Hunt for Good in the Northeast

Research from the last five years continues to emphasize the decreasing public approval for hunting. For years, there have been extensive conversations regarding the decreasing population of overall hunter participation relative to a growing overall population. As a result, the National Wild Turkey Federation has assisted in the development of a national campaign called Hunt for Good. Built on research and partnership, this campaign has officially rolled out marketing ads and materials for the conservation community to reach a whole new demographic highlighting the benefits of hunting.

The key detail of this campaign, the “why,” hinges on the idea that every person has a specific motivation and reason for participating; however, oftentimes that reason is not the same as others. And if each hunter has a different reason for participating, their ‘why,’ then it shouldn’t be surprising that it is reflected in the different perceptions and decisions around public support for hunting. The Hunt for Good campaign strives to achieve the goal of connecting with an individual’s internal motivations, in order to help connect them with the benefits of hunting. The intention does not root in convincing nonhunters to participate but rather is an awareness campaign to help others understand the ‘why’ to educate the public about hunting.

Beginning in 2023, there was a small launch of the campaign at a national level to gauge response and initial feedback on the campaign over the course of eight weeks, which garnered 13.5 million impressions. Impressions can best be explained as the number of individuals who viewed the ad. For a campaign that is intended for awareness, having as many individuals as possible exposed to this ad is pivotal. The campaign additionally tracked and evaluated which of the 28-plus ads created were best performing and the number of individuals that took next steps to learn more.

However, with a goal to achieve a national level impact that is reflective of other public service announcements (think “Smokey Bear,” the “Got Milk” campaigns, etc.), in the fall of 2024, the NWTF and partners officially rolled out our first large-scale regional campaign. Alongside partners such as the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports, The Truth, and rEvolution Marketing, the team set a goal to specifically share the benefits of hunting to nonhunting populations within the Northeast. This multi-state conservation grant project allowed multi-stakeholder collaboration and resulted in creating region-specific content for each advertisement to assess relevancy within Northeast demographics. Our second eight-week campaign garnered an additional 20.2 million impressions. With other states also participating independently in the campaign – Missouri, for example – we have seen over 41 million impressions during a year-and-a-half timeframe.

The exciting part of this news is that we are just beginning to scratch the surface of what this campaign can do in its impact to educate and inform people on the benefits of hunting.

As an organization, our mission addresses the preservation of our hunting heritage. The campaign has allowed us to begin introducing individuals into the life-changing power of the outdoors through the countless advertised benefits created by the Hunt for Good campaign. The benefits listed complement many of our traditional messages (i.e. Hunt for the Bond, Hunt for the Future and Hunt for the Harvest), yet it also allows new benefits to be displayed and introduced (i.e. Hunt for the Prep, Hunt for the Refuge and Hunt for the Water). Viewers are introduced to a sliver of our ‘why’ and what our members know to be true about hunting: it is life-changing.

To learn more about Hunt for Good, visit https://huntforgood.com/.

By the Numbers

In a short period of time, the Hunt for Good campaign developed by the NWTF and partners has generated:

• 13.5 million impressions in an eight-week test launch in 2023
• 20.2 million impressions in a region-specific, eight-week Northeastern launch in 2024
• 41 million impressions over 1 1/2 years

Note: Impressions are described as the number of individuals who have viewed an ad.