By Bruce Urben, President
This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s November, 2024 Newsletter edition.
The students and their mentors
On the night of Friday, October 11th, WWA’s Green Bay Chapter began their 16th annual Learn to Hunt (LTH) waterfowl program ran through our Waterfowlers Academy. Eight students attended this year and each started their LTH experience with several hours in the classroom at the Pittsfield trap club. Instruction included presentations by certified Hunter Safety instructor Jeremy VanSistine, hunter ethics and conservation laws by Conservation Warden Logan Woods, duck identification by WDNR Regional Biologist Steve Burns and duck and goose calling by VanSistine and Bryan Urben of the GB Chapter. The students enjoyed a pizza dinner with soft drinks and sampled duck sausage, hotsticks and good Wisconsin cheese.
After dinner the students were paired up with their mentor team for some time on the trap line, shooting clay pigeons in the positions they would encounter the next day at their mentored hunt. A number of our adult students had not previously fired a firearm!
A student and her mentor in the field
Saturday morning started early for the mentors and students, with some on the raod as early as 4:00 am to meet their mentors at the scouted hunting sites. The hunt concluded by late morning and all met back at the trap club for a picnic lunch, more demos and certificate presentation. According to the mentors, all of the students had some opportunities – some successful and some not. Nine ducks were harvested and the WWA GB Learn to Hunt team demonstrated cleaning their harvest and shared their favorite recipes.
A USDA tech sampled for Avian Influenza
A representative from United States Department of Agriculture was present to swab the throat and cloacal areas of each duck in their effort of monitoring Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). A short presentation was given and a discussion followed on the need for this continued monitoring.
All of the participants had a great time during our closure meeting, and several are planning future hunts this year! All students left with a goody bag that included a WWA Waterfowlers Academy hat and a duck or goose call to commemorate their attendance.
This year, students attended from all over Wisconsin, including Stevens Point and Madison.
A special thanks to all of our Learn to Hunt mentors, including Mike Keeler, Bryan Urben, Jeremy VanSistine, Logan Sincoular, Mark Wilcox, Ken McNamer, Jesse Nickels, Hank and Dave Voakes and Bruce Urben. We cannot hold this type of event without these experienced and avid waterfowlers who gave up a day of hunting for these students! Also thank you to Pittsfield Trap Club near Pulaski for the use of their facilities and all of our presenters and behind the scenes help, and of course, the donations of food and soft drinks from our valued sponsors.
Students and mentors show off their successful harvest
If you are interested in attending a Learn to Hunt waterfowl program in the future, please contact Todd Schaller, our WWA Education Chair at 920-379-1704 or email at tschalt@charter.net.