Courtesy of Brooke Wagemann & Alison Gnesda

Alison and I met at a Wisconsin Women’s Learn to Hunt event in 2024, which was my first year participating as a mentor. Since she lives near me in southeast Wisconsin, we hit it off before the hunt even started, and the rest is history.

Hunting & the outdoors has been a big part of my life for years. I’ve traveled to more than 10 states to hunt, primarily waterfowl, and have collected some incredible memories along the way, including an eider that now hangs on my wall and a banded Brant in NY.

Since meeting, Alison and I have hunted early teal, duck season, geese, and deer together, and I’ve also taught her how to fly fish. Our friendship has grown well beyond the outdoors, too. We even completed a triathlon together.

Now we hang out all the time, find new adventures to get ourselves into, and regularly team up to annoy my husband. What started through Women’s Learn to Hunt quickly turned into a friendship built around hunting, fishing, fitness, and a lot of laughs and cooking!

Brooke Wagemann