-
Our Passion
Hunting and fishing isn’t what we do – it’s who we are. Backcountry Hunters & Anglers celebrate the great American tradition of testing your personal boundaries amid the solitude of the wilds. We understand the urgent need to speak up for those irreplaceable experiences if we want that kind of opportunity for future generations.
-
Protecting Habitat
As students of nature, hunters know that adequate and healthy habitat is the foundation of healthy wildlife populations. In the end, our freedom to hunt and fish depends on habitat. Native wildlife has both intrinsic value and is often reflected in the health and quality of habitat itself.
-
Standing Up for Your Rights
We are “boots on the ground” hunters and fisherman, standing up for quiet experiences in wild habitats, entirely removed from the disturbances of crowds and machines. We enjoy the wonder and adventure of the pristine outdoors with our friends and families – and work to defend and expand quality opportunities for hunting and fishing.
-
Engaged Membership
We help sportsmen around the country be effective, protective voices for the wild habitat essential to quality hunting and fishing opportunities. Our membership is actively engaged, and our voices are trusted and respected.
-
Backcountry Guardians
We combat threats to the wild, quiet habitat that support our traditional hunting and fishing opportunities and access. We stand up to off-road vehicle abuse of public land and wildlife, as well as those who would abuse our habitat and water for commercial gain. Our networks of on-the-ground volunteers help report abuse and comment on issues impacting our public lands.
-
Vigilant Advocates
We constantly identify critical projects to improve access and habitat, applying our values, and developing beneficial relationships with private property owners, local agencies and community leaders.
-
Active Educators
We educate and inform our membership, the public and decision-makers through our website and our publications and one-on-one communication. Our quarterly magazine, Backcountry Journal is a forum for member stories, state activities, and the most pressing issues we face.
-
Watch Our Video
We speak for traditional hunting and angling interests, the voice of sportsmen who love truly wild places: the home of a real backcountry experience.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Welcome to Backcountry Hunters and Anglers
2013 Backcountry Angling Photo Contest
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers understand the value of clean and wild angling waters. To kick-off summer, BHA would like to share your most picturesque, memorable or entertaining images that capture the "backcountry angling experience."
Submit your images to our 2nd annual "Backcountry Angling Photo Contest" and win great prizes from Filson. To enter, upload your photos through our Facebook page along with a brief description of your image by August 1st. If you are not on Facebook, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with a brief description.
Winners will be selected by a panel of BHA experts and by the number of votes that each photo receives. All images entered will also be featured in BHA's Angling Image Gallery (a hunting contest will take place in the fall, angling-relevant images only please). The winner will also be featured in forthcoming issue of the Backcountry Journal. Check out submissions to the 2012 backcountry angling photo contest here.
Good News from ID BHA and the Clearwater Collaborative
For years, Idaho BHA has played an integral role within the Idaho's Clearwater Collaborative to work towards common-sense forest management solutions, which balance a wide variety of land-based interests. After years of hard work, negotiations and compromise the Clearwater Collaborative has reached an agreement which will provide for backcountry fish and wildlife habitat protection, while also increasing timber harvest yields, improving motorized recreational opportunities and adding jobs to the local economy. Below is a recent new release from the Collaborative on this big news and historic agreement. For a recent news article from the Lewiston Time click here. For a ID BHA slide show highlighting the landscape of the Clearwater, click here.
Lewiston, Idaho May 22, 2013: After five years of work on land management issues within the Clearwater Basin, members of the Clearwater Basin Collaborative signed a work plan signifying their commitment to continue work to resolve six natural resource issues.
Idaho Senator Mike Crapo convened the Collaborative five years ago to find long-term solutions to natural resource issues that were contributing to gridlock in the Basin. At the initial meeting, he told members the collaborative process would require all participants to recognize and respect the views of all participants. “Each participant must be as committed to helping others reach their goals and objectives as that participant is committed to advancing their own interests,” he emphasized.
BHA Position Statement: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems (UAVS) and Fair Chase Hunting
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems (commonly called “drones”) are increasingly important in the military and have high potential to contribute to the fields of wildlife biology, search-and-rescue, agriculture and many other applications. However, in private hands there is small but growing interest in using these highly sophisticated remote-controlled aircraft to scout, monitor and stalk big game. BHA believes this technology represents a widespread opportunity for abuse, and if not regulated poses a significant threat to fair chase hunting and fair distribution of hunting opportunity.
BHA Members Get Their Hands Dirty to Improve Habitat
Around the country on America’s wild public lands, BHA members are helping to protect pristine habitat key to great hunting and fishing. Read on to find out more about State Chapter projects and work days.
Idaho BHA –
May 3-5, the Idaho Chapter partnered with the Idaho Fish & Game to remove approximately 3,500 feet of barbed wire fence and T-posts to improve elk migration corridors on the Craig Mountian Wildlife Management Area. Chapter members camped at Benton Meadows on Craig Mountain, did some turkey and bear hunting and enjoyed campfire camaraderie. The age of members involved ranged from 15-70! For photos from the event, click here.
A Hunt for Wild Lands
A land that is facing ceaseless development. A people mired in obesity from their over-reliance upon technology and motorized equipment. A quality of life—particularly the sporting life—that is rapidly careening downhill. These are some of the basic tenants of our call to arms—for American and Canadian sportsmen and women to stand up for the wild country and wildlife that depend so much upon it. Now, more than ever before, we need wild lands: places to rekindle the depths of the human soul. Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is a non-partisan group of sportsmen and women who are standing up for wilderness and for the wildlife that depends upon it.
More Articles...
Our Mission
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers seeks to ensure America's outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting, through education and work on behalf of wild public lands and waters.
Recognize Dads!
Free BHA Hat When You Sign Dad up For a Membership!
Give the gift of a BHA membership and honor your father or someone who has influenced a new generation of backcountry sportsmen and women and we will mail you a free hat! Together we will insure our legacy lasts through the ages.