Hunters' Network of Wisconsin - Helping Keep Wisconsin's Hunting Heritage Alive

Great video, take a kid hunting.

rgroy79 — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:18:57 +0000

Amazing story about an anti-hunter turned avid hunter.

rgroy79 — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:21:18 +0000

Hunters Are People Too

FEB 15 2012, 9:06 AM ET 3

Like many fellow vegans, Cerulli abstained from animal-derived foods because he cared about the consequences of his eating, but his decision to hunt was an extension of the same feelings.

Watching hunters headed to the woods each autumn, I used to shake my head. As a vegan who abhorred violence and suffering, I wondered what possessed such people. That they ate flesh was bad enough. That they spent time and money in pursuit of the chance to deal death to fellow creatures was incomprehensible.

From where I stood in our organic vegetable garden, I saw hunting as a barbaric relic of humanity’s pre-agricultural past, the antithesis of our gentle efforts to coax sustenance from the soil. I couldn’t possibly have pictured myself a decade later, mapping deer trails all summer in hopes of dragging home venison come November.

Like many vegans and vegetarians, I abstained from animal-derived foods because I cared about the consequences of my eating, for the planet and for the beings who inhabit it. I sought a kind of responsible dietary citizenship, a respectful, holistic way of living as a member of the larger-than-human world. My turn toward hunting was an unexpected extension of that same search.

Even local, organic greens and strawberries came to us courtesy of missing forests, smoke-bombed woodchucks, and rifle-shot deer.

By the time my fiancée and I returned to eating eggs and dairy due to health concerns, I had realized that everything I ate took a toll on animals. I knew that clearing crop land wipes out wildlife habitat, that grain harvesters mince birds and mammals (PDF), and that farmers kill to protect virtually every crop grown in North America. Even local, organic greens and strawberries came to us courtesy of missing forests, smoke-bombed woodchucks, and rifle-shot deer. If farmers had had their way in the late 19th century, deer populations here in the Northeast would have remained at the near-extinction levels to which they had been driven by overhunting and the clearing of forests for agriculture.

Our return to eating local chicken and wild fish was even more unsettling. These creatures had not died as a side effect of agriculture. They had been killed specifically so I could eat them.

So I took up hunting. I needed to take responsibility for at least a few of the deaths that sustained me, to confront that emotional and moral difficulty. I needed to look directly at living, breathing creatures. I couldn’t have all the killing done by proxy.

As in my vegan years, I sought a respectful, holistic way of living as a member of the larger-than-human world. Ecologically, venison from local woods made more sense than anything shipped cross-country. Ethically, a truly wild animal made more sense than any creature raised in confinement.

Hunting, of course, is hard for many Americans to swallow.

In part, that’s a matter of history. From the Puritans, who saw hunting as a sign of degeneracy in both European nobles and American Indians, to lionized hunters like Daniel Boone and Theodore Roosevelt to our modern stereotype of hunters as reckless rednecks, we have inherited a wildly conflicted legacy.

In part, it’s a matter of current events. Some hunters take dangerous shots at unidentified flashes of movement, occasionally resulting in tragedy. Some take marginal shots at animals, with little care for the suffering inflicted or the risk of a slow, painful death.

We are — and should be — troubled by such behavior. But we should also see it for what it is: the dark side not just of hunting but of our culture as a whole.

As writer and hunter Ted Kerasote pointed out years ago, recklessness and disrespect are hardly unique tothoughtless hunters. As a society, we engage in all kinds of gratuitously harmful behavior, from drunk driving and factory farming to rapacious development and agricultural practices that cause soil erosion andpoison birds by the tens of millions (PDF). Poor hunter conduct — attributable to the willful actions of individual members of a minority — serves as a lightning rod for disapproval, but it is not particularly unusual.

In great part, our difficulty with hunting stems from the simple fact that we are disturbed by the killing of animals. Most burger-wolfing Americans don’t want to know what happens in slaughterhouses. Most yogurt-scooping vegetarians don’t want to know that dairy farming depends on the constant butchering of male calves for veal. As a salad-munching vegan, I didn’t want to know about the impacts of agriculture.

Unlike going to the grocery store, the idea of hunting brings us face to face with animal death. Though hunters may go days, weeks, and even years without shooting an animal or bird, we all know that they intend to kill eventually.

Fifteen years ago, I found such voluntary participation unfathomable. In my imagination, I painted hunters with a dark brush. At best, I thought, they must be callous and ignorant. Now, after nearly a decade as a hunter, I think hunting deserves a fair hearing.

Other Americans are concluding the same. As the local food movement grows, vegetarians and omnivores alike are seeking paths to responsible dietary citizenship. Disturbed by the industrialized food system’s impacts on humans, other animals, and the wider natural world, many of us are supporting local farmers. Many are planting gardens or raising backyard chickens. And some are taking up rifles, shotguns, and bows.

