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DSC-PAC Bull Elephant Award

2024 Award Winner:
U.S. Rep Jake Ellzey

The DSC Bull Elephant Award will be presented to life-long hunter and shooter, U.S. Representative Jake Ellzey at the 2024 DSC Annual Convention.  The Bull Elephant Award is given to legislators at the national level who have continually supported legislation and efforts that coincide with DSC’s mission.

U.S. Rep. Ellzey is a native of Perryton, Texas where he was raised on his family’s LZ ranch.  He proudly representing the 6th Congressional District of Texas (encompassing all of Ellis, Navarro, Anderson, Hill, Cherokee, and parts of Tarrant, Dallas, Freestone and Johson counties) and is currently serving his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and is a member of the Subcommittee on the Interior and Environment, which controls the federal purse strings over hunting, conservation, and agencies like the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.  Rep. Ellzey has been a strong and unapologetic defender of hunting and conservation and has protected our hunting heritage by conducting rigorous oversight of federal government actions based on emotion and the demands of radical special interests rather than biological necessity and the North American Model of Conservation.  His actions have reversed or halted several illogical federal rules that would’ve harmed the conservation of both domestic and international species.

Prior to serving in Congress, Jake served his country for 20 years in the Navy as a helicopter pilot and fighter pilot in F-14s and F/A-18s.  He graduated from the Naval Academy where he was a member of the Trap and Skeet Team and he was deployed nine times, with five combat tours including a ground tour in support of SEAL Team 5 in Iraq.  He also served as the Air Boss on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.  After retiring as a Commander in the Navy, Ellzey was a military contractor, small business owner, commercial airline pilot, a Commissioner on the Texas Veterans Commissions, and served as a Texas State Representative of the 10th District of Texas.

Jake and his wife Shelby have raised their two children in Ellis County for the past decade.  The entire family enjoys hunting and shooting together.

Purpose

The Bull Elephant Award is given to legislators at both the national and state levels who have continually supported DSC’s mission.

Criteria

Winners are chosen because they have consistently spent their careers as advocates of legislative efforts in support of ethical, sustainable hunting and the conservation principles of DSC. The award is not given every year, but is given when it has been earned through not only key legislation, but a lifetime dedicated to the hunting tradition.

Winners

There have been four awards granted to date.

  • The first recipient was U. S. Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX 32), a Chairman of the Rules Committee and DSC Life Member. He is DSC’s de facto representative in Washington, D.C. and has played a critical role in several key legislative areas, including the lifting of the hunting ban on exotics and preventing firearm transport bans by the airlines.
  • The second and third awards were given simultaneously to Texas State Senator Brandon Creighton (Conroe) and Texas State Representative Trent Ashby (Lufkin) after they led the way in support of DSC’s proposal of Proposition 6 that created a Texas State Constitutional Amendment making hunting and fishing constitutionally protected rights in Texas. In addition, both Senator Creighton and Representative Ashby have been lifelong advocates of hunting and fishing.
  • The fourth Bull Elephant Award went to U. S. Rep. Don Young (the only Congressman for all of Alaska), Chairman Emeritus of the U. S. House Natural Resources Committee and DSC Life Member. Don has been one of hunting’s strongest allies in Washington D.C. He is a lifelong hunter and angler and has continually supported DSC’s legislative efforts.
  • The fifth award went to U.S. Congressman Jeff Duncan, Chair of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, for his 17 years of public service, dedicated to protecting our constitutional freedoms and protecting the Nation. Thanks for your support of our hunting heritage as the key to conservation of our wildlife and wild places.

Presentation

The award is presented at the DSC Convention.