 150 chapters, SCI advocates for sportsmen’s rights and sustainable-use wildlife conservation at the national, state, and local levels. SCI’s “Hunters’ Embassy” headquarters in Washington, D.C. serves as a hub for its legislative, legal, and advocacy operations, ensuring the freedom to hunt remains protected for future generations.

For more information, visit www.safariclub.org.

The post Safari Club International Sponsors ‘Ruthless Podcast’ Fishing Outing and Interview with J.D. Vance appeared first on Safari Club.

Originally published in the 2024 September/October issue of Safari Magazine.

I am not going to be the least bit subtle about it. U.S. hunters must VOTE this year because the future of hunting depends on it.

Never before has the choice been so clear because of the track records of both the incumbent administrations (née Biden/Harris, but at the time of this writing, Harris/Walz) and the challenger (Trump/Vance) are known. Biden/Harris/Walz has been and always will be anti-hunting. Now and when he was President, Trump has been pro-hunting.

The political divide is so stark that neither side is going to change spots, so to speak. Additionally, Donald Trump Jr. is an avid hunter and Life member of SCI. He has helped SCI raise many thousands of dollars at the SCI Convention to help save hunting.

Even with the last-minute changes in which Biden pulled out of the race and was replaced by Harris, the bottom line remains the same: A vote for Trump is a vote FOR hunting, and a vote for Harris is a vote AGAINST hunting.

So much for the soap box, on other fronts, there are many good things happening now and in the near future.

For example, SCI finalized a new partnership agreement with Cinegética, Spain’s largest and most prominent hunting and conservation convention and the largest transatlantic alliance of hunting fairs and conventions in the world.

I was honored to represent SCI as a signer of the agreement with Marcos Quintas of Cega Multimedia, Venatoria representative and Marquis of Laserna Iñigo Moreno, and Director of Cinegética and Duke of Cardona Rodrigo Moreno.

Looking forward, the 22nd African Wildlife Consultative Forum will be held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, from Oct. 28 to Nov. 1. This is one of SCI Foundation’s most important efforts of the year because it brings together representatives from governments and stakeholders in the hunting world together to help conserve wildlife in Africa. Hunting is a critical element in sustainable use wildlife conservation.

Conservation is one of the six pillars upon which the future of SCI and hunting rests. The other pillars are Advocacy, Event Services (Convention), Hunting, Membership and Chapters.

And now is the time to plan to attend the SCI Convention Jan. 22-25, 2025, in Nashville. Register now. It’s going to be the best SCI Convention ever, and you won’t want to miss it. I look forward to seeing everyone in Nashville at the Convention.

Meanwhile, I can’t stress too strongly how important it is for every hunter to VOTE in this year’s elections. Our votes count tremendously in the elections for other representatives, from local and state races to the national elections for President and Congress.

The stakes are too high to be casual about elections, and especially this year. With the right representatives in office, SCI’s advocacy efforts can be much more effective.

SCI will continue fighting for hunting regardless of the outcome of the election. However, the future of hunting is much brighter when pro-hunting representatives are in office. It’s all up to us right now. We have the future of hunting in our hands, so we must not drop the ball.

 VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

The post VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! appeared first on Safari Club.

Originally published in the 2024 September/October issue of Safari Magazine.

An eventful couple of months it has been since the last issue of SAFARI Magazine. The tone, tenor and composition of the upcoming U.S. Presidential election has shifted significantly to say the least. 

President Biden has decided he isn’t running for re-election, and his Vice President is the anointed torch bearer for the Democrat party.

Speaking of torchbearers, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to acknowledge the Paris Summer Olympics. Having lived and worked as an Army officer in the American Embassy in Paris for three years with the French Ministries of Defense and Justice, I was privileged to see much of Paris and France. I know firsthand the beautiful uniqueness of the country and the city itself. I used to run marathons there and would run in the Tuileries every noon from one to two hours. The Tuileries was the location this year for three Olympic flames. The athletic venues were spectacular! The U.S. team competed beautifully, and we can celebrate all of them, each and every one. They are all winners, in my opinion. And that is the nature of athletic competition. Yes, it is great to win gold, just as it is great to make it there to compete.

But there is a different kind of competition. The Olympics are about sport, not life and death. SCI’s Advocacy is also a competition, but we are competing for the survival of wildlife and hunting. There is only win or lose. And if you lose, seldom is there another competition the next day, month, year or multiple years later.

SCI Advocacy doesn’t take place on the athletic fields. The life or death of hunting and the survival of wildlife takes place in the courts, the legislatures, the various departments of government around the world and in the courts of public opinion in every country. 

