Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Stories! As hunters and outdoors people that seems to be a common thing we all have lots of. Join your amateur guide and host on this channel Ken as he gets tales from guys and gals. Chasing that trophy buck for years to an entertaining morning on the duck pond, comedian ones, to interesting that's what you are going to hear. Also along with some general hunting discussions from time to time but making sure to leave political talks out of it. Don't take this too serious as we sure don't! If you enjoy this at all or find it fun to listen to, we really appreciate if you would subscribe and leave a review. Thanks for. checking us out! We are also on fb as Hunts on outfitting, and instagram. We are on YouTube as Hunts on outfitting podcast.
Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Dallas Safari Club: Uniting Hunters For Global Conservation
The passionate defense of conservation through hunting takes center stage as we welcome Rob McCanna, CEO of Dallas Safari Club (DSC). Rob's journey from small-town Pennsylvania outdoorsman to conservation leader reveals how a childhood connection to nature evolved into a mission to protect wildlife worldwide.
Dallas Safari Club might sound like a local hunting club, but don't let the name fool you. This powerhouse conservation organization operates globally with 27 chapters across America and international expansion on the horizon. Through their foundation, DSC awards millions in grants supporting wildlife research, habitat management, anti-poaching initiatives, and human-wildlife conflict mitigation worldwide.
The conversation tackles misconceptions head-on, particularly around African hunting. Rob shares a stunning statistic: not a single species faces extinction due to trophy hunting in Africa. Instead, the economic value created through regulated hunting provides crucial funding for habitat preservation and gives local communities alternatives to poaching or converting wilderness to agriculture.
Education emerges as a cornerstone of DSC's mission. Their partnership with the Outdoor Tomorrow Foundation brings conservation curriculum into middle and high schools nationwide, rekindling connections to nature that modern life often severs. As Rob notes, "When you take people out and expose them to hunting, shooting, fishing, you immediately see the impact it has on them."
Looking ahead, Rob invites listeners to the upcoming DSC Expo and Gala in July at the Gaylord Texan Resort—where a special announcement will unveil the organization's next conservation initiative. With membership options starting at just $250 for three years (currently including a custom knife worth $300), supporting wildlife conservation has never been more accessible.
Visit biggame.org to discover how hunters worldwide are uniting to ensure wild places and species thrive for generations to come. As Rob puts it, DSC brings together "like-minded people with one thing in mind, and that's how to help."
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this is hunts on outfitting podcast. I'm your host and rookie guide, ken marr. I love everything hunting the outdoors and all things associated with it, from stories to howos. You'll find it here. Welcome to the podcast. Hey, thanks for listening to this podcast episode. It means a lot when you do. We've got a great one for you.
Speaker 1:Today we are talking about an awesome organization that is first for hunters that many hunters might not even know about. The Dallas Safari Club is a world leader in supporting conservation and, not to mention, has one of the greatest outdoor shows on earth. We get into all that and so much more here today. You know it's great to learn about places like this that care about our future. Well, inuksuk dog food is no different. They want to see your pet live long and healthy, and that starts with the right choice of dog food. Nook Shook uses naturally, locally sourced products to keep your best friend happy and healthy through all stages of life and long into the future. These people really do care about your pet, being pet owners themselves.
Speaker 1:Also speaking about awesome organizations for you Canadian people listening, there's not a lot going on that helps us, you know, keep our firearms rights and up to date with what's going on and you know also, knowing where some gun auctions are and what's for sale, and some awesome information. Well, the Canadian access to firearms is just that when you join, you will get a magazine that's going to give you all that information and so much more. We're excited to have you guys listening on this podcast episode today. If you want to reach out to us, you can on Facebook Hunts on Outfitting or by email huntsonoutfitting at gmailcom All right. Hunts on outfitting at gmailcom All right. Yeah. So, rob, I mean, you recently became the CEO of the Dallas Safari Club, which congratulations. Some people might not know what we're talking about. I find that a lot of hunters know about it, but I find even more maybe don't, and it's a great organization. But before we get into, we know what you guys do and what it's all about. Would you mind kind of telling us let's meet you, I guess?
