Buck Fever gets hunters in “the mood”

The hunters are getting revved up for the gun-deer season just days away.

“It’s events like this that get our blood flowing,” said Mike Jefferson of Cecil. “You’re talking about hunting, tasting the food and just getting ready for the season.”

Several hundred hunters and families passed through the doors of the Shawano County Highway garage Tuesday night as the annual Buck Fever night was held.

“I’ve been to these kind of functions in other counties and they don’t seem to have the draw like Shawano County does,” said Shawano County DNR warden Jim Horne. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s a good thing. It always surprises me with the draw here.”

Hunters had several booths to choose from to get them in the hunting mood Tuesday night, including chances to talk with taxidermists, tasting some delicious deer meat, learning what do to with a deer after it’s shot, trying bow shooting and pellet gun shooting.

There were also informational booths set up for the Navarino Nature Center, Apple Creek Whitetails, the Wisconsin DNR and several others.

“They run this very well and it’s always something different every year,” said Tom Litzke of Shawano. “The kids love it out here and it’s a great chance for them to learn about hunting.”

Litzke brought his 7-year-old son and his 3-year old daughter.

“He’s been wanting to shoot the guns and she’s still a little unsure of what is going on,” Litzke laughed. “Give them a few years and they’ll be coming into the woods with me and they’ll know everything they need to about hunting.”

Horne said the DNR uses the event as a chance to remind hunters to be safe and follow the five basic rules of gun handling.

“If they follow those rules, we’ll have a safe hunting season and we’ll shoot some deer and life will be good,” Horne said.

As usual, one of the biggest draws at the Buck Fever night was the deer skinning seminar, which by the end of the night had a large crowd surrounding the demonstration area.

“You always seem to pick up something new when you come out here,” said Dave Bartz of Wittenberg. “I’ve come out here the last three years and I always seem to learn something new. It’s a great thing to have before the season.”

The 2008 gun-deer season kicks off at dawn on Saturday and runs through Sunday, Nov. 30 with more than 650,000 hunters expected to hit the Wisconsin woods during the opening weekend.

“We’re hoping for some nice weather. It’s cool enough now, it’d be nice if we got a little snow,” Horne said. “We’re expecting a lot of folks to be out there and to follow the rules and be safe and wear their blaze orange and follow those rules.”

Lady Hawks open with victory

Only one game into the 2008 season, the Shawano girls baskeball team already has reached half their win total from a year ago, as an offseason of hard work showed in a 40-27 win over Clintonville Tuesday.

Tigerton opens with big win

The Tigerton girls basketball team got their season off to a good start on Tuesday as the Tigers rolled over non-conference Lena 53-31 at Tigerton High School.

Bears fall to Gillett in season opener

BONDUEL — With five players who had zero varsity experience heading into Tuesday night’s season opener, including three freshmen, some growing pains were to be expected for the Bonduel girls basketball team.

Buck Fever gets hunters in “the mood”

The hunters are getting revved up for the gun-deer season just days away.