01/30/2026
This is my Mount Rushmore of hunting, not based on who’s trendy right now, but on who actually shaped how I hunt, why I care about hunting, and how this entire platform even exists. Each of these guys earned their spot for a very specific reason.
Jim Shockey — I grew up watching Jim Shockey on a tiny black-and-white TV at my grandpa’s house, replaying the same VHS tape over and over. I can still tell you the exact hunts that were on that tape. As I came up in the outdoor industry myself, I kept following his work, he’s still someone I look up to. He represents adventure, professionalism, and the global side of hunting done the correctly.
Ted Nugent — This entire platform traces back to Ted Nugent. Before Rack Junkies, before hundreds of millions of views a month, we were the Ohio Wack Stars, calling ourselves the Wack Masters after uncle Ted, young, dumb kids rabbit hunting, listening to his music, chasing deer. Later, I watched him go back and forth with political figures on Hannity & Colmes is what sparked my interest in the political side of the hunting world long before I ever had a voice of my own.
Fred Bear — Fred Bear has to be here. He wasn’t just the greatest bowhunter in history; he was the bridge between old-school, isolated hunting traditions and the modern hunting industry. Before him, most hunters had no idea what anyone else was doing. Fred Bear helped turn hunting into shared media, shared knowledge, and a shared culture at the exact moment when that mattered most.
Theodore Roosevelt — Teddy Roosevelt belongs on this list no matter what. He helped build the modern public-land system, shaped the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, and stepped in when unregulated market hunting was destroying wildlife. He didn’t just hunt—he helped save hunting, and without him, the industry we know today doesn’t exist.
That’s my Mount Rushmore. Now the real question: who am I missing, and who should I take off?
— Stephen Ziegler
Outdoor writer | Owner, DeLong Lures