Speaker 2:Who's Rob? Oh boy, that's a loaded question. Just a summary. Yeah, I guess a summary is and I've done a few podcasts and been trying to tell people about who I am since I've been here. I actually started January 2nd in the role of CEO of Dallas Fire Club and Dallas Fire Club Foundation and where I spent 35 years before that was in the shooting sports industry. So I worked for a lot of big brands Remington Arms Company, walter Arms, places like that for a lot of years, wholesale side of the business and everything, sort of soup to nuts in the shooting sports for 35 years and that, that, that sort of grounds you.
Speaker 2:But how did I get into the shooting sports?
Speaker 2:I think we can really back it up to, uh, being born and raised in northwestern pennsylvania in a little 2,500 one-stop light town where you knew what time of year it was, by what animal you were hunting or which fish you were catching or anything like that.
Speaker 2:So it was sort of instilled into your blood the outdoors and I think that started. I got into fishing probably at 8, 9 years old and hunting at 12 years old when you could do it, and back in those days you really understood, you enjoyed what you're doing, but you didn't know why. And that leads you into, hey, going to the shooting sports industry after you get out of college, or even while in college, working at a local firearms store because of your passion that you have for the outdoors and the things you do. So what you find is, as you move up the totem pole in your job and your job description over the years, you have less and less time for doing why you got involved with it in the first place. So you start to realize as you get older that, yes, you love hunting, you love the outdoors, you love everything about it, but it all comes back to conservation and introducing new people to that way of life and being able to guarantee the future of that lifestyle going forward for generations to come, if that makes any sense.
Speaker 1:Absolutely it does. Yeah, so you know that's your start into it. How?
Speaker 2:I mean, how did you become about getting the role of being the CEO of such a great, you know organization foundation?
Speaker 2:So it actually came out of the blue and I was working in Fort Smith, arkansas, for Walter Arms Company and had only been in that position as CEO there for about five years and everything was good, very happy, and I happened to attend the Dallas Safari Club Foundation gala in Dallas a year ago and I met a lot of people and just started talking to them and I saw there was a lot of crossover from the shooting sports industry to the people were there from the outdoor, personality people and everything like that, and we just started talking a little bit and I met a lot of the key players from the organization and I didn't know at the time that they were looking for a new CEO and we didn't even talk about it.
Speaker 2:And an opportunity came up later that year that was in July, and in October a phone call came up just asking me if I knew anybody that would be interested in the position with my contacts and I talked to Scott there and thought about it a little bit and I said I'd get a hold of some people and get back to them. And then, as I hung up the phone, I said, well, hey, maybe that should be me, maybe I should talk to him about it. And we had a great conversation. And that led to another conversation, another conversation and by mid-November I had accepted the position as the new CEO here.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, so almost by happenstance. That's great, I mean. I think, though, too, you said that you came from the shooting sports industry, but I mean the similarities between that and what's going on at the Dallas Safari Club, or any organization like that would be. You know, whether it's shooting or fishing or hunting, we're all trying to protect and conserve what we're able to do at the moment and hopefully can continue to do forever.
Speaker 2:Right and it also offers up because there is a little distinction between the two One, I mean the corporate world, and then the nonprofit world. And what's funny is the conservation side. Is, you know, standing up? I mean, let me read you the. Not read you, but tell you.
Speaker 2:The mission of Dallas Safari Club is basically to ensure the conservation of wildlife through public engagement, education and advocacy for well-regulated hunting and sustainable use. So when you hear that that sounds like a lot of things, but you hear the whole idea of hunting and doing it through education and advocacy, and you realize that, hey, most hunters, why aren't they tied together with people to support Second Amendment rights? There really has been no cross. The shooting sports is all about Second Amendment rights. So, tying groups together. We've worked with the NRA since I've come on board and talking to things like that and getting other organizations, all the manufacturers on the firearms and ammunition side and things like that, to understand that, hey, conservation is tied to your industry, industry and we need to work together so that we all can have a united voice to do the things we need to do to make sure that we ensure the heritage for many, many years to come right?
Speaker 1:yeah, I mean, it's not just about doing this for hunting, necessarily. It's doing it just to have these animals and the protected land that you know, that, that that they live on, for everyone to be able to enjoy and use, just like you were saying. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yep, it's exactly that.
Speaker 2:It's the outdoors in general and making sure that we're all there to promote it, because a lot of people don't like our way of life or that way of life and those people and organizations tend to have a unified voice of how they come against us a lot of times and we haven't really figured out how to be that unified voice, to push back and to start getting our agenda known.
