Another Northwoods Youth Deer Hunt Challenge is in the books

The Northwoods Youth Deer Hunt Challenge has been unique to the area for just over two decades now. 

Each year, young hunters who are licensed from ages 10 to 18 years old (as long as they’re a senior in high school) can participate by signing up for the fall deer hunting seasons. If they shoot a buck, it will compete head-to-head with other young hunters’ bucks for a chance to win a free mount from Strasburg’s North Country Taxidermy. The company mounts the three largest bucks in the contest and also provides a mount for a mentor hunter in the 10- to 11-year-old category.

Balie Strasburg, the lead organizer of the Northwoods Youth Deer Hunt Challenge, said the banquet has become a “staple” for New Year’s day. 

This year, “went really well,” she added.

“So we had 194 kids sign up for the contest this year and about 170 showed up for the event,” Strasburg said, adding those numbers are up from “some of the lower years” encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We had a couple new seminars there (as well). That was great for some of the people that have been coming to the banquet (every year).”

ATom Birchell teaches Quintin Hoekstra, 11, how to score the antlers of a buck.
(Photo by Trevor Greene/Lakeland Times)nother bright spot, Strasburg said, was there were “a lot of young hunters.”

“So a lot of new faces this year, which is great,” she said. “I only see the event growing from this year on.”

The goal of the Northwoods Youth Deer Hunt Challenge is to celebrate youth hunting and get younger generations to continue the hunting tradition as they grow older, according to Strasburg.

Of the roughly 170 hunters who attended, all walked away with a prize of some sort, and 47 were lucky enough to win guns. 

“This event, it’s so well-rounded,” Strasburg said. “Families and participants look forward to it every year. It’s kind of a New Year’s day staple for a lot of our hunting families in the area.”

Strasburg also pointed out hunters don’t have to harvest a deer to enter into the challenge. 

“You just have to have hunted and held a hunting license,” she said. “So you can register as a no-harvest at any point during the contest dates and that guarantees your ticket to an invitation for the banquet.”

From sponsors to volunteers, and to all the participants, Strasburg expressed thanks to everyone involved.

She highlighted the 13 committee members who helped organize the challenge and the banquet. Without the local sponsors, the event wouldn’t be possible, she noted.

 The Minocqua Lions Club is important to the event's success, she said, and the booth workers who take time on New Year’s day are as well. 

They all do this “because they are passionate about seeing kids involved in outdoor hunting activities,” Strasburg said.

For those interested in participating in the Northwoods Youth Deer Hunt Challenge next year or are seeking more information about the event, visit northwoodsydhc.com, or call Strasburg’s North Country Taxidermy, The Lakeland Times or Kurt’s Island Sports Shop.

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].