Marilyn Bentz

National Bowhunter Education Foundation

Being a native of rural Nebraska, conservation issues are a natural for Marilyn. Her enthusiasm for the outdoors was formed and cultivated through active early years on the vast prairies, plains, and later in the mountains of the west. Her family roots were dedicated to the development and application of revolutionary agribusiness concepts and practices which fostered her passion for leadership, innovation, and a deep respect for the land.

Marilyn is widely known in the shooting and hunting industry as being supportive of issues which encourage broad based participation and setting high education standards which follow the renown North American Model for Wildlife Conservation.

NBEF Executive Director

Stephen George

Stephen George, PWS is an avid bow hunter and professional biologist who resides in northern New York State. He is a NYSDEC certified hunter education instructor in bow hunting, general hunter ed Ed, trapper education and waterfowl identification. He is a NYS Master Instructor and hunter ed. County Coordinator for Fulton County. He has been involved with the NBEF since 2004. He is also a board member of Pine Tree Rifle Club in Johnstown NY and heads up the 3-D archery events and the hunter education programs for the club.

President

Joel Klammer

Joel’s bowhunting career officially started when his older brother came home with a bow. Not to be outdone, he and his best friend ordered bows and the three of them spent a wonderful season learning about hunting with the feathered shaft. No deer were harvested that first year, but they had perhaps some of their most enjoyable hunts. Since that first season Joel has enjoyed many hunts for whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, black bears and turkey.

One of his other hobbies, fishing, led to a career as a fish biologist for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for many years. Joel also enjoys following one of his Brittany spaniels on the trail of a rooster pheasant.

Having been a bowhunter ed instructor since the early 80’s, Joel says it is a pleasure to serve on the Board of the National Bowhunter Education Foundation. The Mission of the NBEF is sound and he wants to do his best to ensure that the Foundation continues to benefit bowhunting in the future.

Vice President

Gary Brunberg

Gary started firearm hunting small game and whitetail in Wisconsin as a young boy with his father and began bowhunting when he was 16.   Since then he has bowhunted in several states as well as hunting in Germany when stationed in the Air Force.  He enjoys taking his wife and daughter hunting as well as mentoring youth in the Youth Mentoring Program in Nebraska.  In 1988 Gary became involved in the NBEF as a bowhunter education instructor and master instructor.  Gary has also been extensively involved in the Ted Nugent Kamp for Kids in Nebraska.   Gary’s extensive knowledge of the bowhunter education program and vast bowhunting experience has made him an asset on the Board of Directors.

Secretary

Dennis Fredrickson

Dennis began bowhunting his senior year in high school but it wasn’t until four years later that he bagged his first buck with a bow. It was a small 4×4 and his bow was a Fred Bear take down recurve. Exactly one year later in the same location he took his second deer with his bow, a larger 8 point.

Dennis joined the Kansas Bowhunters Association and was one of the original 30 bowhunters who became certified IBEP instructors by William Wadsworth. Dennis became a Master Bowhunter Education Instructor and has been the Kansas Bowhunters Association’s Bowhunter Education Chairman since 1990. He is a certified NASP instructor.

Treasurer

John (Jack) Frost, M.D.

John D. “Jack” Frost harvested his first animal with a bow at age 7. He is the first archer to have taken and recorded in the P&Y records at least one of each of the 29 species recognized by Pope and Young. In 1985 he was the first bowhunter to take all four species of North American wild sheep. Also in 1985 he harvested an Alaskan Brown Bear that was the Pope and Young world record for 18 years. He has hunted all of the continents except Antarctica and taken many additional species. He is a retired orthopedic surgeon and private pilot who resides in Alaska. He has served on the NBEF board for over ten years. He has also served on the Pope and Young Club Board of directors and is the Legislative Vice President for the Alaskan Bowhunters Association. He has been an instructor of the IBEP Course in Alaska for over 20 years and has written articles for bowhunting publications. He has been a seminar speaker at many state bowhunting conventions and supports many hunting organizations with his memberships, donations and time. County Coordinator for Fulton County. He has been involved with the NBEF since 2004. He is also a board member of Pine Tree Rifle Club in Johnstown NY and heads up the 3-D archery events and the hunter education programs for the club.