Speaker 2:Also and the other side of that is telling people the great things that we do and that was the one thing that even I didn't know about Dallas Safari Club before I came on board is that Dallas Fire Club never really tooted their own horn out there and told people what they're doing and why they do it.
Speaker 2:And when you really dig into it, what I saw when I get here and I've been in the position for about five months now but between Dallas Fire Club and Dallas Fire Club Foundation, we award millions of dollars in conservation grants and we're putting that money out there that supports wildlife research, habitat management, anti-coaching, all those type of things that go to, I mean, reduce human-wildlife conflict mitigate programs and stuff like that. Human wildlife conflict mitigate programs and stuff like that All these funds that we're putting out there is really to support the way of life and support the sustainable use of that lifestyle going forward and I didn't know that coming into this position of how much work was being done that way. But those monies and those dollars, they really make a difference out there.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I mean, and it's great to have a unified front because I find, as hunters, a lot of us, you know, we wake up every morning thinking like where should I hang my tree stand? What bucks do I have on camera? Where do I want to go on my hunt this year? I mean, there's people that wake up every day and think how can we stop hunting? How can we stop hunting? And we need to realize that I think sometimes and hopefully join some organizations and help give a voice against that.
Speaker 2:Right, and that was going back to the conversation of who is Rob. What really made my decision so easy when the opportunity came up to come to work for this great organization was I've been blessed to be in the shooting sports industry for 35 years and had many contacts and met many people and had a great career. But the aspect of that passion, of why I got into the shooting sports how could I reignite that passion and use the back half of my career to do some good and give back to help promote that, that going forward and making sure that not just my generation but the next generation, the generation after that all has the ability to enjoy the successes and and things that I've experienced in my life?
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, exactly. So let's back up a tiny bit and just can you get us the start, the sum up, of the Dallas Safari Club? It's located in Dallas, texas, and you know, if you could just how it came about for those people wondering.
Speaker 2:Well, Dallas Safari Club it's actually. The funny thing is it's been around for a long time. I think it's 42 years or something like that. My math might be off, but I believe it started in 1982. And it started as a group of people right here in Dallas and that's where the name came from, which has evolved so much, which I think is you hear Dallas Safari Club and you think, first of all, you hear safari, you think, oh, it's only about Africa. Well, it's not about that anymore. You hear club and we're much bigger than a club.
Speaker 2:So addressing that is from what it started, as 42 years ago, the organization has grown into one of the number one conservation organizations in the world and we reach out all over the world. We have 27 chapters across the United States, seven chapters across the United States. We're looking at doing chapters in maybe Canada, Europe, South Africa and that whole safari part of it. It does lead to saying a lot about the stuff safari in Africa and most countries, but we also do a ton of work in the United States and in Canada and Mexico and all those other places. It's a worldwide organization. It's not a club, it's a big organization that really is out there to promote, I guess, to use another tagline to promote science-based wildlife management and conservation programs at a worldwide level, Right, at a worldwide level.
Speaker 1:Right, and then I like that word that you used. It's not used enough. Maybe the science-based, not emotion-based, like the antis use and stuff but it's science-based on regulated hunting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that is such a key to all of this, because hunters, conservationists, everybody that's what we talk about, this unified voice. A lot of times, the emotions can lead people that are like-minded to disagree with each other and not get in line. But if you always stick to the science and look at why you're doing things and why things have worked and why things don't work, and you look at the science, it becomes very clear how people can work together and support the same thing and take that emotion out of it, just like you said.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, yeah. So I mean you guys have a lot going on all over. I want to kind of get into that, especially about your film, the Journey to Understanding that. You guys your short film with is it Catherine Semker? Yeah, in the Zambezi Valley.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have a lot of projects out there like that and actually I'd like to talk about that one. Maybe we can do that more at a later date because I want to put you into more some current things that we're really talking about right now, and the biggest thing we have on our plate right now is July 17th through 19th. We are having an inaugural event right here in Dallas at the Gaylord Texan. That was kind of sprung out of a couple different areas. We've had a foundation gala for about five years and it's been so successful that this year we're adding an expo to it and it's turned into a sold-out event from an exhibit standpoint, where we're going to have a three-day show, where there's going to be a show for everybody's invited and see some of the best hunting outdoors, all kinds of different products that's available in the industry, and have a three-day show. So we're real excited about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, I've heard that there's everything there to buy, from T-shirts to helicopters.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that would sum it up, which sounds pretty funny when you say it that way, but yes, it's really. It's a show floor that when you walk around, there's something new to look at and something exciting around every corner. You may go from talking to a hunting outfitter that's selling a trip to New Zealand and walk away from his booth and turn the corner and see a jewelry store that has some of the most beautiful jewelry you've ever seen in your life, and then walk away from the jewelry store and see some beautiful artwork and paintings or bronze and then, like you said, then you turn the corner and there's a helicopter. Then you turn the other corner and there might be a yacht sitting there. So it's truly a show, for that has something for everybody. But the one thing about it is it's excitement, no matter where you look, and that's what. That's what turns it into a really fun, different event that allows people to bring the whole family to and enjoy themselves in a nice resort in in dallas.
