Know an Ethical Hunter?

Wisconsin’s tradition of hunting is built upon ethics where success is defined as using a moral compass to end the hunt satisfied with the knowledge the hunt also was safe, enjoyable and ethical.

Know a hunter who thinks and acts with a strong sense of safe and sometimes selfless direction? Nominate the individual for The La Crosse Tribune/Wis. Department of Natural Resources Hunter Ethics Award – an honor that goes well beyond a wildlife harvest for bragging rights later.

Nominations for this statewide award, now in its 18th year, will be accepted through Feb. 15. The annual honor was established by Bob Lamb, retired outdoors editor of the La Crosse Tribune, Lamb, retired DNR conservation warden supervisor Steve Dewald and retired University of Wisconsin-La Crosse instructor Jerry Davis. Chief Conservation Warden Todd Schaller joined the award committee four years ago.

Schaller says the award is about recognizing sportsmen and sportswomen who go above and beyond for others who have the same passion or interest – and that is hunting.

“Maybe it’s helping a fellow hunter in distress, providing opportunities for disabled hunters, teaching young hunters, coming to the aid of a conservation warden or simply showing other hunters that ethical hunting is part of the hunt,” Schaller says.

To become eligible for the 2014 award:

• The nominee must be a licensed Wisconsin hunter.

• The ethical hunting act must have occurred in Wisconsin during the 2014 calendar year.

Nominations will be considered for any DNR-regulated hunting activity in Wisconsin.

Written nominations must contain the name, address and telephone number of the witness or witnesses to the behavior that lead to the nomination and mailed to Chief Conservation Warden Todd Schaller at [email protected], or to Department of Natural Resources, Attention: Chief Warden Todd Schaller LE/5, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921, by Feb. 15, 2015.