Now in its third year, the OL 25 program honors 25 men and women who have changed the face of hunting and fishing. Waynlee Zollman, a founding member and the first president of the Rockbridge Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation in Lexington, has been nominated for this prestigious award.

The Rockbridge Chapter has achieved Golden Gobbler for 12 years and has had a net-to-gross profit as high as 101%. This chapter has held the title of the Number One Chapter in VA for six years.

Waynlee retired from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and worked trapping bears for the Virginia Black bear study. He is an avid hunter and fisherman, and is known in the community for his way with wild animals.  It seems like his phone rings once a week from someone who has a nuisance animal. He will always catch the skunk or whatever in a live trap and release them unharmed in one of the backfields. There is never any charge. He will say “I’ll catch you next time” He will never harm anything that will not be used and if you use his property it is best that you live by the same rules.

Waynlee owns a sprawling 1100 acre farm in Rockbridge County.  He is always willing to allow groups to use his property for shooting, fishing, camping or outdoor education events. He has hosted JAKES, WITO, Wheelin’ Sportsmen, 4-H Shooting Sports, Boy Scouts, equine fox hunting clubs and other outdoor education groups. There is also a local group of high school kids that use the river on his property to study stream ecology. The Rockbridge JAKES event, held on his property, was Number One in the nation for five years. The event is still held annually with over 400 kids attending the three-day event.  Waynlee continues to work on wildlife habitat improvement on his property, and is always willing to offer advice, equipment or help others that are interested in wildlife enhancement on their property.  At the annual JAKES event he always teaches kids about food plots and wildlife habitat. Every year he will bring someone to his property so they can experience hunting or fishing. Whenever someone new moves to the community he will always greet them and share the mission of the NWTF and JAKES.  The greeting is always followed up with an invitation to upcoming events.  He is also a volunteer instructor for Virginia Hunter Education, and has volunteered a total of 1218 hours while certifying 1376 people for Hunter Education.

Waynlee is truly a credit to our hunting heritage! Please cast your vote for Waynlee Zollman on the Outdoor Life website.