Speaker 1:When it's in the end of july, it can be pretty hot yeah, yeah, exactly, and uh, you know it's just like you said, it's exciting for all members of the family and uh, it's going, you know it's for a great cause and just supporting what you guys do and just getting the name out there as well.
Speaker 2:Right, and the bottom line of it it's not what we talked about earlier. The other side of that is it is a fundraiser and we use it. We have backpacks and we have events where we have auctions and we have raffles and all those types of things, but it's also an event to raise money to do all those things we talked about. We need to be able to do those those things we talked about. We need to be able to do those things so we can have that grant money to pass it on to support things and move things into the future.
Speaker 1:Right, and then I mean one of your great grants. You know you guys do grants to support anti-poaching. If you want to talk about that because people think you know they see it's a hunting club, Well, that's probably presume, but they don't.
Speaker 2:They wouldn't think that you guys would be supporting anti-poaching, maybe, and things like that, just trying to help, uh, preserve the animals yep, and and when you say anti-poaching this this is another thing that really hit me hard is from an outside standpoint, or even people that have been hunting for their whole lives you hear anti-poaching and you just think, oh well, you know, somebody's just out there taking one animal illegally, or something like that.
Speaker 2:I mean this is big business. And it gets to the point where certain animals that are protected I mean people are shooting animals and it becomes very dangerous. People lose their lives. These poachers are serious. These poachers are serious and we have to use a lot of that funding to support things from law enforcement to military involvement, sometimes even to to take care of some of these things in in foreign countries and even in the US, you have to watch a lot of things are done that can really impact the species and can really impact things that will go forward with the hunting regulations that are passed due to people that are breaking law. So it's a very important part of what we do and it's something we're always focused on and looking at from every direction.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, like you said about the anti-poaching yeah, people maybe there's a misconception thinking, yeah, like you said, they're only taking an animal or two or something. I mean these are, most of them are well-organized, often backed by, you know, militant rebel groups to get more money for you know, say in the ivory trade, etc. I mean they are really wiping out some species and, like you said, you need militaries to go in and deal with them.
Speaker 2:Right, right. So it's a very big problem and something that probably doesn't get on most people's radar. So I appreciate you calling it out, because that is something we spend a ton of time on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean to people. I was having a conversation with the hunter the other day and I just thought everyone kind of realized this, but maybe not. He was against. He's like oh, I don't think there needs to be trophy hunting, you know, in africa. Like he's against african hunting because the media has kind of put it out as a bad thing and and I, you know, I know the film talks about that a bit, but just in general people don't realize how important it is. I, you need to put a monetary value on an animal People aren't going to pay most people won't anyway $60,000, say, to take a picture of an elephant, but they will pay that to hunt it, and that in turn protects, you know, the land there, not to mention the meat going back to the locals and the jobs created. That keeps those locals from getting into helping poachers, you know, just to put food on their table.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean when you really think about it. I mean you did a great summary there. I can tell you've watched the movie and stuff.
Speaker 2:But when you look at Dallas Fire Club members or even members of other organizations that go to these places, they routinely travel to some of the most remote, most dangerous places in the world to hunt and the opportunity to hunt in those localities and stuff it frequently provides the only income available to the local populations in those areas and maybe the only thing keeping locals from eliminating native wildlife habitat is the fact that people are coming and spending money and it's keeping them afloat and doing the things it needs to do in those areas.
