2025 Young Hunter, Bull Elephant Award Winners

2025 Colin Caruthers Young Hunter Award Winner:
Safari Pike

DSC is thrilled to announce Safari Pike as the 2025 Colin Caruthers Young Hunter Award recipient.

Safari, DSC’s youngest-ever Chapter board member, began hunting as a young girl.

“I began my hunting journey when I was six years old,” she said. “My first big game hunt taking place not long after in South Africa when I was seven. Growing up hunting was the foundation of my personality and life. I would spend time reading magazines and books about other sportsmen and women, fawning over their personal adventures and stories."

In the following years, Safari was able to go on one or two hunts a year.

“My love and passion for the sport grew exponentially over the course of the next few years,” she said. “Hunting was something I loved and cherished, being able to spend time with my family doing something I loved was unmatched by anything else. My hunts ranged from Fallow deer in Spain to Blue Wildebeest in South Africa, with each hunt my eagerness to conserve the sport grew.”

Safari was excited to receive the call she was this year’s award winner.

“When I was contacted with the news that I was this year’s Colin Caruthers Young Hunter, I was ecstatic,” she said. “Being a part of this organization has been a such a rewarding process, that’s why when I heard about CCYHA, I knew I wanted to submit an application. I’m so beyond thankful to be able to receive an award from an organization that has been a part of my life for so long. I look forward to continuing my passion for hunting and love for the outdoors.”

Safari’s greatest hunting achievement in her mind is her kudu hunt.

“The hunt that meant the most to me was my kudu in South Africa. Since I was little, I knew that I wanted to harvest a kudu. Their size and beauty struck me immensely and I fell in love with them. Though the hunt spanned over a few days the kill was quick and clean. Approaching the animal for the first time was one of the most amazing feelings I’ve ever experienced. I was smiling ear to ear; his coarse fur and sun-bleached horns are something I will never forget. I’m so grateful to have had the experience to harvest such an incredible creature.”

2025 Bull Elephant Award Winner: ND Gov. Kelly Armstrong

The 2025 DSC-PAC Bull Elephant Award will be presented to North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong at the 2025 DSC Convention & Sporting Expo. This award is given to legislators at the national level who have continually supported legislation and efforts that coincide with DSC’s mission.

Governor Armstrong represented North Dakota in the State Senate from 2013-2018, the US House of Representatives from 2019-2024, before becoming Governor in 2024. He has a long history of supporting causes that strongly align with DSC’s mission.

“It started when I was 9 years old and shot a raccoon with my bow and I have literally hunted all over the world for everything you can think of with both with a bow and a rifle,” Armstrong said. “My favorite is still, you know, pheasant hunting in southwest North Dakota. I have one sheep left, I got dry holed last year on a bighorn, but once I get done with that, I’ll have the grand slam. North Dakota's a hidden treasure. We may not be the best for anything, but we're kind of the best for everything. Pheasants grouse, partridge, whitetail, mule deer, great duck hunting, great spring snow goose hunting, great big geese hunting, tons of predators! My favorite part about that is hunting anywhere you can in North Dakota. But because I live in a very flat state, I've been drawn to the mountains a lot, so I’m going to continue on the sheep hunting as long as my body will let me and continue to go see my friends in Africa as much as possible.”

This award stands out for Gov. Armstrong, who was the featured speaker at the DSC PAC 2024 meeting at last year’s Convention.

“When you're in politics, there's not a lot of awards I actually really care that much about other than, you know, winning elections, but I've been a Life Member of DSC,” he said. “I've quite frankly been going to the annual Conventions long before I ever got involved in politics … I get really good advice from people I trust. But it's just as far as conservation, as far as getting more and more people involved and making sure people recognize how truly important organizations like this are to maintaining a future for my single favorite thing in the world to do, but also into preserving habitat and animal health and species health all across the world. I can't think of a I can't think of a more worthy organization, and I couldn't be more humbled to win the award.”

The Outdoor Heritage Fund in North Dakota is a piece of legislation Gov. Armstrong is proud of.

“One of the first things we did was set up an Outdoor Heritage fund to preserve habitat in North Dakota,” he said. “Whether it's no till farming, decrease in CRP, habitat loss is a huge problem for all of us. Whether it's in the southwest, North Dakota, or in northern South Africa. One of the things I'm most excited for about governor is, you know, we've done really good things with habitat, making sure that we're figuring out a way that this doesn't only turn into a rich person's sport. Get more kids involved, get more blue-collar people being able to go shoot ducks or pheasants, and getting access to private land in which to do those things by working with landowners, not forcing things down their throats. So, I think we have really cool opportunities to do that both in the hunting and fishing space.”

Along with being an outdoorsman, Gov. Armstrong spends his time as a Volunteer Firefighter and Volunteer American Legion Baseball Coach. He is married to his wife, Kjersti, and they have two children, Anna and Eli.