Local hunters take advantage of Wisconsin’s mentor law

Wisconsin’s regular deer gun season is still about a month away, but last weekend young hunters had the opportunity to test their skills in the outdoor sport during the state’s youth deer hunt.

Ten-year-old Maggie Butkovich was all smiles after participating in her first ever hunt. She went hunting with step-father Ken Goodiel just south of County Road T near Gordon, and on Sunday evening she bagged a doe.

“This youth hunt thing is really kind of neat,” Goodiel said. “I wish it would have been around when my three kids were younger.”

Wisconsin’s mentored hunting laws took effect in 2009 and enable hunters as young as 10 years old to participate in the annual youth hunt.

The mentoring rules allow youth hunters to participate in the two-day hunt if supervised by an adult mentor. Mentors must be at least 18 years old and be graduates of a hunter education course. While in the field, the mentor must be within arm’s reach of the youth hunter at all times, and only one gun may be possessed between the hunter and mentor.

For Butkovich, the youth hunt provided the perfect opportunity to see if hunting was something she’d like to pursue. After this year’s hunt, Goodiel has a feeling she’s hooked.

“She was absolutely thrilled,” Goodiel said. He added that Butkovich even saw a six-point buck during the hunt, but did not have a good enough look to take a shot.

Robbie Parenteau, of Superior, was another youth hunter who was out in the woods Saturday and Sunday. The 10-year-old shot a doe early in the morning on the first day of the hunt. In the afternoon, he added a buck to his take.

Tags: northland outdoors, news, outdoors