A look at Wisconsin's hunting culture

Hundreds of thousands of hunters are set to take part in a Wisconsin tradition. Many camps are set and the hunters are ready. Thirty minutes before sunrise Saturday morning, the gun-deer season will be underway.

While the hunt brings a lot of excitement, for many, it is second-nature. Regardless of your age or where you were born, if you live in northeast Wisconsin, you know the weekend before Thanksgiving, kicks off one of the state's most popular recreational activities...but why?

"Probably a lot more farm life, back in the days, big city compared to country living, instills in ya, passed down generation to generation," said Appleton hunter Andrew Winter.

"A chance to get away from it all, to relax, to have a hobby, enjoy the outdoors," said Lydia Eickert.

Eickert has a 10-pointer of her own on the wall at home, and the next generation, her nine-year-old son, hopes to add to the collection.

"I'm not old enough," said Emmett Eickert. Emmett wears his "daddy's hunting buddy" hat, though he's not old enough to spend much time with daddy this weekend, but he has already learned about hunting from his father.

"You have to wait until the perfect deer or bear comes," said Emmett.

"The friendship involved in deer hunting is certainly a major aspect of why we go," said Richard Yatzeck.

Yatzeck is a Lawrence University professor, an avid outdoorsman, and an author. In his 50 years of hunting, he says he's shot 14 deer.

He says not only is seeing friends a reason people go hunting in Wisconsin, but it's also, the availability of deer and hunting land, rivalry among hunters, the rush of hitting your target, and taking in the outdoors.

"It's a time when you can shut off the machine," said Yatzeck. "You don't worry about the rent, you don't worry about your income, you don't worry about what the kids are doing or not doing, you don't worry about who has a job or doesn't have a job. You turn off your internal machinery and just listen."

Wisconsin has more than 600,000 licensed hunters for the gun deer season. Michigan has a similar number, but the population of Michigan is nearly double the size of Wisconsin.