Volunteers are essential to the Hunter Outreach Program's mission of promoting and teaching safe, ethical, and responsible hunting to those
who have never before hunted or have limited experience. Such an ambitious endeavor simply could not succeed without the experiences, knowledge, and love of wildlife brought by sportsmen and sports women from across Colorado. Each year, hundreds of Coloradoans experience hunting and shooting sports for the first time through the Program's shooting clinics, unique hunting opportunities, and educational seminars—made possible by volunteers.
Give of yourself, for the future.
Screened and qualified volunteers assist with planning and conducting clinics, seminars, youth hunts; they support Huntmasters during events as photographers, shooting instructors, cooks, registration officials, and much more. If further qualified, interested and selected volunteers receive additional training to become certified Huntmasters.
Learn more about volunteering: Plan to attend the next orientation session. (See the box to the right for more information.) Each two-hour orientation provides an overview of the Hunter Outreach Program's activities and details about how to become part of a Huntmaster team. (If this isn't the right volunteer opportunity for you, look into other ways your can help through the Division's Volunteer Program.)
Huntmasters play a central role: They plan, coordinate, and manage hunts and hunt activities, and lead youth and novice hunts. Huntmasters teach, coach, mentor—and lead by example—through working with their charges and their charges' parents.
Prospective Huntmasters attend a specially designed certification workshop, learning how to plan and conduct a safe and educational hunt. It requires a rigorous weekend of 35+ hours of training, from a Saturday morning (early!) to the next afternoon. Simulating being on a two-day hunt, Huntmasters eat, sleep, and work at the training site and get a realistic idea of the demands required to plan and conduct a youth or novice hunt, while learning
- Outreach Program policies and procedures
- hunt planning—start to finish
- working with the public and media relations
- providing logistical support
- operating partner firing ranges
- pertinent Colorado laws and regulations
- administering first aid
See the box to the right for more about how to get started!
(Note: Prospective Huntmasters are not required to attend a volunteer orientation, but many have found it helpful to attend one before committing to Huntmaster certification training.)