Michigan has long enjoyed a strong hunting heritage. For almost one hundred years hunting has provided a tool for sound wildlife management, and has been the key link to educate citizens about the environment and the cornerstone of funding for Michigan natural resource conservation. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2002), hunters boosted Michigan’s economy in 2001 by spending $490 million in the state. There were more than 865,000 licensed hunters in Michigan in 2002. The total number of Michigan licensed hunters has remained relatively static over the past 40 years. However, the proportion of hunters in the Michigan population has declined from an average of 10.1% in the 1960s to an average of 8.7% during 2000-2002 (Frawley 2004). To reverse this trend, new hunters, especially nontraditional hunters, must be brought into the shooting and hunting sports. This will strengthen the funding base for conservation, include the increasing diversity of society and preserve Michigan’s hunting heritage. One path to follow is enhancing social support systems for new hunters (Wentz and Seng 2000) by connecting the novice with a mentor who understands and can explain the relationship between hunting and the natural world. As Aldo Leopold noted, this “…reminds us of our dependency on the soil-plant-animal-man food chain and of the fundamental organization of the biota” (Leopold 1949:178).