The anti-hunters are basically opposed to harvesting any wildlife; the animal rightists seem to believe that wildlife is just like the Disney characters in cartoons — basically human beings. Perhaps they wish it were true, but facts and science make it abundantly clear that wildlife, just like domestic livestock, must be managed, or it will eat itself out of existence or, in many places around the world, be poached out of existence.

And who is it who literally pays for managing wildlife — HUNTERS, of course. I wish that SCI Advocacy was as simple as showing everyone what the truth is! Unfortunately, it is not. Empty rhetoric and baseless emotional outbursts prey on systems and people who only ever see Disneyesque cartoons and animated creations. These fictionalized creations demand that SCI engage in the courts, in the public media, and in wildlife agencies more and more frequently to protect the freedom to hunt and sustainable use wildlife conservation. 

It also means that SCI engages in the political arena here in the U.S. to ensure that elected political leadership is comprised of individuals who value wildlife, who value hunters and hunting as the major pillars upon which sustainable wildlife populations are built, and who will base decisions about wildlife management and hunting upon fact and science and not emotional, baseless rhetoric.

Without competent, thoughtful, fact and science-focused leaders, the freedom to hunt, our hunting heritage and wildlife will suffer and literally fade into the oblivion of unrecoverable history.

As I said in my August message in Safari Times, the track records of the candidates for President of the United States, as well as local and state offices, are clear! If you’re for wildlife and the freedom to hunt, the choices are clear!

It is no longer a question of whether it will work out this year; we’ll just have to fix it in two or four more years. Very likely, there won’t be anything left to fix by then. The downward spiral will likely be cast in unbreakable stone.

Clarity is fine, but action is what is needed.

Vote. Vote early, and ensure your friends, fellow hunters and neighbors vote! Either individually or as Chapters, get the word out and take voters to polling places and vote! Encourage mail-in voting! There are enough hunters/conservationists in America to sway elections. This is the year to do it!

Make hunters, hunting and wildlife count! We all, me included, must do our part!

The post Vote For Hunting’s Future… Before It’s Too Late appeared first on Safari Club.

Originally published in the September 2024 edition of Safari Times.

Early voting is getting underway in the USA this month as we head toward the election in November. Never has an election been more important for hunters and hunting than it is this year. Literally, the future of hunting is in our hands.

If the election goes in one direction, the future of hunting will be bright. If it goes the other way, its future is in jeopardy.

Hunting benefits with a Trump election. We know this because that’s what happened during his first term in office. He even stopped by the SCI Hunters’ Embassy in Washington, D.C., to speak in support of hunting.

By comparison, the Biden/Harris administration has a long list of anti-hunting actions, and the specter of even more anti-hunting actions hangs heavily over a would-be Harris administration should she be elected President.

If all hunters vote, we can make a deciding difference. If we drop the ball and don’t vote, we have only ourselves to blame. So, I encourage all hunters to vote and help fellow hunters, as well as right-thinking friends and associates, cast their ballots, whether remotely or in person, depending on what methods are available locally.

Once we have voted, it is time to go hunting. Many seasons open this time of year, and the dove hunting opener is this month in states where doves can be hunted.

The dove hunting season sees more hunters in the field shooting more ammo than any other form of hunting. This is because dove hunting is an outstanding entry-level hunt for beginners and families. It is available locally without requiring a lot of time and money.

This is also the time for some of the early bowhunting big game seasons. Or it is when many of the hunts in Europe kick into high gear. It is the beginning of the hunting time of year throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

Hunting is one of the six pillars upon which the future of SCI and hunting rests. The other five are Advocacy, Chapters, Convention (Event Services), Membership and Conservation. Hunt hard and successfully this Fall while planning to attend two major events in January.

There will be a brand-new Texas Trophy Hunters Association Outdoors Extravaganza Jan. 10-12, 2025, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, and SCI’s Convention will be held Jan. 22-25, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee.

TTHA, together with SCI, promises a comprehensive showcase of hunting, fishing and camping experiences at the Outdoors Extravaganza in Texas. This pioneering event will gather guides and outfitters from around the globe, presenting a unique opportunity for enthusiasts to explore a diverse range of outdoor pursuits.

We all are aware that the SCI Convention each year is the biggest and best event of its kind in the world, and the upcoming Convention promises to be the best ever.

I invite all members to attend both events, if possible. You will be glad you did. I look forward to seeing everyone there.

The post Vote, Then Go Hunting appeared first on Safari Club.