Speaker 2:And you talked about also the meat donation. And that's the one thing is, if you do go over to South Africa or Namibia or Tanzania or wherever you go, you can go hunt animals there and you can bring back the hides that you can't bring back any of the meat. And the great thing about with our organization that all those animals that are shot, that meat goes to the local communities and feeds the people and it's a sustainable source of protein that people might not have, or I shouldn't say might not have. They would not have if those hunters were not there doing it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and too, I mean these animals. Say, when you're on an elephant hunt or giraffe, normally these animals aren't just selected at random. I mean the pH there has certain ones chosen that need to be eliminated from the herd for, you know, various reasons. There's a lot of thought put into it and I looked up the numbers just out of curiosity, because some people you know they think that the elephants are dying off. Uh, in the zimbizhi valley I looked, I think the population was like well over 200 000 animals yeah, and it it stands that way and that's what.
Speaker 2:That's what hunting has done and that's what conservation does. When you're managing wildlife through hunting, you can get these results. Where you have growth, people laugh about it, but the more that the hunters are involved, there usually gets to be more animals than there are less, and you want to hear from here. I'll give you a really good stat here, as you hear people that are against trophy hunting or just any hunting in general in Africa. Let me ask you a question Do you know how many numbers of species that are threatened with extinction due to trophy hunting in Africa are right now? How many numbers of species are threatened with extinction due to people hunting them?
Speaker 1:I'm guessing about zero.
Speaker 2:Yep, the number is zero. And that's the amazing part is, and that's what conservation and sustainable use can do for populations of animals. If there was not that going on in a lot of these countries, there would be a lot of animals who would already be wiped from the continent and we'd never see them again. So it's a great success story also.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I mean not to just completely talk about Africa, but it's a unique place. You know, I'm sure you're familiar with the whole Cecil the Lion story with the dentist from there that shot it legally and all that. And you know there's a big uproar and everything. And then I remember reading about it later and there was no more lion hunting there, because you know there's a big uproar and everything. And then I remember reading about it later and there was no more line hunting there because you know the outfitters and stuff, everyone was threatened and the animal rights groups and stuff going after them, and I guess that area was logged because it had no monetary value to keep it left, you know, as wilderness. It was logged and it was turned into farmland and there'll be no more animals there anymore.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:They, uh, they did a lot more damage than they think. They killed a lot more animals in the end, the animal rights group, uh, than they could ever know. By just like lack of ignorance, I guess you could say on the subject, yeah. Yeah, so uh so, Rob, what other projects? Uh, so Rob, what other projects, uh, you know, do you guys have going on? I know you guys got them all over the world. I mean, what's some big projects you guys have going on in, uh, in North America right now?
Speaker 2:Well, well, one thing I do want to get back to. Back to our our gala night on July 19th. We are going to be announcing something very big and special that our foundation, the Dallas Fire Club Foundation, is bringing on board, and it's going to be a great announcement. It's going to do things to help promote conservation and do the things we need to do and the people that support it. So I do want to put a little buzz out there. Between now and then, we'll be doing a lot of little teaser ads on social media and the talks like I'm having with you now about this program that's going to be coming out for our great big launch on that night. So we're real excited about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it sounds very exciting and I'm sure people are very curious as to what's what it's going to be and you know, and the tickets to get into and everything are very, very reasonable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there's opportunities. We were having a lot of social media influencers getting out there right now and I don't want to give too much away to the people that haven't bought tickets yet, but there's going to be some discount codes and people being able to get on the floor for, like I said, tickets compared to other events and something in this caliber. It'll be very, very family friendly pricing and everything like that. So we're excited about the ticket sales that are going on and all of our advertising is breaking right now. Ticket sales that are going on and all of our advertising is breaking right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So it's July 17th and 19th this summer in Texas. Those of you wondering definitely, yeah, it'd be worth the trip out. I definitely plan on going. I won't be able to do this year, but next year I'd like to fly down here from Canada and check it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, the good news is you don't even get to wait until next summer, because this is our event in the summer, and then in February of 2026, we will be back to our next convention. So February 2026, we're back in Atlanta with our full-blown convention, which is as big as this gala and expo is. Our convention tends to be. The show floor tends to be about twice to almost three times the size, and when you see how big everything's going to be at the expo, that's really going to blow people's minds to realize the expo's big, but when we get to our convention that's really the giant size of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so just something else to really look forward to and plan out on the calendars. Yeah, maybe I'll be able to make that one. It'd be a good time of year to go somewhere that's a bit warmer, yeah, so, rob, you guys also do a lot. I mean, obviously the youth are very important because that's the next generation that's hopefully going to carry on what you guys are accomplishing and hope to accomplish. You guys do a lot of stuff with the youth. Would you care to talk a bit about that, just with safety courses and just getting some involvement?
