Inductees

Brandon Butler grew up inspired by outdoor media like Bill Dance Outdoors, Midwest Outdoors, In-Fisherman, and was fortunate to have family who took him fishing and hunting. Later in life, he found a calling as a outdoors communicator who has extensively covered fishing, hunting and conservation.

So, when Butler moved to Missouri in 2010, little did anyone know the impact he would have on the outdoors in the Show-Me State.

“I am without question an outdoors generalist. I love it all. If the season is open and someone wants to go, I’m interested. I fish all year, hunt turkeys and mushrooms in the spring, and just about everything else in the fall,” Butler said, later noting he’s on a quest to successfully hunt in every state by the time he turns 50.

That passion – particularly through outdoors media – is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Butler with the Class of 2025.

Butler is a syndicated outdoor newspaper columnist, magazine writer, podcaster, photographer, and film producer. He published his first Driftwood Outdoors newspaper column in 2006 and hasn’t skipped a week yet.

To date, his column has appeared in more than 50 newspapers and magazines, including more than 20 in Missouri. He also produced 30 issues of the Conservation Federation magazine for the Conservation Federation of Missouri. His Driftwood Outdoors partnership with Nathan “Shags” McLeod has resulted in nearly 300 podcast episodes and launched Conservation Day at the Capitol in Jefferson City.

“I have never aspired to be a how-to writer. I much prefer to focus on the ‘why,’” Butler said. “Why should you visit this destination? Why should you consider this way of fishing or hunting? Why should you care about clean water? Why does it matter to conserve wildlife and habitat? I want to give people the motivation to care, then go out and explore for themselves with just enough information to get started. I wholeheartedly believe the journey is the destination, so my hope is my audience uses my advice to help figure it out and make the most of it on their own.”

Butler has earned numerous awards, including the 2017 National Wild Turkey Federation’s Save the Habitat, Save the Hunt Award, the 2018 Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) Conservation Communicator of the Year, 2011 and 2019 Professional Outdoor Media Association Pinnacle Awards, and the Mid-Missouri Trout Unlimited Spencer Turner Conservation Award.

Butler also served as president of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers, Missouri Outdoor Communicators, and Hoosier Outdoor Writers. He created and taught Conservation Communications at the University of Missouri.

All this from someone who grew up in Northwest Indiana just a few miles from the south shore of Lake Michigan and lived in Colorado and Montana before calling Missouri home.

Butler made a career transition to conservation when joined the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, as a public affairs specialist and writer for Outdoor Indiana magazine. His interactions with then Governor Mitch Daniels sparked his interest in conservation policy.

In Missouri, he was the marketing manager for Battenfield Technologies, handling branding for nine product lines of hunting and shooting equipment. He then became the Executive Director of the Conservation Federation of Missouri. After five years at the helm, he joined Roeslein Alternative Energy as Director of Communications. There, he successfully co-authored an $80 million grant that led to a multimedia platform dedicated to landscape conservation called Prairie Prophets.

Butler is a life member of Conservation Federation of Missouri, Quail Forever, Trout Unlimited, National Rifle Association, Boone & Crockett Club, Fly Fishers International and the Missouri Hunting Heritage Federation.

He holds degrees from Purdue University (BS), Gonzaga University (MA), and an Executive M.B.A. from Mizzou. He currently serves as CEO of Retrieving Freedom, which trains service dogs for military veterans and children with autism.

Butler thanks numerous supporters: parents, grandparents, uncles, friends, and especially his daughters, Bailee and Annabel. He’s had numerous mentors, none more inspirational than Bobby Whitehead.

“I certainly don’t have the money some of my friends have from years of being suits in big cities, but I have witnessed more sunrises than they could imagine, fished more rivers than they could name, hiked more miles than they would believe, and met countless amazing people from all walks of life who share a passion for nature,” Butler said. “I have lived a well-purposed life and believe I have proven the greatest riches can’t be bought.”