This piece was originally featured in the June edition of Camp Talk
The presence of DSC at home in the States and around the world, continues to grow. DSC is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a member of the International Council for Game & Wildlife Conservation (CIC) and in time, may become a member of the European Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation (FACE).
DSC’s presence, and as importantly, its message of the benefits of international big game hunting, is also becoming more and more widespread around the world. For years we have told of the scope of grants made in support of the DSC mission by DSC and now DSC Foundation. A summary of all grants made by DSC Foundation can be found on the Foundation website – www.dscf.org – and an updated list of 2017- 2018 grants will appear in Game Trails Summer issue and the 2018-19 Resource Guide.
The DSC and DSC Foundation logos proudly displayed by a number of our grant recipients. Perhaps the most recognizable example is the DSC anti-poaching helicopter flown by the Zambeze Delta Anti-Poaching units. The DSC/DSC Foundation logos also appear on the Southern Africa Wildlife College aircraft, the Dande APU vehicles, along with the logo of the Lubbock Sportsman’s Club, the sign in the Lake Natron Wilderness area in Tanzania, and several other places.
We ask grant recipients to acknowledge, publicly, grants from DSC Foundation. Many go above and beyond to express their gratitude for the financial support. We also ask grant recipients to help us spread the message of why hunting is vital for the conservation of wildlife and wilderness. We ask recipients with large social media followings to help us spread the word, and the results have been impressive. By way of example, the viewership of one of our more popular video messages tripled over a 10- day period after Shane Mahoney shared the post.
The We Hunt for Life campaign is growing – the social media exposure is increasing rapidly. The Why We Hunt video produced by Ackerman-McQueen for DSC Foundation has taken on a life of its own. Several viewers have commented that the video encapsulates the best description of why we hunt that they have ever seen. Others refer to it as the beginning of a movement.
We have great momentum, but momentum without follow-through is meaningless. To maintain and feed this movement, we have renewed our agreement with Ackerman-McQueen to manage and expand the campaign. We have expanded our agreement with Safari Classics Productions to provide more great messages and outreach, and we are constantly looking for ways to get our message to the forefront.
Those of you who understand and believe in the concept – who get what “We Hunt for Life” means − you play a vital role in the campaign. Use your knowledge when the situation arises to spread the message and the DSC Foundation social media posts. As you travel this summer and the rest of the year, thank our supporters who help us get the message out, and take pictures of the DSC and DSCF logos you see in the field and share them on your social media pages.
This is an ongoing battle and each of you are soldiers in the fight. Make your voices heard. CT
DSC Foundation is a tax exempt nonprofit corporation operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Donations to DSC Foundation are deductible under Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.
