An Outdoorsman’s Journal - Keep the kids hunting

An Outdoorsman’s Journal

Mark Walters sponsored by

Hello friends, I spent this past weekend with 11-year-old Conner Thiede and his 13-year-old sister Carsyn at their deer camp near Burnett while participating in Wisconsin’s youth deer hunt. Kyle Zuelsdorf, a good friend of the family’s, would be mentoring Carsyn and I would be helping Conner, who are both from Mayville. I have been hunting deer and turkeys with these very fun and into-the-outdoors kids and what we do is switch who I hunt with.

Last October I helped Carsyn harvest an 8-point buck. During our annual “Joe Hunt,” which is in December, I sat with Conner and he harvested a 2.5-year-old buck that had already shed its antlers.

Saturday, Oct. 7 High 54, Low 36

Conner and I would be hunting on a beautiful farm near Horicon. Carsyn and Kyle would be hunting in the Horicon marsh. We would be staying at the Thiedes’ deer camp, which is a small cabin on their grandparents Todd and Lynn Thiede’s property near Burnett. The kids absolutely love it here and as the weekend progressed it was very cool to observe them along with several of their cousins as they had a constant blast playing and riding ATVs.

A little side note, until I arrived on Friday, I did not know the property that I would be hunting. After I did, I realized it was very close to the 40-acre farmette that my late girlfriend Michelle Chiaro owned until she moved to Necedah. That reality had my mind working all weekend.

The setup that Conner and I had was a narrow strip of forest that was surrounded by soybean, corn and alfalfa fields. Carsyn and Kyle would be hiking into the marsh and observing deer as they moved from ag fields to bedding areas and then back to the fields in the afternoon.

Today Conner and I did not see any deer. Between the morning and afternoon hunt, Carsyn saw eight deer but could not get a shot as they were in marsh grass.

I met these kids through my dear friend Rod Bensley, who passed away last year and was an incredible mentor and land manager. We no longer have access to Rod’s property, so this year we kind of had to wing it. I have become very close with the Thiede family and that is another gift from Rod.

Sunday, Oct. 8 High 53, Low 34

Like Kyle Zuelsdorf, I take my mentoring very seriously and I try to teach and keep things fun at the same time. Throughout Wisconsin, Kids and Mentors Outdoors (KAMO) was helping get our youth into the woods today and besides myself and Kyle there are many other stories. One would be 13-year-old Emma Raymus of the Coulee Chapter of KAMO out of La Crosse. Good people in that chapter have been working with Emma and her brother Quinten for five years. Today with the help of Randy Hines and property owner Curt Jacobs, Emma harvested her first buck. Throughout the weekend my phone just kept delivering happy stories like that.

On our hunt, despite giving our effort 150%, Conner and I did not see a deer. I honestly feel the deer were in the corn and just could not be seen. Carsyn had a different story. They were set up for their morning hunt and a woman with a crossbow set up about 100 yards away from them in a tree. The woman fell asleep and stayed sleeping the entire hunt. A buck crossed between Carsyn and the sleeping hunter that would have been an easy shot. For safety concerns no shot was taken by Carsyn.

I had a blast with these kids. They are always happy and always active!

Sunset