Send in Wheelin’ Sportsmen event information
Prime event season is upon us! For Wheelin’ Sportsmen, summers mean fishing events, Fun and Learn Days, and planning for fall deer hunts. Make sure to keep us informed on all the great things your chapter is planning. Not only do we need the details for insurance reasons, we also post all events that are registered with us in time on our Web site, so members (and potential members) can search for activities in their area. Work with your regional director to provide us with:

• chapter name
• event date
• information for the main event contact
• type of event and activities offered
• a registration form (if you want it posted for downloading)

Click on the Adaptive Gear Links button at www.wheelinsportsmen.org to find more than 85 companies to help disabled sports enthusiasts get around outside. From accessible RVs to all-terrain wheelchairs, it’s a great resource for Wheelin’ Sportsmen members.

Companies are organized in these categories:

• Hunting/Outdoor Equipment
• Mobility Equipment/Wheelchair Accessories
• Vehicle/Vehicle Accessories
• Outdoor Recreation/Outfitters
• Medical Supplies
• Disability Resources

And let us know if one of your favorites is missing from the list. We’d love to share it with other Wheelin’ members. Simply send a link to iburkhart@nwtf.net.

Illana Burkhart
Wheelin' Sportsmen Coordinator

Check out the new Outreach Event Manual at www.wheelinsportsmen.org.
Click on the Events link.

The changing face of the NWTF

The NWTF convention is one of my favorite events of the year. I have an opportunity to catch up with old friends, meet new folks, and spend a lot of time talking about the Wheelin’ Sportsmen program with some of our most dedicated and passionate members. It may sound cliché, but having a chance to “put a face with a name” (or in many cases a voice) of the many people I talk to on the phone makes me feel more connected to what is going on in the field.

One might think that after attending eight conventions in a row, there wouldn’t be much that was different or that could surprise me. But this year that couldn’t be further from the truth. Around every corner of the exhibit hall and every bend of the hotel hallways, there was a new face. I’m not talking about running into people I’ve never met before. In a crowd of more than 44,000, there’s bound to be plenty of those.

The new faces I saw didn’t look like what I might have described eight years ago as “your average turkey hunter.” There were many more women, youth and people with disabilities than what I remember from my first convention.

The banquets, auctions and exhibit hall were full of families enjoying the convention together. Women were represented in positions of volunteer leadership at all levels. The youth calling contest divisions had more entries than ever before. And the observation I’m most proud of, two of our NWTF state chapter presidents are people who have a disability and rose through the Federation ranks through their involvement with Wheelin’ Sportsmen.

Much of this has to do with the prominent role our outreach programs play within the fabric of the NWTF. Chapters aren’t just holding events once a year; they pour their efforts into getting people with disabilities, women and kids engaged in a variety of activities all year long. Doing so helps in the NWTF’s effort to preserve the future of our sport and our hunting heritage.

This year’s convention showed me that our outreach programs are making a difference in people’s lives. And through the programs, more people have fallen in love with turkey hunting and the mission of the NWTF.
What I saw at convention was a glimpse into the changing face of the “average turkey hunter” and proved that the future of our sport is reliant upon bring new people into the flock. — Illana