Speaker 2:Well, so here's a new one for us actually and it's funny, it keeps coming back to our july event to be to the guest. So, uh, we're actually having a texas uh hunter's education class scheduled, uh, during our uh expo and gala that people of any age and a lot of times it leans towards youth, but it can be of any age can come in and there's a six-hour course to get their hunter's education certification for the state of Texas. So that's a big thing we're doing. We're offering that at a real reasonable price, providing lunch and doing everything. So it's an opportunity for everybody that wants to get involved to get their hunter's education credentials and do that. We also have some things coming up.
Speaker 2:There's a great organization that we have started getting back together with that we I don't know why, but over a bunch of years they sort of separated, but it's called the Outdoor Tomorrow Foundation and we're holding an event with them. I'll probably get the date wrong here. I want to say June 19th. We're getting together, just having a bunch of their members and our members that have been associated in the past getting them back together. But the Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation is an amazing organization that actually has programs that they are teaching actual classes in middle schools and high schools across the United States, so those types of people that they're actually having classrooms, that you walk into a classroom in a school and see taxidermy and see Dallas Safari Club banners and things like that.
Speaker 2:So people, the kids are actually learning about the outdoors lifestyle while they're in school and it's an accredited class to their high school and everything like that and that's just an amazing, amazing program because we've sort of gotten away from the people that live in cities don't understand the upbringing that I had like I told you in that small little town in Pennsylvania is this is a way they can be exposed and actually talking to the kids. A couple times in one of the classrooms I actually was able to visit. It was funny because the kids told me they were interested in the class. Their parents didn't really want to take it because they didn't understand it and then after the kids have signed up for the class and love it so much, now their parents are getting involved with it. So it's bringing not only that younger generation but the medium generation in between a bunch of the older people that are out there. It's really invigorating people to come back and see what the outdoors is about and why conservation makes sense and why you should be involved.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's. You know. It's really great to hear, like you said, I find that as life keeps going on, we're getting such a much larger detachment from our roots. I mean, before it used to be, most people hunted or knew someone that hunted and is just a very normal thing that you know it's part of everyday life really and I find that, yeah, it's, there's a huge detachment from that now.
Speaker 2:And I blame technology for it, I blame time for it. It's just, it's a lot of different things and it's also, unfortunately, where you grow up and where you're exposed to it, where you have the ability to be exposed to it. So yes to your question about the youth. It is so important that we start letting people experience the outdoors again and what that means, and have them find the joy in it that I was so lucky to be able to find when I was 9 or 10 years old, when I started into it. Because when you, when you take people out and expose them to hunting, shooting, fishing, whatever it may be, you immediately see the impact it has on them and once that passion is ignited in them, it can start bringing those next generations around again yeah, yeah, exactly so it's.
Speaker 1:It's really great that you guys are you know a part of that as well. Um, and then I see too, you guys you know, help fund research and stuff into things said science-based stuff that sometimes animals need a season opened up back up on them, such as, like the grizzly bears in British Columbia, where that had shut down, and I think now they're starting to realize like we should probably open that again down, and I think now they're starting to realize like, uh, we should probably open that again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean that comes down to, like you said, the wildlife research and habitat management and actually population surveys.
Speaker 2:When you see things that were falling off and conservation efforts have been put in place or maybe species have been reintroduced, you've got to monitor them and that's where a lot of the things that we get involved with with those population surveys and these are the grants that we give out what these tend to fund, is the research into those type things to monitor how those species are doing and what the population growth is and when it's time to say, hey, I know we haven't hunted these in a long time, but the population is getting so big that if we don't start we're going to have a bigger problem.
