Bucks and Buckthorn is a hunting and land stewardship program designed to foster a strong connection to the land in youth and adults. Participants are given the opportunity to archery hunt on unique properties and then return to complete habitat restoration projects and learn about ecology.

Degraded habitat and a population disconnected from the land.

Many of our greatest conservationists, like Aldo Leopold and Teddy Roosevelt, were inspired by a childhood spent hunting and hiking in the forest. Opportunities and accessibility for youth and adults to develop a connection to land through hunting are declining. Without another generation of enthusiastic hunters, support for conservation objectives is severely compromised. Many of our natural habitats, prairies, savannas and woodlands, have been  reduced to less than 1% of their historic distribution and the remaining habitat is severely degraded  and increasingly threatened by urbanization. In addition, deer populations in most parts of the state have exploded to levels that further increase habitat degradation.