When we awarded Heidi Lyn Rao our 2022 Woman of the Year Golden Bullseye this year, Houston Safari Club Foundation’s (HSCF) “Hunting Matters” radio show and podcast took notice. “Hunting Matters,” a fan favorite, is an award-winner in its own right, having just garnered the AVA Digital Awards gold title. It was only a matter of time before Texas native Rao sat down for a meeting of the minds with HSCF’s Joe Betar.
NRA Women readers could be forgiven for assuming that Rao occupies all of her time either instructing students in gun safety and handling in person, or penning can’t-miss how-to articles as an NRA Women columnist. Yet somehow Rao generates more hours in a day than the rest of us receive to build her incredible résumé.
Heidi is a 24-year veteran of the Texas Parks and Wildlife service, training hunters across Southeast Texas. She’s also a business owner, running North American Outdoors since 2013. She even has a weekly podcast of her own called “North American Outdoors”! So what drives Rao to be one of the hardest-working women in Texas … and how does she do it? Although listeners should tune into the podcast for all the answers, there are some spoilers the show doesn’t mind us revealing.
For Rao, it all starts at home, with the family. She and her husband have published seven books to date, all focused around introducing kids and parents to firearms and hunting, how to raise a “wild” child, and keeping safe where wildlife predators roam. She’s also a guest writer on our sister publication, NRA Family. Rao certainly knows whereof she speaks. She and her husband are raising four sons, all of whom are either Eagle Scouts (or about to be).
If you’d like to know more about this one-woman Second Amendment powerhouse, don’t miss “Hunting Matters.” The show airs weekly on Saturday from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. CDT on KPRC AM 950, but most listeners will find it more easily in its podcast format on Apple/iTunes, iHeartMedia, Google, Overcast, PodBean and Spreaker.
