Georgia Mentorship Competition Awarding Three Guns

The Georgia Mentor Competition will once again give out three guns in an effort to encourage current hunters to get new hunters into the woods. The competition is spearheaded by the Georgia R3 program, which is a group working to reverse the current trend of declining hunter numbers.

The competition will run through May 15, 2019 and will award Mentors of the Year gun prizes in Deer, Turkey and Small Game categories. In addition to winning a gun, each of the three winning mentors will be featured in a GON article next summer. Their mentee (new hunter) will receive a $200 gift card for Cabela’s/Bass Pro.

The competition is open to mentors who are at least 18 years old. A mentee, who can be of any age, must have never hunted before or have very limited hunting experience. It will be the mentor’s responsibility to make sure the mentee has the appropriate hunting licenses.

After going hunting, the mentor then fills out the online Georgia Mentor Competition entry from, uploads the appropriate photos and includes whether they are entering in the Deer, Turkey or Small Game category. Hunts eligible for submission to the small game category include any species considered small game or migratory birds by Georgia DNR (alligator, crows, dove, fox, bobcat, grouse, marsh hens, opossum, quail, rabbit, raccoon, snipe, squirrel, and woodcock and waterfowl).

All entries must be received by May 15, 2019. The Mentors of the Year for each category will be announced during the summer of 2019. A panel of judges will base their selections on their evaluation of the mentor’s responses to the application questions.

For further questions regarding the R3 Initiative or the Georgia Mentor Competition, e-mail Charles Evans.

The Georgia R3 Initiative

After years of a steady downward trend, Georgia has finally seen an increase in hunting participation. However, despite this recent uptick, we make up an incredibly small percentage of the population, and it’s getting smaller. Hunting license sales determine not only the amount of federal funds Georgia receives, but they also generate revenue which goes directly back into conservation. It is a fact that the number of license-buying hunters directly effects the number and quality of sporting opportunities in Georgia. We need more hunters and people who support hunting, and we’re going to need your help to do it.

The Georgia R3 Initiative began in December 2015 and was the first truly cooperative effort aimed at recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) of hunters at a state level. The Georgia R3 Initiative as a whole encompasses all stakeholders in Georgia, including hunters themselves who are the most crucial piece of the puzzle. To date, we have successfully removed barriers between stakeholders, developed a strategic approach in the form of a state-specific plan, piloted learn-to-hunt programs for audiences from non-traditional backgrounds, and now through the Georgia R3 Mentor Competition, we want to reward hunters who enjoy taking new people afield with them.