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Hunting Camp Memoir Bags Trophies, Tricks & Traditions

The outhouse is always cold, the porcupines and mice are always a problem, and the vehicles are always getting stuck in the mud, but there’s nowhere else these men would rather be. Meet the “Jolly Boys,” five northern Wisconsin men who built a shack called Hunting Camp 52, affectionately nicknamed “Blue Heaven,” in 1955 and established a tradition that has lasted nearly six decades in the process.

Author John Marvin Hanson – son of one of the Jolly Boys – captures that tradition in Hunting Camp 52: Tales from a North Woods Deer Camp, newly published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. Hanson takes readers along on this nostalgic journey through the heydays of the camp – a place where every trail, rock, and ravine has its own nickname; every kill is recorded by hand on a window shade, every hunter happily croons along during evening songfests; and the poker games last late into the night. While Hanson recounts the memorable hunts and humorous antics, he also shares the profound camaraderie that developed over almost 60 years at Blue Heaven.

The book includes more than 20 home-style recipes for “gourmet” comfort foods prepared each year at camp, from pickled venison hearts and Kathy’s pâté to Norwegian meatballs and the treasured recipe for Reali Spaghetti.

The Wisconsin Historical Society Press has been publishing the best of Wisconsin history and culture, as part of the Wisconsin Historical Society, since 1855. For more information visit wisconsinhistory.org/shop.

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