Jeff Rawlinson

Jeff is the Education Manager in the Communications Division with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission where he has worked for the last 15+ years. He oversees the Hunter/Bow hunter Education, Hunter Outreach and Shooting Range Development for the Commission and is a devout hunter, angler, wildlife viewer, naturalist, father and husband. He holds a BS and MS from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He has been a Hunter and Bowhunter Education Instructor for over 20 years, NRA firearms instructor and range officer, National Archery in the Schools Program Archery Instructor Specialist and member of the NASP National Board of Directors. He also sits on the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Hunter Recruitment and Retention Committee and Education Committee. Jeff is an avid archery and handgun hunter, loves to chase turkeys in the spring, squirrel hunting enthusiast and philosopher of the outdoors. He is an avid shooter and loves to spend outdoor time with family and friends. He has a passion for exciting others about the outdoors. A history buff, Jeff is a strong supporter of our North American Model of Conservation and tries to spread the message of its importance and relevance every chance he gets.

Barb Terry

Barb has been hunting since the 1990’s and hunts with crossbow, longbow, shotgun, rifle, muzzleloader and handgun.  She also bowfishes with a recurve.  Barb is an avid hunter of small game, turkey and deer and has taken whitetails, black bear, rabbits, porcupine and fox with a crossbow.  Currently Barb works trade shows, writes company catalogs, owners manuals, and assists with instructional videos.  Over the last decade she has worked as a mentor and guide for youth, physically challenged youth and combat wounded veterans on numerous hunts in Ohio.  Barb believes in sharing her passion for the outdoors and hunting with as many youth and adults as possible.  Safety is a priority for Barb followed closely by ethics and the pure enjoyment of the shooting and hunting sports.

CJ Winand

C.J. is a wildlife biologist and an outdoor writer for Bowhunter Magazine’s “Hunting Whitetails” column. He is the recipient of the Quality Deer Management Association’s (QDMA) first “Signpost Award.” This Communicator of the Year award recognizes the contributions of an outdoor journalist who has done their professional best to circulate accurate information regarding biologically sound deer management.

CJ has served on the Educational Review Committee for the National Rifle Association’s Whitetail Deer Hunter Clinic Program and is a featured seminar speaker on the NRA’s Great American Hunters Tour. In addition, he has worked on a Master’s of Science degree in Wildlife Management at West Virginia University under Dr. David Samuel (Conservation Editor for Bowhunter magazine). C.J. has also served as the National Promotional Director for Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) and as a Conservation Committee member for the Pope and Young Club (P&Y). CJ gives numerous deer seminars which are intended to elevate the hunters’ savvy and contain information based on actual field research conducted by CJ and other prominent wildlife biologists.

Jeff Waring

Jeff is a professional communicator, long-time bowhunter, and student of archery history. He is the publisher of Bowhunter and Petersen’s Bowhunting magazines. Based out of Harrisburg, PA, Jeff oversees all business aspects of these multi-media brands from print to online to television. Through this role, he knows only too well the necessity and value of Bowhunter Education.

REGIONAL COORDINATORS

Anders Gejer

Anders Gejer resides in Sweden and has bowhunted for many years. Anders enjoys hunting with all legal equipment. He enjoys trapping, hunting with shotgun or rifle but he really prefers his bows. Over time he has visited many places in pursuit of game: Europe, North America, Africa and New Zealand. Anders first contact with the NBEF was through Dr. Dave Samuel who conducted a seminar in Denmark in the late 1980´s. Dave had a great influence on Anders at that time and is still a profound resource of facts as Anders and other members of the European Bowhunters Association endeavor to get bowhunting legalized in more and more European countries. Anders has taught countless bowhunter education classes all over Europe and recently instructor classes in Lithuania and Slovakia.

Region: Europe

Dave Bauer – Region: Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming & South Dakota

Dave has been archery hunting since he was 17 years old and has been teaching bowhunter education since 1989. While he enjoys bowhunting most animals, elk is always number one. Dave has taken 21 elk with his bow. Bowhunting for turkey is number two on the list and he has been fortunate to harvest 5 turkeys with a bow in Colorado. Dave views whitetail as more of a challenge to hunt than elk and has harvested one deer out of ten attempts.

When Dave is not bowhunting, he is a grade school teacher for the Denver public school system.