Robert E. Lytle -- "Stop Selling Off Our Hunting Grounds!"

Firearm Instruction: Qualified in rifle, shotgun and pistol, Bob has been an IHEA Instructor for nearly six years, and has already -- in the first nine months of 2005 -- graduated more than 2,500 students from the Black Creek Shooting Range near Boise, Idaho. Each trainee receives 12 hours of classroom instruction; then small caliber rifle shooting in the standing, sitting, kneeling and prone positions; then field exercises in which he or she judges the distance of human, big game and small game silhouettes. Bob also serves as a range officer for IHEA, is a member of the NRA and the North American Hunting Club, and spends his "spare time" conducting hunter education demos at the local Sportsman's Warehouse and Walmart.

Personal Profile:A native of Battle Creek, Michigan where he graduated from Marion H.S., Bob spent the next 14 years in Alaska with a licensed guide and packing operation -- field dressing and preparing game for shipment. Fourteen years later he migrated to Boise where he served as a police officer for 12 years, and then as an equipment installation and maintenance manager at Hewlett-Packard for 16 years. Now retired, Bob and wife Janette enjoy spending time in the outdoors with son Rob, a retired security guard; daughter Nancy, a bank teller; and three grandchildren, Zachary, Matthew and Nicole.

Hunting/Shooting Preferences:"For me, there's nothing like going out for the big game -- from the plentiful bear in Alaska to the deer, elk and black-bear which roam all over my home state of Idaho every autumn. We also have a Spring and Fall Black Bear hunt here that attracts hunters from all over the country."

Fondest Outdoor Memories:"As a guide in Alaska, we used to land planes onto lakes that didn't even have names -- and then go after the state's abundant bear, sheep and goat. One day I had a guy from Michigan who shot and wounded a bear that scampered into the nearby bushes. He wanted to follow it in but I told him what I tell everybody: if you shoot a bear and it heads off into the brush do not go in after it right away. A wounded bear is known to lay in wait and then pounce on the first one who dares to come in after it."

Favorite Outdoor Writer: "I used to be really fascinated with the hunting stories written by Ernest Hemingway that appeared in Field & Stream and other outdoor magazines during the forties and fifties. He'd go after elephants, lions and water buffaloes, oftentimes with a buddy of his named Fred Bear -- the man who developed the Bear Bow & Archery Association. I also remember reading Jack O'Connor of Sun Valley, Idaho -- another one of the top hunting writers back in the day."

On Our Hunting Heritage: "Building the base of our country's firearm enthusiasts is essential. We can do this by encouraging our existing resources to spread the good word -- from conservation and law enforcement officers to instructors and all the students they've trained. I'd also like concerned citizens to put pressure on state legislatures to stop selling hunting grounds to developers and anti-gun groups. I see a lot of this out west where we've recently lost thousands of prime elk and deer acreage."

On Firearm Care:"Treat a gun like a good friend -- you take care of it and it'll take care of you. That means keeping the bore clean and the action smooth. USP Bore Paste and Gun Cleaning Oil do the job. Brighten up the whole bore interior -- and I've noticed a definite improvement in accuracy too. For what it's worth, USP's new gun cleaning video is the best training tool out there. I play it for all my classes and my hunting buds too."

NRA Instructor Robert E. Lytle (front row, far left) poses with one of his NRA Hunter Education Classes at the Black Creek Shooting Range near Boise, Idaho -- from which he graduated more than 2,500 students in the first nine months of 2005.

NRA Hunter Education Students from the Black Creek Shooting Range near Boise, Idaho taking test after 12 hours of classroom instruction from Instructor Robert E. Lytle.

NRA Instructor, Robert E. Lytle (sitting), speaks with shoppers during one of his many Hunter Education Clinics at the Boise, Idaho WalMart.