Deer season has come and gone. I and many others took to the woods with guns, and the cedar swamps soon began ringing with fired arms. The closest I got to getting a deer, was when one snorted and stomped at me just out of sight and the doe who ate for two hours at my bait pile with her fawn. Though a lucky few hunters got to bring home some venison this year, a lot more got skunked like I did. There were so many hunters that Negaunee Public Schools closed to give students the chance to participate in rifle season. This goes to show the importance of hunting in the Upper Peninsula, an importance often misunderstood by those at Northern Michigan University.

It is not always fun, its often cold and its mostly boring. Yet being able to provide for your family and community triumphs over any resistance. I know plenty of people who give leftover venison to family, friends and strangers who need it more than themselves. At the start of rifle season I even remember seeing people post on Facebook, asking for venison to give to single mothers. The comment section was filled with hunters willing to give. That is a huge component to why Yoopers hunt.
Not to mention the heritage aspect. Often times hunters will be taught from older family members how to provide from the forest and take care of it. Then when these family members pass, their lands and guns will be passed to the ones they taught; and so passes the responsibility to take care of the land and firearms. This connection ensures that even if the family doesn’t have much, they have the means to provide for themselves and their community.
Hunting is something that connects human tradition and nature, it is deep rooted in the basis of human survival and is often pushed back against by modern society; yet I am lucky to be somewhere still enriched with the lifestyle of a hunter. It is a lifestyle I wished more people at NMU understood.