Deer Camp Tickets Now Available

The Whitetails Unlimited Deer Camp Tour is ready to kick off January 14 and tickets for the first Deer Camps are already going fast!

Invitations for the early events have gone out the door from WTU national headquarters, and several thousand tickets have already been sold via the WTU website. New this year is the ability to print event tickets at home from the website, making the process even easier.

 

The first Deer Camp will be the Michigan Tri-Cities, on January 14 in Essexville, Michigan. The tour ends four months later, after 19 more events in nine states, with the Wisconsin Packerland Deer Camp in Green Bay on April 21.

There are single events in Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois and Texas. There are two Deer Camps in Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota, three events in Iowa, and seven Deer Camps in Wisconsin, where the events started.

A complete list of dates and locations, ticket information, and invitations in PDF format are available on the WTU website. Click here for more information. Deer Camps are held in great venues, with great food, outstanding prizes and once-in-a-lifetime hunting and fishing trips. Last year, at some Deer Camps one out of every seven people attending won a gun. Everyone attending will receive the 2012 Deer Camp Tour shirt.

Industry support of the Deer Camp Tour has been outstanding, resulting in high quality merchandise, travel destinations, and outdoor artwork being available in record numbers. There are custom-engraved firearms, art from the country’s top artists, merchandise that every deer hunter can use, and great adventure travel packages. Deer Camp sponsors are featured on the WTU website and on the Deer Camp invitations.

Twenty events, nine states, one great time. Attending a Deer Camp is a great way to cure the mid-winter blues!

Deer Camp dates and locations:

Tri-Cities (Michigan) Deer Camp, January 14, Essexville, Michigan

Western Iowa Deer Camp, January 21, Council Bluffs, Iowa

Wisconsin Northeast Deer Camp, January 28, Kimberly, Wisconsin

Minnesota Southeast Deer Camp, February 4, Red Wing, Minnesota

Missouri River Deer Camp, February 4, Sioux City, Iowa

Wisconsin East Deer Camp, February 4, Germantown, Wisconsin

Wisconsin North Deer Camp, February 4, Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Eastern Nebraska Deer Camp, February 17, Omaha, Nebraska

Michigan Deer Camp, February 18, Lansing, Michigan

Wisconsin Southeast Deer Camp, February 18, Kenosha, Wisconsin

Iowa Deer Camp, February 25, Pleasant Hill, Iowa

Mid-Missouri Deer Camp, March 3, Columbia, Missouri

Wisconsin West Deer Camp, March 3, Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Minnesota Lakes Deer Camp, March 17, Alexandria, Minnesota

Central Ohio Deer Camp, March 17, Columbus, Ohio

Illinois Deer Camp, March 24, Peoria, Illinois

North Texas Deer Camp, March 29, McKinney, Texas

Big Buckeye Deer Camp, March 30, Cambridge, Ohio

Wisconsin South Deer Camp, March 31, Madison, Wisconsin

Wisconsin Packerland Deer Camp, April 21, Green Bay, Wisconsin

WTU's My First Deer Program Celebrates Hunting Success

Program celebrates a life-long memory – a hunter’s first deer.

A hunter’s first white-tailed deer is an important part of their personal hunting heritage, and Whitetails Unlimited’s My First Deer program is ready to celebrate that rite of passage with them. As deer seasons come to an end across the country, when you (or someone you know) take that first deer, remember to go to the Whitetails Unlimited website to celebrate a successful season.

The My First Deer program celebrates a life-long memory – a hunter’s first deer. While oriented strongly toward youth, the program acknowledges a hunter of any age entering into a very special hunting fraternity of sportsmen and women. This special group of hunters can trace its roots all the way back to the Native Americans and early European settlers in North America.

To participate, a hunter need only submit a photo of their first deer, along with a short narrative (250 word maximum) about the hunt that resulted in their first deer.

To mark the occasion, Whitetails Unlimited will provide the successful deer hunter with a personalized color certificate, suitable for framing, and a Cabela’s shooter’s cap to wear with pride. In addition, everyone who participates will be entered into a drawing for one of three gift cards, generously donated by Cabela’s. First prize is a $300 Cabela’s gift card, second prize is a $200 Cabela’s gift card, and third prize is a $100 Cabela’s gift card. The drawing will be held January 3, 2012, with winners posted on the WTU website.

“This is a great way to mark this special deer hunting experience, and provide the successful hunter with a permanent reminder of that memorable day,” said Kevin Devault, WTU’s manager of conservation funding. “It’s a day and a moment in a hunter’s life that I promise they will never forget.”

Whitetails Unlimited introduced My First Deer as a pilot program in the last part of 2008, and it was an immediate success. As a result, WTU has run the program every year since then.

“Just ask any deer hunter, young or old, about their first deer and they will relive the entire experience as if it just happened yesterday,” said Devault. “Responsible hunters today, as in the past, continue to play a vital role in determining the fate of our nation’s deer population and the sport of regulated hunting. Honest, ethical hunters are the true conservationists in today’s society.”

For complete details on the My First Deer program, visit the WTU website at www.whitetailsunlimited.com.

Sign Someone Up For Landowner Fridays Reward Program

Popular program recognizes landowners who allow hunting on their property. 

Whitetails Unlimited’s Membership Appreciation Rewards Program’s new component, Landowner Friday, is off and running, and is a simple way that hunters can say ‘thank you’ to people who allow hunting on their land.

“This is a recognition to those landowners who allow responsible hunters to access their land,” said WTU Executive Director Pete Gerl. “The lack of places to hunt is one of the biggest problems hunters face, and everyone in the hunting community needs to do what they can to deal with this critical issue. Cabela’s has generously donated $50 gift cards as prizes for the landowners.”

The “Landowner Friday” recognition portion of the program requires that a current WTU member go to the WTU website and register the name of a landowner who permits them to hunt on their land. The landowner does not need to be a WTU member. Every Friday, one landowner will be randomly selected from that list to receive a $50 Cabela’s gift card.

Hans Feld of Nasewaupee, Wisconsin, was a recent Landowner Friday winner, and he said, “It was a nice surprise. I had no idea, but I appreciate very much Dave putting my name in.” Feld has managed a deer camp in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for decades, and says that since he’s at a point in life where, “I don’t need anything anymore, but now I go out before the deer season and buy something foolish for myself. This was a real treat.”

This year Feld said that he’s going to look at electric hand warmers for riding his ATV, because his thumbs are starting to get cold if he’s on the vehicle for an extended period of time. Feld said that he plans to visit the Cabela’s location in Richfield, Wisconsin, this weekend, “I’m sure I’ll be able to find something to make me happy.”

Any Whitetails Unlimited member can nominate landowners who allow them to hunt by clicking here.

The Membership Appreciation Rewards Program began in 2008, and has been very popular with both WTU members and industry supporters. Now four lucky member winners are selected each week (Monday – Thursday) through a random computerized drawing of current WTU members. The winner on Friday is selected from the member-nominated landowner list. Winners are notified by mail, and winners and their prizes are posted on the WTU website.

Memberships can be obtained by clicking here, or by phone at 1-800-274-5471. Official rules for the program are available here.