Speaker 2:And also how those species interact with other species. If you get too many bears, you might have not as many mule deer, because there's some bear out there that are taking a lot of the young mule deer out of the system as a food source. So it all ties together as a food source. So it all ties together and that's what makes it so great to have the ability to get the grants out and to monitor and to do these different things to understand when it's time to promote more hunting or less hunting or whatever that may be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly, you know. So, Rob, you're surrounded by this every day. This is your job. More of a passion. It sounds like to me, you know, do you get a chance to go hunting yourself still?
Speaker 2:well, see, that was part of it.
Speaker 2:So now that's, that's the million dollar.
Speaker 2:Question is I've, I've been, I have been very lucky to have hunted all over the world and but as time went on, that was the part I was seeing in the previous job I had is that I really didn't have as much time as I wanted to go out.
Speaker 2:And really for me, at this stage of my life I still enjoy the hunting so much. But what I enjoy even more is introducing new people to going out and hunting. So the time I have now I really focus on trying to take and introduce somebody who's never hunted before, whether it be for a squirrel, a turkey, a deer, a kudu, whatever it may be, whatever their passion may be, or what they're involved with is being able to take somebody out and having them exposed to it for the first time and having me introduce them to it. That's what I get a lot of joy out of, it and that that does a lot of things that we've talked about, because that ignites the passion in them, it keeps my passion ignited and it also brings them into uh, maybe wanting to bring somebody else in at their level at a later time yeah, no, exactly, and I try to bring as many people hunting as I can myself, and even if they don't stick with it, at least they're educated to it.
Speaker 1:So that way they're not necessarily they don't have to do it, but they're not against it, and if ever it comes up in conversation they can be like well, actually, you know it is good and this is how it's really like and stuff.
Speaker 2:It makes it easier to debunk a lot of the myths out there. What's going on?
Speaker 1:Exactly right a lot of the myths out there. What's going on exactly right? Yeah, so I mean you've been all over the world hunting stuff. Uh, I gotta ask where do you have a top three favorite place, favorite animal to hunt?
Speaker 2:and this is the question. It's funny, this is the question I always get in this position is the ceo dallas party club and what is? What is your top animal?
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I always answer it the same way. I really don't have a top animal. I have experiences and there's an emotional experience and then there's animals and there's the type of hunting and there's so many different variables. But I love hunting every animal equally the same. If I'm going out hunting, like I mentioned, whether it be a squirrel or whether it be an elephant and I have never hunted an elephant that is the top of the totem pole where I hope to get to, but the love is there and the passion is there for every animal that I'm hunting. From an emotional standpoint, I grew up in Pennsylvania and it was a heritage and it was hunting with my father, my brother, my, my, my relatives. And if I could go and hunt one one last time in my life it would be if my dad can come back and join us again and hunt with my family and spend time in Pennsylvania hunting a white tail. That would be, that's where I cut my eyepiece and that would be the emotional top of the chain for me.
Speaker 2:Living in Dallas, I'm glad that I'm finally a Texan after a lot of years of living in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arkansas, now into Texas, because I found some great hunting in Texas, down by the Big Bend region where you can hunt free-range mule deer, desert mule deer and, believe it or not, free-range elk. That is just amazing. And the experiences you can hunt in Texas and the wildlife you have there. I've been blessed. I love hunting red deer in Spain, had an amazing opportunity to do that, and even traditional driven hunt in Germany, just outside of Berlin, shooting fallow deer and roe deer and boar. So, like I said, I can go on and talk about the experiences forever. I don't ever like to rank them because I've enjoyed them equally. Uh, and it's just getting something different out of each of the experiences is what it's all about nice, I like that.
Speaker 1:No, that was a. That was a great answer. I mean, it's not the animal, it's the experience and I I can definitely appreciate that right, and all the experiences are different and and it's who you share them with too.
Speaker 1:That's the other big part of it yeah, yeah, I mean I like that part with hunting, especially myself here, a lot of the small game hunting, because big games sometimes people get a little more uh, I don't want to say standoffish, but it's more solo. Uh, I like you know, I like the social aspect of the hunt and just sharing it with whoever wants to tag along.
