Though white and a native Minnesotan, Bancks — the land protection manager for the Minnesota division of the Trust for Public Lands — is in lockstep with Yang on hunting, especially on public lands.
“I was at Pheasant Fest in Minneapolis a few years ago, where I heard Keng speak about his story of becoming a hunter,’’ Bancks said. “In my job, I had been thinking about how we could make lands we purchase and manage for the public more available to more underrepresented populations, and when I heard Keng speak, I thought, ‘This is the guy,’‘’
So it was in August when Blue responded to Yang about her interest in becoming a hunter, she also responded to Bancks. The two had joined forces to form the Mentored Hunting and Angling Program for underrepresented Minnesotans sponsored by the Minnesota chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Trust for Public Land.
Blue wasn’t alone in signing up. About a dozen other Minnesotans of color also contacted Yang and Bancks, saying they, too, wanted to learn to hunt. Split about evenly between men and women, some were Black, some Hmong, some Latino, some were from the state’s LGBTQ community, and some, like Blue, were Native American.
Each was willing to meet weekly online for about six weeks and also attend a couple of firearms training exercises at a Twin Cities gun club.
“During the weekly lessons, they also had to pass the DNR hunting safety course,’’ Yang said. “So it was quite a commitment on their part, and we wanted it to be, because it was a commitment on our part as well.’’
