Nomination sought for Hunter Ethics Award

Contact(s): Chief Conservation Warden Todd Schaller, Todd.Schaller@wisconsin.gov, 608-266-1115

MADISON - If you know a Wisconsin hunter who uses a moral compass to ensure every hunt is marked by safety, respect, responsibility and ethics, consider honoring the person with a nomination for the annual Wisconsin Hunter Ethics Award.
The award will be presented to one individual, of any legal hunting age, at a formal public gathering of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources staff and conservation-minded individuals.
Chief Conservation Warden Todd Schaller says the annual honor, now in its 20th year, was created to acknowledge hunters who participate in this outdoor tradition with a strong sense of ethics and respect going well beyond taking possession of wildlife. Schaller says the award is about recognizing sportsmen and sportswomen.
Going above and beyond can mean many things.  The Hunter Ethics Award committee is looking for those special individual events or incidents when a hunter goes above and beyond to positively impact another hunter or hunters or the resources we cherish.  Past awards include returning lost gear or equipment, assisting in the recovery of lost game, taking action to protect the resource and doing something special for a hunter who faces a challenge.
Schaller says if you know of a hunter who thinks and acts with this undeniable foundation in safety, ethics, respect and responsibility, nominate the person for the 2016 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Hunter Ethics Award.
Nominations for this statewide award will be accepted through February 1.  The annual honor was established by Bob Lamb, retired outdoors editor of the La Crosse Tribune, retired DNR conservation warden supervisor Steve Dewald and retired University of Wisconsin-La Crosse biology professor and outdoors writer, Jerry Davis.
"It is important to formally recognize some examples showing that most Wisconsin hunters participate in an ethical, moral and legal manner when encountering Wisconsin's resources," Davis said.
Hunters look forward to the annual hunting seasons because traditions remain important. "If you are a hunter in Wisconsin, you must strive to hunt in an ethical manner and to pass on those ethical traditions to others with the same passion for Wisconsin's resources," Schaller said.
To become eligible for the 2016 award:
The nominee must be a licensed (resident or nonresident) Wisconsin hunter.
The ethical hunting act must have occurred in Wisconsin during the 2016 calendar year.
Nominations will be considered for any DNR-regulated hunting activity, not only deer hunting, in Wisconsin.
Written nominations must contain the name, address and telephone number of the witness or witnesses, or be aware of the behavior, which led to the nomination.  Mail to Chief Conservation Warden Todd Schaller at Todd.schaller@wisconsin.gov or to Department of Natural Resources, Attention: Chief Warden Todd Schaller LE/5, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921, by Feb. 1, 2017.