The face of the Northwoods is about to get a fresh splash of color.  The green, yellow and reds of the fall are now gone, only a pleasant memory etched in our minds and in a few digital photographs we took while mother nature painted her canvas. It is now time for the whites of winter to burst on the scene, but first, the landscape will take on an unearthly hue as the color of blaze orange will dominate the state for a two week period starting this coming Friday.

The Annual Gun Deer Hunt is only days away and with the hunt comes boat loads of tradition. For the past 45 years the town of Tomahawk has taken it upon itself to welcome any and all hunters to the area and what a better way to welcome them than with a free meal. Starting just before noon and running until the food runs out, any hunter, non -hunter, or camp support person can wander down to the end of Wisconsin Ave and stand in line to get themselves a free venison burger! There are raffles going on, tall tales being swapped and a sense of comradarie that can only happens with the help of a small town atmosphere. By the end of an hour you will see Tommy Tomahawk, watch the Mayor flip burgers and hear about the big one that got away at least a dozen times. So if you are hungry and up for a couple of interesting hours stop by the 46th Annual Venison Feed.

If you enjoyed the Venison feed and you still have a taste to find out more about the Tomahawk area and what the traditions of deer camp are all about, you might want to checkout Tomahawk native  Jay Leggett and his colabarator Charles Ketchabaw’s documentary film To The Hunt. The film takes a fun and very in depth look at both the sport itself and the family traditions using several local families and their deer camps as the back drop for the film. So much for my shameless plug for Jay’s new film.

If you can’t make it to the feed the following video will help you get the feel for what it is like. Now get out there and have a safe and successful hunt.