There is snow on the ground and splashes of color now comes from the evergreen trees. Nature feels dormant, but the people who visit the Refuge certainly aren’t.

We have been very busy with the fall hunting season. There has been a revolving door of people asking about waterfowl and deer hunting on the refuge. I have learned so much about state regulations, and hunting in general. Back home hunting was never a topic that interested me. That might be in part to the fact that the topic of hunting was never brought up. As I started to talk to more hunters and my fellow coworkers, I have been exposed to different ideas, and opinions. Some of these opinions mirrored what I had learned in school about wildlife management.

After some consideration I have decided I would like to do my hunter’s safety course in order to join them for next year. The hunter’s safety course is the first step to getting a hunting license in NY, if you didn’t know. I certainly didn’t! It is hard to know where to start. I found out through discussions with experienced hunters at work. It must be hard to get into hunting if you don’t know any and no one within your family or friends is an experienced hunter.

This got me thinking. Many other Latinx have probably never even thought to go hunting, let alone thought about attending a hunter safety course. If you do some quick google searches it is not hard to find out that woman and minorities make up a small percentage of the overall hunters. For this upcoming Latino Conservation Week I hope to educate more people in our community about hunting and the hunting process. Hunting is an important conservation tool, and one of the biggest recreational activities at some of our National Wildlife Refuges. I would love to encourage it within our community.

- Sasha Azeez