Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Matt Tennis, of Slinger, Wis., helps his son Payton, 11, sight-in his gun on Friday afternoon during the Northwoods Wildlife and Wetlands Club"s Sight-in Day. This will be Payton"s first deer hunting season, Matt Tennis said, "We came (to the event) to provide him with a combination of sighting and a little practice."
By CHARITY SMITH
MERCER, Wis. - Hunters gathered at the Northwoods Wildlife and Wetlands Club on Friday to sight-in their guns in preparation for deer season which began in Wisconsin on Saturday.
Sight-in Day is a free annual event held by the club to give hunters the opportunity to ready their guns for the nine-day gun deer hunting season.
"This is where you go to hunt (Mercer Area)," said Pete Wetzler, vice president of the NWWC. "It"s a nice service that is provided here, because they get to get away from their busy week and get up here in time for hunting so they can sight in their rifles."
The event was free, but the club received more than $300 in donations through the day. The club will put the money toward wildlife preservation and support of the school"s shooting club, said Wetzler.
Mercer Deputy Clerk Beth Wetzler said that they had 70 people sign in for the event, but there were many more that did not sign in. She estimated that they had up to 100 people, adding while they had some locals, most of the people were from the southern part of the state. "It"s a big draw," she said.
Roger Arnould, a hunter from the Appleton area said he usually sights in his weapon near his hunting land in Butternut, but when he heard of the event, he thought it was the perfect opportunity to check out the range.
"(They) did a wonderful job making sure everyone was safe. It was a really nice experience and I will definitely be back," he said.
The NWWC is open to the public daily from sunrise to sunset through Nov. 30.
