First Hunt Foundation

FHF is working hard to become the largest new hunter mentoring organization in the U.S. FHF is striving to establish best business management practices to be sustainable for the long term. FHF is working to recruit state, regional and national leaders who can volunteer their time in organizing our growing organization. Forming local FHF Chapters is a priority for FHF leaders where training can be organized within a more structured environment. FHF worked on getting its social media presence better organized to market our message. Two key positions were recruited in 2022 to build and run our programs. A new Share the HERitage national director was recruited to recruit and train more girls and women. A new Forgotten Rites national director was recruited to work with underserved communities and specifically people of color.

FHF seeks to recruit mentors that in turn will train and take out new hunters. Recruiting mentors is one of FHFs main focus as there is a direct relationship between the number of new hunters trained and the number of available mentors. In 2022, FHF signed up an additional 212 background checked mentors. That brought the total number of FHF mentors to 839. FHF recruited mentors to have an operational footprint in 40 states. FHF attended major outdoor trade shows to recruit mentors and develop networks with State Fish & Game agencies and outdoor industry vendors.

FHF seeks to find mentees or new hunters of all ages, genders and ethnicities that have a desire to learn about hunting. In 2022 FHF accomplished 11,861 mentor days. Mentor days are the days spent teaching a hunting skill or actually taking a mentee out on their first hunts. There were 5,257 mentored hunting days and 6,604 mentored training days. The total new hunter count for the year was 2,251 which includes 959 adults and 1,292 youth. Of the total, there were 1,285 females and 966 males.