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Best Wishes to Vicki Hilpert, Retiring WTA TAGS Team Member

Eric Pawlak
|  
  • Eric Pawlak

My right-hand man, Vicki Hilpert, is retiring. (Honestly, I think I’ve been her right-hand man.) All of us at Worldwide Trophy Adventures are in a bit of a funk. Vicki will be greatly missed.

I knew Vicki would eventually enter her last WTA client’s TAGS application and hang up her keyboard. But Vicki will always be part of the WTA family and her imminent departure has caused me to reflect.

Recently I’ve been asking myself, “How do we define a true leader in the hunting industry?” Is it the one who has obtained the most species? Or the person who received the most likes or subscribes? By the number of slams? Or the hottest outfitter of the moment with a line around the booth at the SCI Convention or the Sheep Show? I could go on, but I don’t have any interest in writing a piece about what makes a leader in this industry. I already know the answer…Vicki Hilpert has certainly been a leader in our industry. And she has never even pulled a trigger!

Vicki Hilpert is a native of Potter, Nebraska and a loving daughter, sister, wife, and mother of five girls. She started with Cabela’s in the Returns Department in Sidney, Nebraska in 1992. Yes, you read that correctly, the Cabela’s Returns Department. Can you imagine the volume? Eight months later, Vicki was hired by Cabela’s Customer Service Department. Again, the volume. I’m not sure any company displayed better customer service in the 1990s than Cabela’s. Eventually Vicki became a lead in the department. Then in 2011, Vicki was looking for a change and Cabela’s TAGS  division was hiring. I started the division in late 2003, but those early years were pretty dismal. Vicki came along when the TAGS department was hitting its initial stride. The volume followed her again.

WTA TAGS would not be the licensing powerhouse it is today without Vicki running the back end for all those years. Her title is WTA TAGS Application Assistant. I’ve always disliked the title. Vicki was instrumental in orchestrating the draw for WTA TAGS and its clients, application season after application season. Throughout her career, she has processed hundreds of thousands of time-sensitive big game tag applications, all with incredible accuracy. Vicki may not be the most accurate with a rifle, but nobody is more accurate on a keyboard. If you’re one of the thousands of sportsmen who drew a primo tag or collected valuable bonus points through our TAGS service, thank Vicki!

In the early years, Vicki referred to oryx as “onyx” and desert bighorn sheep as “desert horn.” But Vicki soon became more knowledgeable about limited-entry Western big game hunting than any YouTuber or podcaster. Ultimately, she was more like a specialized attorney rattling off deadlines, application procedures, state contacts, and the rules and regulations of 21 states for 23 species.

Vicki played a major role in placing more sportsmen afield than the largest outfitters in the industry. Her efforts go on long after her retirement from her efforts to purchase more preference points and bonus points for the North American sportsmen and their children than any other in this industry. Elk, deer, antelope, sheep, moose, mountain goat…Vicki has assisted sportsmen in drawing premium, limited-entry tags for all of these species.

Vicki was instrumental in the migration of WTA TAGS to paperless, a two-year project that our company could not have completed without her. The transition completely transformed our business unit. She is not an Application Assistant, she is a businesswoman, and a damn good one!

I could go on, but I know Vicki’s humble nature makes her cringe at this attention. That’s not typical in this industry, huh?

Thank you for everything, Vic. I’m really gonna miss you. Words can’t express my gratitude.

I’ll try to make sure the guys keep the WTA kitchen sink free of dirty dishes. I’ll ask them to keep the foul language to a minimum and the consultant coding to a maximum. I may need your help from time to time though. They don’t listen to me as well, probably because I’m one of them. But I’ll try harder because of you. I think that may be the definition of a leader in any industry.

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