‘There’s Room for Everybody’

Ronnie "Cuz" Strickland, the EVP and brand Ambassador for Mossy Oak, joined the Mossy Oak team in 1988, two years after the company was founded, according to Mossy Oak’s website. Strickland helped found Mossy Oak's media productions department, building a large series of retail video titles, then launching the company's first broadcast television offerings with Mossy Oak's Hunting the Country on TNN in 1995.

Today, he oversees media efforts that have expanded to include both traditional broadcast and online video. Strickland is also the author of three books of humor and instruction on turkey hunting. In 2010 he was recognized as the NWTF’s Communicator of the Year.

During his seminar, ‘There’s Room for Everybody’ Strickland relayed a story from his childhood. His father and some friends started a sportsman’s club where underprivileged children were given the opportunity to get outdoors. Usually the outings average four or five children. At one particular outing, Stickland remembers seeing one truck full of children pull up, then another. In total 15 or 20 children were in attendance. Strickland said they had one boat and two small pup tents for the event. He said he clearly remembers hearing his father say, “There’s room for everybody.”

That small statement made a big impact on young Strickland.

He was reminded of it again in the early days of Mossy Oak when he and Mossy Oak offered to host an editor from Field and Stream for a hunt. There was no budget for fancy accommodations and his wife turned their living room into a bedroom for the visiting writer.

When the editor showed up with a few extra friends in tow, he looked to his wife with apologies.

She simply said, “There’s room for everybody.”

That sentiment goes along perfectly with the NWTF’s mission, the conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of our hunting heritage.

From the beginning, the NWTF has wanted to ensure the outdoor lifestyle would endure for generations to come. The creation of outreach and education programs began with the creation of the JAKES, Women in the Outdoors and the Wheelin’ Sportsmen programs, and outreach efforts continue to evolve today. The NWTF has expanded programming to include Mentored Hunts, Field to Fork and Learn to Hunt Clinics to ensure the NWTF’s education and outreach programs collectively make the greatest impact on hunter recruitment, retention and reactivation.

Each year NWTF chapters across the country offer people opportunities to explore the outdoors through local hands-on events and hunts. Events are designed to pass on the traditions of safe, ethical hunting and teach conservation principles.