Acclaimed Conservationist, Jim Shockey to be Honored as 2012 International Hunter of the Year by Safari Club International
Safari Club International 01.24.12
Safari Club International (SCI) is pleased to announce Jim Shockey of Vancouver Island, Canada as the 2012 recipient of the International Hunter of the Year award. Jim Shockey will be recognized at the evening banquet on February 3, 2012 at the SCI 40th Annual Hunters’ Convention at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I am honored to receive the International Hunter of the Year award, and join an incredible group of hunters from around the world,” Shockey said. “SCI’s leadership position in worldwide conservation efforts makes all of this possible for those of us who quest for hunting adventures on every corner of the earth.”
“Safari Club is very proud have the opportunity to bestow such an incredible honor on such an incredible hunter,” said SCI’s Chief Communications Officer Larry Rudolph. “Jim has been an international ambassador not only for hunting, but also representing SCI.”
Jim Shockey will receive the 2012 International Hunter of the Year award during the Friday evening banquet. Tickets are available for the Friday banquet: www.showsci.com. For a chance to meet Jim, please stop by his booth #1850 and #1852 at SCI’s 40th Annual Hunters’ Convention.
Join Safari Club International’s 40th Annual Hunters’ Convention at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada February 1-4, 2012. SCI will be bringing 13% more exhibitors than in any other year in the organization’s history. The total convention exhibit hall is over 50% larger than in 2011, with over one million square feet of the world’s finest hunts, finest guns and greatest taxidermy. Register today for the SCI convention at www.showsci.com.
Protecting hunters’ rights and promoting wildlife conservation, SCI’s two areas of focus, historically has been the interest of hundreds of individuals long before SCI was established. But how did SCI as an organization begin?
Forty years ago, there were many safari clubs across the country made up of local, unaffiliated groups of hunters. One such was Safari Club of Los Angeles, which was formed in April 1971 by forty-seven individuals. In early 1972, an out-of-towner from a similar club in Chicago attended one of the monthly Wednesday night meetings, and it was decided that the L.A. club should attempt to combine with the one in Chicago to make it an affiliated chapter. The founder of Safari Club of Los Angeles, C.J. McElroy, went to the Windy City and instituted the new chapter.
Eleven months after the formation of Safari Club of Los Angeles, on March 9, 1972, the name was changed officially to Safari Club International. SCI continued to reach out to other independent safari clubs throughout the United States in an effort to combine them into a single overall organization.
Today, interest in SCI’s two primary missions has grown a worldwide network. Subsequent involvement and promotion of these missions is rooted in each of our 55,000 members, supported through each of our 190 membership chapters found across the globe, and put into action by government representatives and personnel both nationally and internationally.
In this way, we can encourage an appreciation for nature and wildlife so that conservation efforts remain strong, while also fighting to protect our rich hunting heritage. Big changes can be achieved through the endeavors of many who are united in a mission – the mission of Safari Club International.
