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Game On: 24.7 Hunt Is Bringing the Black to Game Hunting

The hunting community is painfully white. So Ranar Moody made it his mission to sprinkle in some flavor.

Stop me if youโ€™ve heard this before, but inclusivity and adequate representation are kind of a big dealโ€”especially for anyone brave enough to infiltrate Americaโ€™s forcefully white, nearly billion-dollar hunting and trapping industry. Of those courageous souls, only 3 percent of its participants can do the Electric Slide or recite their favorite quotes from The Wizโ€”which makes 24.7 Huntโ€™s commitment to the causeโ€”and our cultureโ€”deeply rooted in necessity.

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Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?

Comprised of Darryl Moore, Ricky Nicholas, Aubrey Mack, and their very own RZA of the clique, Ranar Moody, the Montezuma, Ga.-based collective is on a mission to โ€œbuild community through the outdoors with an urban influence.โ€ And in taking it upon themselves to ensure that โ€œurban influenceโ€ is crystal clear, when theyโ€™re not hosting sold-out hunts (with hundreds of attendees) to kick off dove hunting season, these social media superstars rock designer clothes, peddle fly-ass merch, and spread the gospel of game hunting from behind the mic, via their popular Duck Music mixtape series. Because who doesnโ€™t want to hear Moody rap about how he โ€œwants to hunt every day, done it all my lifeโ€ and that he โ€œkeeps that 40 by his side like 39?โ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc6g7ybD6BQ

Much like the smothered quail they feast upon, the entire 24.7 Hunt movement is unlike anything Iโ€™ve ever seen before. Created seven years ago by Moody as a means to chronicle his familyโ€™s frequent hunting excursions, he eventually mustered the courage to quit his job as a project manager and transform his lifelong passion for hunting into a lucrative business ventureโ€”with a little help, of course.

โ€œI met Ricky, Daryl, and Aubrey,โ€ Moody explained to The Root. โ€œIt ainโ€™t that many Black dudes on social media that duck hunt. So I hit โ€˜em up, bro. I was like, โ€˜We all got similar goals and itโ€™s easier to get there together than separate.โ€™ So once we started moving as a unit, 24.7 blew up.โ€

But as Moody is quick to note, none of his tremendous success would be possible without the foundation his father, Waldo, laid beforehand.

โ€œMy dad used to host dove hunts all the time,โ€ Moody said. โ€œBefore social media, 24.7, and all that, people would come all the way from Atlanta or Alabama. So since my brand blew up, now itโ€™s my responsibility to host them. They were big then, but now itโ€™s on a different scale. So hopefully, when my son grows up, itโ€™ll be something that he wants to do.โ€

Thereโ€™s something magical about a group of unapologetically Black men being embraced by the greater hunting community, all while openly refusing to comprise who they areโ€”a hard-fought luxury many of us canโ€™t even begin to fathom. But with big-name supporters like former NFL player Stevan Ridley and country music superstar Morgan Wallenโ€”yes, that Morgan Wallenโ€”as well as popular brands like Can-Am, Yeti, Gunner Kennels, Sitka Gear, and others tripping over themselves to co-sign this flourishing movement, itโ€™s abundantly clear that 24.7 Hunt is just getting started.

24.7 Hunt kicking off dove hunting season.

โ€œIt was a blessing for Can-Am to donate seven or eight vehicles for us to drive everybody out on the field [during our most recent dove hunt],โ€ Waldo told The Root. โ€œTo pick people up and give them water. That means a lot to 24.7 Hunt to have a big company come in and say, โ€˜What do you guys need? We want to be a part of [this].โ€™โ€

But to that end, you would think that with 24.7 Hunt hosting such massive events, it would provide brands like Can-Am with the perfect opportunity to market their 2024 Defender to an atypically diverse crowd. However, by not sending a single sales rep to reel in any of the hundreds of potential customers on hand, itโ€™s not only a missed opportunity for these brands to diversify their customer base, but a perfect example of the war for respect and recognition that Moody and his courageous comrades continue to wageโ€”despite their unparalleled success.

And if that battle for equitable treatment and representation within the hunting industry must persist, at least 24.7 Hunt is doing it on their own terms: still dripping in ice while bumping Duck Music 3 and Jeezy.

โ€œI just want people to come see what weโ€™re doing,โ€ Moody said. โ€œWeโ€™re welcoming and we relate to them. Itโ€™s just been a blessing. [...] Weโ€™ve had so many young Black dudes come. [Itโ€™s] just touching.โ€

Straight From The Root

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