Speaker 2:And from a business side of it. I've always said this too. This is another side that you probably didn't look at. I can learn more about a person's character and ethics and everything by spending a four-day hunt with them than I could after 20 years of doing business with them, because you you really understand what makes a person tick and how they act and everything, and you really get to know a person if you spend time with them in the field yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1:I hadn't, you know, given that much thought, but you're, you're absolutely right. That makes complete sense, really. I want to talk to you a bit, rob, about memberships. Obviously, we're talking about this great organization, all that you guys do what it stands for, what it helps protect and grow. How do people get signed up for it?
Speaker 2:Well, it's real easy. Our website is very easy. It's biggameorg, so it can't get much more simple than that. A bunch of small words that everybody can spell. So it makes it easy and it's easy to remember.
Speaker 2:It's the biggameorg, but we have memberships at all different levels, from one year, three years, five years, lifetime, spouse memberships, all kinds of different memberships and we're really going to start promoting those big time. And again I hate to keep saying this I'm going to go back to our event that's coming up and do a push for our gala and expo here in July. Our three-year voting membership has always run $250. And it still will be that price for a three-year voting membership at that event. But if you sign up for that membership at that event over our gala and expo date, we're going to have a limited edition Flint Flame knife with a custom Dallas Safari Club logo engraved into it that has a retail value of three hundred dollars. So you can do the math uh, you buy a membership and you get the membership for three years and everything that comes with that. Plus they're going to hand you a three hundred dollar knife right over the table when you sign up for it.
Speaker 1:Wow, can't beat it.
Speaker 2:We're excited about that one. I think it's a great opportunity to get people to understand what we're about and get into a good membership and take part of voting and everything we do, and get a great keepsake and a high quality keepsake at the same time.
Speaker 1:I mean, yeah, you can't lose with that. I mean even the membership itself, even if you aren't getting that it's, you know, the knife. It's a very reasonable, very reasonable for what, what it's going towards, you know right, just helping protect what we all, you know, what we all do.
Speaker 2:And, believe me, I would love to have a bunch. I'd love to run out of knives at our event. So, anybody, you can send people our way. Feel free to tell everybody about it. But outside of that, like I said, go to biggameorg and look at memberships and there's any type of membership that you can possibly imagine to get in on and customize it to what works for your individual needs.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, exactly, rob, I know you're a really busy guy and really appreciate you taking the time out of your day and your schedule to be on the podcast here. I hope that the people listening to this it kind of opens up to them what you guys are and and a lot of people I think might not know that and all that you do. Um, is there any? And I hope everyone checks out the you Guys' Expo in July. Is there anything else you wanted to add?
Speaker 2:No, I think we've covered it. I really appreciate you giving me the time today to talk. I appreciate your questions. You asked some great questions on some things that I think I take for granted sometimes, that people should know, but sometimes there's a lot of things about organizations that people don't know.
Speaker 2:The last thing I will say is, if you want to know more about us, come to one of our events. The best thing I can tell you is you will meet a bunch of like-minded people that are only there with one thing in mind, and that's how to help. So there's no bad questions. They want to guide, they want to direct and they want to show the passion that they have for the outdoors. And if you have it too, they want to bring it out. And that's what makes Dallas Safari Club so special as an organization. There's no egos, there's no anything. It's all about helping people that are like-minded and welcoming them into the group to make friendships that will last forever, and that's why I'd love for everybody on here go to biggameorg, check us out. Come to one of our events. If it can't be the event in July, it's the Gaylord Texan Resort. Look at us for other events that we have coming up and you can find all those events listed on biggameorg also.
Speaker 1:All right, perfect, rob, you summed it up great. Again, thanks so much and best of luck, and I can't wait to see some pictures and I know some people will be taking videos of your guys' event.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they definitely will, and they'll be posting some live during the event so that even gains a little bit more excitement. So we're happy about that too.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to hear your further announcements when uh when the Cal comes up, when the expo comes up.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, thank you so much for the opportunity to talk and, like I said, I love. I love the questions you asked and I hope that. I hope that answers some questions for you, but, more importantly, I hope it answered a bunch of questions for the people that are going to be listening to this, and I'd love to see you at the event and if you come to the event and you see me walking around say hey, I listened to the podcast, I'd love to talk to you and shake your hand, so look forward to seeing you there.
Speaker 1:Great Thanks.