onX Hunt “40X” Event Helps Raise $2M for Conservation, Access Projects in Minnesota
onX Hunt, along with partner Final Rise, recently helped raise $2 million at the company’s “40X” event at the 2023 Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic in Minneapolis, thanks to matching funds that multiplied the organizations’ $50,000 donation by 40X.
40X refers to Pheasants Forever’s ability to match every dollar donated towards projects in Minnesota by 40X thanks to Pheasants Forever chapters and partners in conservation. onX donated $25,000 to Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, while Final Rise sold limited edition hats to raise an additional $25,000. Together, after the 40X matching, that translates to $2 million raised for access projects in Minnesota.
The 40X event saw more than 1,000 attendees from across the country come together to support onX Hunt and Pheasants Forever’s shared missions of permanently protecting critical habitat for upland wildlife as well as opening more land to public hunting. In addition to drinks, live music and giveaways, attendees were able to pin their favorite upland hunting state on a large U.S. map. Six hundred pins were placed in 40 states, and for each pin, onX Hunt donated $40 to Pheasants Forever. onX rounded up that $24,000 total to a $25,000 donation.
“It never ceases to amaze me how passionate uplanders are about the pursuit of wild birds in wild places,” said onX Wingshooting Manager Ben Brettigen. “We are incredibly thankful for the Pheasants and Quail Forever team as well as the chapters and members who put in the work creating access and habitat in those wild places. Bird hunters from all over the country came out to support and celebrate these habitat and access opportunities at the 40X event, and we’re proud to have helped forge relationships among hunters and raise funding for the Habitat Organization.”
The 40X initiative is part of onX Hunt’s commitment to protecting habitat and increasing access to public lands. In the past two years, onX has helped support over 1,000 acres of public access across Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa through Pheasants Forever’s Build a Wildlife Area program. Across the U.S., onX aims to improve access to over 150,000 acres of public lands and build or restore 150 miles of trails by the end of 2023. The Minnesota access projects benefiting from this year’s 40X event will soon be identified.
“We’re so blessed to work with partners like onX who truly ‘get it’,” said Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever Vice President of Corporate Partnerships Chris Kalis. “Not only does onX support our non-profit organization’s infrastructure through sponsorship support, but they take it a step further and contribute directly to our habitat and access mission. With grant partnerships we have in place, the 40X event is going to result in matching those contributions by a magnitude of forty times to help us do good things for our conservation mission. Thanks to onX and every uplander who contributed at the 40X event.”
About onX
Founded in 2009, onX is a pioneer in digital outdoor navigation, developing software that helps inform, inspire, and empower outdoor recreationists. onX Backcountry, onX Offroad, and onX Hunt make up the company’s suite of apps which are built by explorers for explorers. Because off-the-beaten path experiences are at the heart of what onX does, the company also leads initiatives to protect and expand access to public land and promote stewardship opportunities. Learn more at www.onxmaps.com/about.