We Will Not Be Tamed: Meet Jordan Shipley

Texas Wildlife Association (TWA) is proud to support Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF). From the young professionals organization Stewards of the Wild, to the Lone Star Land Stewards program, to this year’s We Will Not Be Tamed campaign to engage more Texans in conservation, TWA is pleased to support TPWF’s efforts to conserve the lands, waters and wildlife we love.

We Will Not Be Tamed calls on us to appreciate the wildness of Texas, the vastness of our Texas spirit and why we should be inspired to conserve it.

We Will Not Be Tamed has engaged a group of remarkable Texan outdoorsmen and women who stand together and tell their stories about the place that has given so much.  People like Jordan Shipley, whose career has taken him from the Friday night lights to the pre-dawn light of a South Texas deer blind. As a star wide receiver at the University of Texas, Jordan Shipley’s obsessive approach to the craft won him recognition as an All American Athlete. After four years in the NFL, Shipley now brings that focus to bow hunting. He described the similarity between the two in the September issue of Texas Monthly:

“I learned this from football, but it’s true of archery and of life: When the time comes, you’re not going to be at 25 yards, standing up in perfect light. So, I’d practice at last light. I’d shoot targets squatting, on one knee. I’d think about what could go wrong and make it harder on myself in practice than it really is. Anybody that’s done archery knows: You mess stuff up. You learn from the mistakes.”

“And then, finally, it comes together. You figure it out. It’s a similar feeling to being on the field. You’ve caught a thousand footballs, you’ve gone through a million practices, and all of a sudden, it’s game time, and there are a hundred thousand people in the stands. When that happens, grown men start quivering and shaking. They have waited; they have practiced; and it all comes down to one moment. The one time it happens right, you remember it forever.”

TPWF has also partnered with Trailblazing Texas companies to present a one-of-a-kind sweepstakes. Outdoor-loving brands from Toyota to Howler Brothers to King Ranch Saddle Shop have partnered to give away everything you need to Live the Wild Life. The grand prize winner will drive home in a new Toyota Tundra. Time is running out – the sweepstakes deadline is October 30!