Steve Rulo Named Missouri Hunter Education Instructor of the Year
Conservation Federation of Missouri honors Steve Rulo as Hunter Education INstructor of the year for 2025
Steve Rulo (center) is named Hunter Education Instructor of the Year by the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) at its Annual Convention on Friday, March 6. Pictured here with Tyler Schwartze, CFM Executive Director (right) and Bill Kirgan, CFM Board President (left).
Jefferson City, MO – Steve Rulo of Pleasant Hill, MO, was named Hunter Education Instructor of the Year by the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) at its Annual Convention on Friday, March 6.
The award is given for the most outstanding effort in hunter education in the state during the past twelve months. Recipients of the award have demonstrated innovative means of teaching Missouri youth the hunter safety/hunter ethics message or made significant voluntary contributions to hunter education instruction.
Rulo has been a volunteer of Missouri Hunting Heritage Federation, Inc. (MHHF), a 501(c)(3) organization, for 15 years, serving as a member of the Board of Directors for 13 years, as Clinics Committee Chairman, and he continues to mentor new youth hunters every year. As a Missouri Hunter Education Instructor, he has logged more than 425 hours instructing families in how to be safe and ethical hunters. Under his direct involvement in our clinics program, over 780 families have become hunter education certified, most of those received their first hunting experience, and many, their first shooting experience.
“One of the reasons MHHF is a great organization is because it gave me the opportunity to become a Hunter Education Instructor,” said Rulo, “I have so many memories of being a mentor and an instructor, I just hope some of these kids will pay it forward to the next generations to come.”
Lee Vogel, Co-Founder of MHHF and a prior recipient of CFM’s Hunter Education Instructor of the Year award (2017) stated, “Rulo has been instrumental in the continued development of the MHHF Clinic Model. His leadership while serving on the board of directors greatly contributed to the evolution of the organization as a whole.”
Each year, on average, more than 60 volunteers share more than 1,500 hours supporting MHHF’s mission to pass along Missouri’s hunting heritage in the best and safest way possible.
Other MHHF members previously recognized by CFM as Hunter Education Instructor of the Year include William “Jake” Jacoby in 2005, David Rush in 2010, Allan Hoover in 2012, Jerri Lynn Keith in 2022, and Jerry Bryant in 2023. MHHF was recognized by CFM as the Conservation Organization of the Year in 2021.
MHHF Clinics are held throughout the year and are all free of charge to each student. For more information, visit www.mhhf.us.