Though hunting will never provide a substantial portion of our national food supply — deer hunting, for instance, yields roughly 300 million pounds of venison per year, less than one pound per American (PDF) — it can be significant for individual families. Four of the past five autumns, I have hiked into the woods with a rifle, waited patiently, killed swiftly, and dragged home 70-100 pounds of healthy, local, sustainable, free-range meat.

Over the past two years, articles on hunting for food have appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country. From New York and Virginia to Arizona and Wisconsin, people are enrolling in classes designed for what I call “adult-onset hunters.” Others are learning on their own or getting guidance from lifelong hunters they know personally.

Even if this surge of interest in hunting proves to be a passing trend, it has already begun the important work of busting stereotypes. As more Americans find that hunters exist within their circles of family and friends, hunters are getting harder to pigeonhole. Shattered stereotypes offer us a chance to think and see with greater clarity.

As we continue to reassess our relationships with food and nature, hunting — like agriculture — should be examined with a discerning eye. Approached with hubris, it can perpetuate the worst of who we are: humans at our greediest and most careless. Approached with humility, it can encourage the best of who we are: humans at our wisest and most mindful.

New Events!! Sign up!!

rgroy79 — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:35:11 +0000

Spring Turkey Learn to Hunt Events are underway!!

Check out our new events for 2012!

Turkey Radio

rgroy79 — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:09:21 +0000

LTH_Turkey_radio_2012

UW Students Participate in Pheasant LTH – By Trevin Kreier, HNW Intern

tkreier — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:51:16 +0000

Earlier this fall, I had the opportunity to lead my first Learn to Hunt program on the University of Wisconsin – Madison campus. I had been part of Learn to Hunts before in the spring for turkeys, but never had I done one in the fall or had the task of organizing it. Let me say this right away – it takes a lot of hard work and cooperation to get an event like this accomplished, but it’s all worth it in the end.

After a month of preparation and planning (half of it with me out of the state elk hunting in Colorado) we had everything set for the Learn to hunt event. Our good friends at the Waunakee Gun Club were nice enough to lend us their time and facility for the educational aspect of the event. We introduced the 24 new hunters to firearm safety, and how important safe hunting is whenever we’re in the field. Along with help from the mentors of the group, the hunters got to shoot stationary targets, and then got a chance at moving targets. It’s surprising how many people who have never shot before actually hit the moving targets. Some of them were even perfect. My attempt to demonstrate missed the mark completely…

Following the shooting portion or the hunt was the remainder of the educational part teaching the hunters about pheasants. General pheasant hunting techniques, ecology of wild pheasants, the history of pheasants in North America, and even the importance of dogs and dog handling. With new knowledge of pheasant hunting and shooting safety, we gave the hunters the time and place for the rendezvous in the morning for the hunt that was about to take place.

Our friends at Blonhaven Hunt Club in Orfordville, Wis. were nice enough to allow us to hunt there. They even had some awesome guides volunteer their time for the day to help us out! I tell you what, it’s really an amazing feeling to have hunters like that nice enough to donate their time to introduce a bunch of college kids into hunting. After a quick pep talk from some of the guides about safety while in the fields, each hunter and mentor combo split up into groups of four for the hunt and went to the fields. My group had a great time hunting behind Dennis Sailing and his dog, Bubba, and ended up taking five birds on the day. Not bad for first timers if I do say so myself.

After regrouping at the lodge, we had a pheasant processing demonstration by the staff at Blonhaven, and the hunters got the chance to help clean all the pheasants they shot. Pictures were taken, laughs were shared, and all around people were smiling from ear to ear about the hunt that day.

For me, the best part of the day was witnessing the exhilaration on the faces of all the hunters afterwards. None of them had any prior pheasant hunting experience, but after that day most of them were hooked. The hunters came from all across the U.S. and the world, from Taiwan and China to The Netherlands and Denmark; all of them had a blast! Even after the event was all done, they kept asking for more.

“Thank you so much! It was absolutely amazing!” they said. “So when will the next Learn to Hunt event take? Can we get our Hunter’s Safety now?”

“Soon” was all I could say to them. I was in disbelief. It looks like the event was even a greater success than I could have ever imagined.

Ashland Learn To Hunt Pheasant Event

tkreier — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:59:11 +0000

A successful hunter at the Ashland Learn to Pheasant Hunt!

The Department and the Ashland/Bayfield County Sportsmen Club held their 10th annual LTH Pheasants event weekend in the Ashland area. Interest was down a little this year and only 11 youth signed up originally, however they added seven first time hunter Northland College students to the mix and ended up with 15 total hunters on Saturday. Warden Amie Egstad spearheaded the event with Matt MacKenzie and Todd Naas assisting. Wardens John Windt and John Krull, Dave Lindsley, Forestry Tech Mark Guenther, Hatchery Supervisor Darren Miller, Washburn Police Chief Ken Johnson, and Border Patrol Agent JD Slater were walk along mentors for the hunters. Dave and Mark also each had a son participate successfully. Five local dog handlers with seven dogs provided a great time for the participants, and about 20 birds were harvested. Only two young ladies were unsuccessful in harvesting a bird, but it was the first time they had ever fired a gun and they did have some good shooting opportunities.

