SCI Convention Is World’s Best
By Jeff Meyerl, SCI President
Originally published in the September 2025 Safari Times
The SCI Convention is the world’s greatest gathering of hunters. In fact, nothing else even comes close.
Since the beginning, SCI has been the best and has established the world’s standard of excellence by which others are compared.
Yet, as big and beautiful as the Convention is, the real strength of Convention comes from the members who attend.
Face it, absent the thousands of members at the Convention, what would be the point of having it in the first place?
With that in mind, what is it that members do at the Convention that make it as special as it is? The answer is: Everything.
Every booth visited, seminar attended, and auction bid directly supports SCI’s mission. Convention is where the passion and commitment of members turn into advocacy and conservation action.
No one thing defines SCI or the Convention. Both are amalgams of numerous elements, and it is the aggregate of them all working together that is the magic sauce that makes Convention the biggest and best ever.
Opponents of hunting are organized and well-funded, so attendance at Convention sends a powerful message of unity and strength. Each member is a voice and is a defender of the honorable hunting heritage.
It is impossible to overstate the importance of relaying the reality of unity and strength to the world. This shows anti-hunters that we are real, we are working together, and we will not surrender; and it tells the rest of the world who the big dog is in the arena of hunting rights and sustainable use wildlife conservation. It’s a one-two punch that is unmatched anywhere by any other organization.
Convention inspires the next generation of SCI leaders. Member connections and ideas ripple outward to Chapters and communities. Convention reinforces Chapters and members as the backbone of SCI’s global reach.
SCI is vibrant now and is positioned to become even more relevant to a wider array of both hunters and non-hunters than ever before.
We have come a long way and have realized many victories. But this is not the time to rest on our laurels. Now is the time to double-down and give no quarter to those who would end hunting forever everywhere in the world.
With Nashville 2026 ahead, the stakes could not be higher — hunting rights are still under unrelenting attack. Like never before, there is an urgent need for member involvement in advocacy and conservation efforts.
Attendance at Convention is not just about enjoying the event — it’s a statement of commitment. SCI members are the most highly motivated and committed hunters in the world. This is something to celebrate at the Convention.
I hope that by the time we all leave Nashville at the end of the 2026 Convention, that we take the excitement and awesomeness of the Convention back home and evangelize both SCI and hunting to everyone we know and meet during the following year. The future is in our hands, and judging from everything that is happening, that future is in very capable hands.
I look forward to seeing you all in Nashville. Let’s show the world what it means to be First for Hunters.