Season 3: Episode 21: Teaching Hunting Across America with Eric Morris

What does it take to bring a new generation of hunters and anglers into the outdoors, especially from communities that have historically been shut out, left out, or simply never invited in? In Season 3, Episode 21 of Connecting with Conservation, co-hosts Jon Gassett of the Wildlife Management Institute and Jim Curcuruto of the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation sit down with Eric Morris, founder of Black Wolf Hunting Club and Non-Typical Outdoorsmen, a Georgia-based hunter, Army veteran, and one of conservation's most candid and committed voices on diversity, recruitment, and retention in the outdoors. Eric retired from the Army as a Major in 2016 after three combat tours, two to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, and asked himself one question: what would he do for the rest of his life whether he got paid or not? The answer was teaching people to hunt. He has been doing it ever since, and his approach is as no-nonsense as his military background would suggest.

The conversation covers the full arc of Eric's journey, from founding Black Wolf Hunting Club in 2010 to launching Non-Typical Outdoorsmen TV on the Pursuit Channel, growing that show to nearly 75,000 viewing households before cable's decline forced it into hiatus, and now delivering hunter education workshops, firearm safety classes for kids as young as five, and mentored hunts across the Southeast and beyond. Eric and Jon dig into one of the most important and underappreciated debates in the R3 space, whether to recruit kids or adults first, and Eric makes a compelling, experience-backed case that reaching parents first is the key to unlocking generational change. He also reflects candidly on the history that has kept many Black Americans out of the woods, the perception barriers that remain, and why he refuses to let those barriers be an excuse.

This is not a polished, politically careful conversation. It is honest, direct, and sometimes uncomfortable in exactly the way that productive conversations about conservation's future need to be. Eric Morris has been walking this walk for nearly 16 years, and the ripple effects of his work, from Darrell Smith's Minority Outdoor Alliance to Ivan Ford teaching his eight-year-old son to hunt, are the proof. This episode is sponsored by OpticsPlanet.

For more information, find us at:

• Wildlife Management Institute: https://wildlifemanagement.institute

• Outdoor Stewards of Conservation: https://stewardsofconservation.org

• Non-Typical Outdoorsmen: https://