Frederica Freyberg:

And now this, tomorrow marks the start of the annual gun deer hunting season and there is concern among health experts that hunters traveling across the state could lead to multiple COVID-19 super spreader events. Senior Political Reporter Zac Schultz spoke with hunters and bar owners about how the pandemic is altering some old traditions.

Marty Wimmer:

Same sweatshirt, did I tell you?

Zac Schultz:

Larry Smith and Marty Wimmer are part of a group that’s been hunting together for a couple decades on Larry’s old family farm.

Larry Smith:

Well, I just enjoy the comradeship. We all get together and have a good, relaxing time.

Zac Schultz:

But as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to spiral out of control, they realized this year’s hunt would have to change.

Marty Wimmer:

The last month or so we’ve been talking to the group and, you know, things are going to be different this year.

Zac Schultz:

Although the old farmhouse is big enough to sleep 10, this year it will just be Larry who sleeps overnight.

Larry Smith:

The rest of the guys are going to drive back and forth.

Zac Schultz:

Marty will be driving 80 miles each way. He says it’s still worth it.

Marty Wimmer:

It is not the hunt that’s the most important thing to me. Really the guys and being together with them. That’s what’s critical.

Larry Smith:

We’re not going to have the camaraderie in the evenings but we will have the ability to get together out in the pastures.

Zac Schultz:

The Wisconsin DNR is advising hunters to avoid driving across the state to hunt.

Keith Warnke:

We’re recommending that hunters keep hunting local and they do it with members of their household to best avoid spreading COVID-19.

Zac Schultz:

Keith Warnke is the administrator for the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Division. He says despite the changes to traditional hunting camp, license sales for outdoor activities like fishing and hunting are up this year.

Keith Warnke:

I think what we’re seeing when we look at our license figures is that it’s a lot of people who previously had hunted or had gone fishing and they are getting back to it now.

Zac Schultz:

But hunting is more than just tradition. It is a multi-billion dollar industry and if hunters stay close to home, it will have a dramatic impact on bars and restaurants.

Diane Wulff:

If it wasn’t for my customers, I would have been shut down.

Zac Schultz:

Diane and Marvin Wulff own Diane’s Back 40 in Taylor County. Deer season usually means a packed house.

Marvin Wulff:

In normal deer season, we do breakfast, serve breakfast in the morning. The weekends are the biggest.

Zac Schultz:

They’ve been struggling to stay open during the pandemic and they are afraid the deer hunter crowds will be just one more casualty of COVID-19.

Marvin Wulff:

Honestly, it pays your taxes for the year. And it’s not going to happen this year, I know it already. I’ve talked to people and they are staying close to home. Or the wife doesn’t feel comfortable with them going out or — I think it’s going to be a bomb, just a complete failure.

Marty Wimmer:

It will be different. It will be another experience.

Zac Schultz:

Larry and Marty won’t be visiting their traditional restaurant on the night before opener.

Larry Smith:

Every Friday night for probably 20 years we went to the same place for dinner.

Zac Schultz:

Marty knows what he will think when he drives by a bar with a full parking lot.

Marty Wimmer:

I’m glad I’m not in there. You know, again, it’s their choice.

Zac Schultz:

Choice is the key word in all of this. Public health officials advise against crowding into bars and restaurants. Even if mask mandates and smaller capacity limits are in place, it is still up to the individuals involved to enforce it.

Marvin Wulff:

A lot of it we leave it to the customers if they choose to wear a mask or social distance or what have you. That’s how we read it.

Zac Schultz:

Diane and Marvin say they wear masks when they go out in public but they don’t require it of their customers and they try not to think about whether a customer may be bringing COVID in the door with them.

Diane Wulff:

You have to, otherwise you’re going to be paranoid.

Marvin Wulff:

You just have to put that on the back burner. It is part of doing business.

Zac Schultz:

Just down the road from Diane’s Back 40 is another bar. This one closed and for sale. A cold reminder of what happens when there aren’t enough customers to pay the bills.

Larry Smith:

I don’t want to get someone sick.

Zac Schultz:

For Larry Smith’s group the pandemic requires a change in tradition in the name of safety.

Larry Smith:

We’re going to be careful and we’re not going to bring anything back to our family and I feel confident that we can do that.

Zac Schultz:

Diane and Marvin Wulff will sacrifice safety in the hopes some hunters will maintain tradition.

Marvin Wulff:

The ones that come out to hunt, they will come out, I believe. That’s part of the hunting camp-type tradition thing. But the ones that aren’t going to want to go to the bars or restaurants and stuff like that, they’re just going to stay home.

Zac Schultz:

Reporting from Taylor County, I’m Zac Schulz for “Here & Now.”

Frederica Freyberg:

As Zac reported, deer hunting like all aspects of life in Wisconsin will be altered due to COVID. The emergency services director of Bellin Hospital in Green Bay told us he believes traditional large gatherings at deer camps have the potential to become spreader events. Dr. Paul Casey said precautions and changes in traditions are the best route to take.

Paul Casey:

I would say try to limit your congregation and your deer hunt or whatever place you stay when you go deer hunting to people within your immediate family. If not, try to wear masks and properly social distance.