On May 14, 1984, four elk hunters from northwest Montana -- a pastor, a realtor, a logger, and a drive-in owner -- pooled their time and money to formally establish RMEF. They had noticed that organizations existed to look after ducks and turkeys, but nothing was dedicated specifically to elk.

Forty years later and 9.1 million acres conserved. That's a hell of a return on four guys noticing a gap and doing something about it instead of complaining about it at the gas station.

The early days were genuinely scrappy. RMEF set up in a doublewide trailer on a vacant lot outside Troy, Montana, with borrowed money and drained bank accounts. The founders mailed 43,000 brochures promising a magazine and an annual convention. Fewer than 250 people responded -- less than half a percent.

That response rate would bury most organizations before they started. They honored the commitment anyway, borrowed more money, and hand-delivered magazines to grocery stores. That's the kind of organizational backbone that either works or doesn't — apparently it worked.

RMEF played a prominent role in defeating Colorado Proposition 127 in 2024 -- a ballot measure that would have banned mountain lion and bobcat hunting and broadly restricted wildlife management tools.

This is where membership dollars do work you can actually point to. Prop 127 wasn't just about lions and bobcats — it was a template. Defeating it matters for every state watching how those ballot fights play out.

The chapter structure is decentralized by design -- local chapters raise funds independently through banquets and events, and a portion of that money flows back to fund projects in or near the chapter's geography.

This is what separates a banquet dinner from a charity dinner. When money raised in your county goes back to your county's elk habitat, people show up and bid seriously. I've seen chapter banquets move real money precisely because the room knows where it's going.

How many of you are current RMEF members, and if you've attended a local chapter banquet — did you see the funds actually stay local, or did it feel more like money disappearing into a national org?

Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team