WISCONSIN'S YOUTH HUNT

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I have been guiding hunters and anglers in Northern Wisconsin for more than a quarter of a century. During that time I have often heard from clients and those folks that are encountered in the course of plying my trade that I am a lucky guy because I get to "have fun hunting and fishing all the time." While I won't deny that I do get a tremendous amount of enjoyment out of my work the fact of the matter is that even though guiding may be viewed by the casual observer as being fun it is nonetheless work. And, oh, yes, there is that multiplier of advancing age tossed in which acts like a speed governor. I can still have fun guiding but not at the same rate I had in previous years. There is one thing, however, that somehow manages to by-pass the aging process and never ceases to get my guiding juices going and that's getting a kid involved in the hunting and fishing endeavors.

I have guided many kids to their first fish, first big fish or their first stringer-full. For most of 'em it becomes a life-long love. I know, because I see many of them year after year in my boat with their siblings and parents. Many of these kids will never know of some of the problems that kids around them face. These kids are too busy reading everything about fishing that they can lay hands on and they spend free time trying to catch fish wherever they might find them or suspect they might be.

I have also guided a number of brand new deer hunters to their first whitetail deer. Most have participated in Wisconsin's regular gun or archery deer seasons but Wisconsin has a relatively new opportunity for inexperienced young hunters to bag a deer in a special season that has been established just for them. It is the Wisconsin Youth Hunt. This hunt allows kids from twelve through fifteen years old, resident or non-resident, who have completed a Wisconsin recognized hunter Education program and who have purchased a gun deer license to participate in the Youth Hunt. A parent or guardian must accompany the hunter. Typically, the hunt runs for a weekend somewhat earlier than the regular Gun Deer Season. In 2008 the Wisconsin Youth Hunt was held on October 11 and 12.

The kids I have guided on their first time deer hunts are usually really pumped up for it. In talking with the hunter and the parent prior to the hunt I usually probe the young hunter to see what he or she has learned in the Hunter Education Course. Invariably they can tell me about anything I ask them from firearm safety, to proper carrying of a firearm while afield to identifying the point of aim on an animal to allow for a quick kill. After having spent hours in the classes that they absolutely want to be at the kids know what they need to know to hunt safely and responsibly.

The 2008 Youth Hunt was no exception. I guided a young man from Illinois who was bursting at the seams with excitement at the prospect of taking a big northern Wisconsin buck. The boy's Dad accompanied the young man on the hunt and it was evident from the start that he was an experienced hunter and he had instilled in his son a sound attitude about hunting on which to build. Questions from the boy about property boundaries, shooting lanes, legal shooting hours and re-confirming what animals were legal for him to harvest were a bit more than I would have expected from a first time deer hunter.

Now every deer hunter who has hunted in this neck of the woods knows that there are no guarantees about shooting a big buck. Deer are wild free ranging animals and we are engaged in a fair chase hunt. The stands we are using have been placed in locations where deer are known to pass through. Sometimes many deer come through, bucks does and fawns. Sometimes only a few walk by. And sometimes we draw a blank. And so it was on this first day of the Youth Hunt. The stands I have constructed are enclosed and will handle two people. I selected a stand that has produced many deer on opening day, usually by ten A.M., as the deer feed their way back to their bedding areas after spending the night feeding in some nearby fields.

My hunter and his Dad arrived at the parking area at 5:45 A.M. as I instructed. After making sure their day packs were complete, the hunter's license was attached to the back of his hunting coat and his gun was unloaded and safe we walked quietly through the woods to the stand. I got hunter and Dad settled into the blind and I advised them of where they would most likely see deer emerge from cover. I told them I would listen for a shot as I would be within a half mile of where they were hunting. If I didn't hear his shot I'd return at noon. The morning passed slowly for me as I attended to fall yard duties while I anticipated hearing a gun shot from. There was no shot. I felt bad for the kid and his Dad. Sitting quietly in a cramped blind from 6 A.M. to noon is not an easy feat. I was surprised that there had been no shot.

I walked out to the blind and found the young man and his Dad in a much better frame of mind than I had expected. No, there were no deer that passed through my "hot spot" but they were well entertained by a flock of turkeys that landed nearby and paraded around the area. Switch to Plan B. This time, instead of watching a trail through the open woods I led them to a stand that has, in the past, produced some very nice bucks during the regular gun season and has also produced a few black bears. The stand has a view of a black spruce swamp and alder brush as the swamp becomes dry ground. I set the guys in the blind and told them that this was not a high density stand but the quality of the animals taken from here in the past was better than average. I also told them that in my experience the last ½ hour before the close of legal shooting hours was the most active time from this blind. I showed them a slight notch in the spruce trees and told them that this was where I'd personally seen bucks emerge from the swamp. As I left the blind I told them that shooting hours ended at 6:41 P.M. and it would be pretty dark by then so be certain of your target.

I returned to my yard work chores until I began to run out of daylight. I glanced at my watch. It was 6 P.M. I was sorting through the day's mail when the late afternoon quiet was shattered by the report of a rifle shot that sounded similar to that of a .243 which our hunter was using on this day. Rather than jump on my ATV to investigate I decided to wait for a second, anchoring shot, that would signal that the deer was down for good. That shot came about 4 minutes after the initial shot. At this point I grabbed a Coleman lantern, attached a light to the brim of my cap and headed out to the stand.

A few minutes later as I neared the blind I stopped to listen, hoping to locate my hunter and his Dad. It didn't take long. There was no whooping or hollering like there often is, especially with a first deer. Instead a very calm and well controlled, "You ain't gonna believe this, emanated from a group of small balsams about 50 yards in front of the blind. For a brief second a white hot bolt of terror shot through me. What am I not going to believe? My God, what if they shot a bear? I pushed my way through the brush to where I could see the light from a pair of flashlights. My hunter and his Dad were in the process of field dressing a buck with the nicest 8 point by 20 inch wide set of antlers you ever saw. My hunter was way beyond excited. He was speechless and at the point of hyperventilating! What a moment! As the young man calmed down he was able to relate to me how his Dad caught some movement out of the corner of his eye and poked the boy to alert him. All they could see was antler tips…..very large ones but they could not yet see the body of the buck for proper shot placement. That came some minutes later and our hunter placed his shot well.

We hauled the animal out of the woods and took a bunch of photos all the while the Dad was telling me what a great job I had done by allowing his son to bag such a trophy while he had hunted all his life and had nothing close to this one to show for it. This hunt was for me every bit as exciting as it was for my clients. In a time when fewer and fewer youngsters are being taken to the woods and fields and being taught to hunt and make their way in the wild this father and son had the experience of a lifetime. I was fortunate enough to be able to share in it. When the time comes consider taking your children on one of these special hunts. You'll come away knowing that you made a difference in their lives.

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