Photo credit: Twitter | @SecretaryZinke
by Rose Bier - Saturday, September 23, 2017
Since his first day in office, Secretary of the Interior (SOI) Ryan Zinke’s efforts continue to prove that sportsmen and women are in good hands. Just days after signing a ground-breaking order to expand hunting access on public lands, Zinke announced a new addition to the employee cafeteria to underscore hunting and fishing at the Department of the Interior (DOI)—the “Big Buck Hunter Pro” arcade game—giving us yet another reason to appreciate his enthusiasm for America’s outdoor traditions.
“Big Buck Hunter Pro” players can hunt eight North American big-game animals on 24 different hunting treks covering 120 hunting sites. At the end of each trek, players are required to complete one of 24 challenging bonus rounds to achieve the maximum amount of points while 36 different animals scatter across each hunting site. Making the new addition even more exciting, Zinke announced a fun employee competition he is calling the “Secretary’s Shotgun Showdown,” with the winner earning bragging rights and a personal visit with the Secretary.
“Some of my best memories are hunting and fishing with my dad and granddad, and then later teaching my own kids to hunt and fish. That’s something I want more families to experience,” said Zinke in an official DOI press release. “Hunters and anglers are the backbone of wildlife and habitat conservation in America because sportsmen contribute billions of dollars to conservation. …The ‘Shotgun Showdown’ will help reignite the passion and emphasis of hunting and fishing at the Department, and will be a fun way to advance our mission of wildlife and habitat conservation.”
The Shotgun Showdown was kicked off with Zinke facing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Casey Stemler, a lifelong hunter who has enjoying hunting and fishing National Wildlife Refuges across the nation and big-game hunting on Bureau of Land Management lands throughout the West.
The contest is currently underway and runs until Oct. 11. For the full DOI press release on the Shotgun Showdown, click here. To learn more about the numerous steps Zinke has taken since becoming SOI to protect our wildlife resources and support hunters and anglers, check out the following NRAHLF.org articles.