Again this year the Department provided non-toxic steel shot for the event, including for trap shooting practice prior to the hunt, and once again it proved successful for both activities. Though Todd did not conduct a copper rifle ammunition demo as he originally planned, he did give a presentation on our demo from days before along with the nontoxic shot presentation. This seemed well received by the students and by some of the parents who hung around for the first night’s presentations!

Why I Hunt – By Trevin Keier, HNW Intern

tkreier — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:52:10 +0000

For me, hunting is more than a past time, more than a sport and is definitely something I do not take lightly. It’s a tradition passed down from generation to generation. It’s a way to take my mind off of things and leave the rest of the world behind, even if it’s just for a few short hours. Most of my friends realize this about me, and understand where I’m coming from since most of themselves, their friends or relatives hunt. But it’s those who have never been introduced to hunting, those who only think of hunters as a bunch of heartless butchers out to kill Bambi’s dad, that are my favorite to explain it to.

I love it when those who have never been introduced to hunting tell me the stereotypes they have of hunters. This list of words and phrases that are synonymous with hunting includes, but is not limited to, the following: Rednecks, jacked-up trucks, country music, racist, arrogant, chew tobacco, filthy, killers, butchers, cruel, and my favorite of all, uneducated. When I hear all these words bashing the tradition that I love it makes me sick to my stomach. Why do people think that about hunters? Where are they getting all of these intuitions? Have they ever even talked to a hunter before?

Most of my friends are hunters. Most of them have gone on to four-year colleges, and have been educated in some way, shape or form. It’s that slight percentage of the hunting community that conveys why people look down upon hunting. Those that have no respect, that are just out to kill everything and not take care of the land that the rest of us hunters work so hard to uphold, those are the kinds of hunters that give the rest of us a bad name. Every time there is a news story about hunting, it’s always about some guy who was caught doing something illegal. You never hear those stories of the clubs, organizations, and national non-profits that are doing great things for the habitat animals live in. What about the fact that Ducks Unlimited has conserved nearly 13 million acres of wetlands in North America, and whose influence covers nearly 75 million acres? Why aren’t stories like that heard by the general public?

Then you’ve got the hunting television shows that show hunters shooting trophy animals. What message does that send to the non-hunting public? I wish, at least from time to time, that hunters would take a step back and think about their actions before they do something. Ask themselves, “Are my actions going to reflect badly on myself and hunters everywhere?” Maybe by doing that, and showing the true character that would make fellow hunters proud, we can exemplify just what type of a community hunters really are.

I have to admit, I absolutely love the feeling of shooting a big buck out in the woods, but that reason is hardly the reason why I hunt. Yes, pictures are taken displaying the majestic animals, but it’s never in way to disrespect them at all. It’s a way for me to reflect back on the memories of that special occasion, and know that this animal may have lost its life, but not at the cost of a trophy collection. It’s a sustainable harvest, and most likely the only way I haven’t starved since I have been in college. That’s the great thing about hunting wild game. It’s a self-sustaining food source, has no artificial preservatives, no antibiotics and the animals have lived their lives completely cage free, not to mention it’s cheap for college students like me!

If you were to ask me specifics as to why I hunt, I could go on for hours. It’s something that has always had great meaning in my life. It’s taught me responsibility, respect, patience, persistence, gratitude, humility and many, many more things that will go a long way in life. It’s a sense of wholeness for me, being at one with Mother Nature. I know that every time I head out to the woods that I will get to see something new that I’ve never seen before. But can I really put why I hunt into words? Not really. For the true meaning, you have to experience it for yourself. Words can’t describe it. My only hope is that I can pass on the tradition of hunting to those who have never experienced it, and in doing so, enjoy it myself along the way.

Recipes: Slow Cooker Venison Sloppy Joes

dtstanley — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:45:42 +0000

A recipe you and your kids are sure to enjoy. Slow Cooker Venison Sloppy Joes: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-venison-sloppy-joes/detail.aspx

Why Hunt? Eating Local, Living in Balance

dtstanley — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:59:29 +0000

Hunters' Network of Wisconsin

Why should you hunt? 1) It’s a sustainable food source. 2) It provides balance in nature.

That’s it. I’m sure there’s a lot more that goes into hunting, but those 2 reasons are all you should need to become a Locavore, living off the land. Try it. Who knows, you just might get hooked…

Share Our Heritage

dtstanley — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:42:16 +0000

An educational opportunity designed to help novice hunters, both youth and adults, have a high quality, safe and rewarding hunting experience under the guidance of qualified hunting mentors

Sponsored by local conservation clubs and organizations under the supervision of the Wisconsin DNR
Participants receive both classroom and field instruction prior to the hunting experience.
Participants are paired up one-on-one with qualified mentors to provide the highest level of instruction and safety.

Click here to learn more.

Further resources:

2011_Youth_Learn_to_Hunt_School_Information_Sheet
- 2011_Learn_to_Hunt_Permission_Slip_and_Agreement-EntryNew