Deciding DNR

I was born and raised in proximity to Friess Lake near Hubertus, WI. I use the lake to describe where I was born because the lake became home to me more than the house I slept in. My favorite gifts were equipped fishing rods with lures, air guns and my bike. With these things combined I remember feeling unstoppable in my pursuit to feed the family and go on adventures. I remember my mother always preferring that I would bring fish home instead of squirrels but she would always cook whatever I brought home either way. And that was the deal in my family, whatever you kill you respect by utilizing every part you can. Now it wasn’t like our family was so poor we couldn’t afford groceries. I just had a passion for hunting and fishing that I shared with my father. My father never said much but when he did it was gold to me as a young child. He always said two words can pretty much some up everything. As long you live with “Respect and Responsibility” the rest will fall into place. To my father, ethical practices of hunting and fishing matter most and naturally I adopted those practices.

Obviously my draw towards outdoor recreation and the ethical practice of those activities contributed to choosing a career in natural resources. However, some negative experiences with people not complying with my idea of ethics also contributed to my desire to be on the frontline of protecting our natural resources. I can remember an experience that really disturbed me. When I was about ten years old I was invited by another boy, a year older than me, to bring my pellet gun and come hunting in his woods. Now this boy obviously did not get the same lectures on ethics that I did because the image of what I stumbled onto is still engrained in my mind. As we walked into the middle of the woods I was lead to an area that this kid must have thought to be his trophy room of some sort. Everywhere I looked were dead mammal and bird carcasses everywhere. Song birds, rabbits and squirrels were everywhere hanging from clothes lines and strewn about. This boy also was using different animals as stencils to spray paint over. The site was nothing short of creepy and a place I did not want to be. All I kept thinking about was what a waste and how wrong this is. What the boy was thinking, I don’t know. Maybe he thought it was art and he was just a boy but the fact remains that he was killing just for the thrill of killing. I know there is a thrill to killing and maybe a sense of power or mastery but it should have a purpose and I can’t stress enough the responsibility of taking a life.

I really believe the culprit in this negative experience is simple ignorance. It’s important even at a very young age to understand how to be a steward of the land. Who knows the ecological impact that this one boy had and how many others out there are like him? There is something to be done here. There are many stories like this happening everywhere. My adoration for the outdoors and our natural resources lead me to educate myself on ethical and conservational practices. My distain for indifference, wastefulness and disrespect for our natural resource lead to me develop a career in changing these behaviors.