Lolo, MT—For the third year in a row, the International Hunter Education Association – USA, in partnership with SIG SAUER announces the top 50 Volunteer Hunter Educators in the United States.
With over 45,000 volunteer hunter educators in the United States (the second largest volunteer corps to volunteer firefighters) vying for the award, this prestigious IHEA-USA Instructor of the Year Award presented by SIG SAUER honors only one hunter educator in each state for rising above and beyond their normal duties in 2021. Above and beyond means not only spending countless hours offering volunteer time teaching, but also often includes personal hours mentoring, volunteering time to other outdoor programs, teaching additional clinics and classes, contributing valuable ideas to their state Hunter Education programs, and performing excessively more to create safe hunters and shooters than is expected of any volunteer.
Alex Baer, Executive Director of the IHEA-USA, states, “This is the third year we’ve celebrated each state’s hunter education volunteers during our International Conference, and we are proud to honor those who have helped others join the hunt safely and responsibly over the last 12 months. Congratulations to all the winners this year, and thank you for your selfless contributions to hunter education.”
SIG SAUER’s commitment to recognizing these educators includes a prize package, and an award for their selflessness and their contribution to the future of safe hunting. The IHEA-USA asks that if these individuals are known or recognized by you, you thank them for their valuable commitment to teaching firearms safety and conservation. Without them, we’d have more accidents afield and less hunters supporting our industry.
2023 IHEA-USA State Instructors of the Year
| Alabama | Tony Landenwich | Alaska | Timothy Booth |
| Arizona | Dave and Robert McDowell | Arkansas | Roy “Freddy” Penka |
| California | Robert Govier | Colorado | Summer Goodyear |
| Connecticut | Carl Matteucci | Delaware | Dan Zeman |
| Florida | Patrick Sreenan | Georgia | Jeremy Green |
| Hawaii | David Oshiro | Idaho | Dan Murphy |
| Illlinois | Ron Cook | Indiana | Marlin Kohlmeier |
| Iowa | Jill Schmidt | Kansas | Gary Coleman |
| Kentucky | Loman Scarbrough | Louisiana | Lawrence Lapeyrolerie |
| Maine | Glen “Doc” Doctermann | Maryland | August S “Augie” Gray |
| Massachusetts | Steven La Rivee | Michigan | Doug Hastings |
| Minnesota | Will Purvis | Mississippi | Ed McGinnis |
| Missouri | Jerri Lynn Keith | Montana | Bob Klein |
| Nebraska | Russ Tooker | Nevada | Wayne Tietjen |
| New Hampshire | William Wagner | New Jersey | Barry Foote |
| New Mexico | Shirley Madsen | New York | Kit Twetan |
| North Carolina | Scott Nealen | North Dakota | Gary Knotts |
| Ohio | Jeff Drake | Oklahoma | Mark Chaney |
| Oregon | Emmett Walker | Pennsylvania | Leonard “Scott” Dibble |
| Rhode Island | Ronald Daignault | South Carolina | Stacy Harris |
| South Dakota | Eugene Klug | Tennessee | William Yancey |
| Texas | Junior Munoz | Utah | Ralph “Woody” Cannon |
| Vermont | Richard Gallo | Virginia | James “Moose” Miller |
| Washington | Herb Jessen | West Virginia | Jerry L Crowe |
| Wisconsin | Richard (Rick) Heisler | Wyoming | Kody Outland |
The IHEA-USA also honors Tim Beal as Hunter Educator of the year for Guam.
For more information on this release or conference sponsorship, contact Leaha Thomas leaha@boltstrategy.com or Mike Thomas mike@boltstrategy.com .
About the IHEA-USA: The International Hunter Education Association – USA (IHEA-USA) is the professional hunter education association affiliated with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service hunter education programs. These programs employ 50,000 instructors, many of whom are volunteers, teaching hunting and shooting safety and responsibilities throughout the United States.
