Freshman Maxon Versluys (third from right) hunting with his cousins.
Courtesy | Maxon Versluys
Dennis “Gate Guy” Cook shot his first deer around age 16.
“Grandma would cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all the hunters, so it made opening day kind of like a holiday,” Cook said.
Cook is one of many hunting aficionados in Hillsdale. After firearm season opened Nov. 15, students and locals flocked to the woods and waterways to hunt.
Bow hunting and duck hunting season opened in September and October, and more hunters are loading their rifles and heading into the wild.
Cook has been hunting in the area since high school, he said. Growing up, his family and friends would celebrate the start of the season together.
“We had a farm my grandparents owned that was a big chunk of land, and friends and family would all get together,” Cook said.
Cook said he’s been trying to make it out on the weekends while working at the college, but he said he always makes sure he’s spending plenty of time with his young daughter.
“I think she will appreciate it later in life that her dad was a hunter and not just a Tik-Toker,” he said.
Cook said he shares the love of hunting with his niece. He said she wants to follow in his tracks after seeing a “monster deer” with her Uncle Dennis.
“We saw a humongous buck, and her noggin was in the way of my crossbow, so we just got to see it, and it walked away happy,” he said. “It’s given her the buck fever.”
Local residents are not the only ones to frequent nearby forests for hunting. Freshman Theodosius Santalov said he rekindled his love of hunting while at Hillsdale. Raised in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, Santalov said the outdoors were part of his life since he was a child.
“Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t escape the outdoors,” Santalov said. “It was such a blessing though, because I was raised hiking, fishing, camping, canoeing, mountain biking, and snowboarding.”
Santalov said he is excited to get into hunting with his friends from Hillsdale.
“I’m really grateful to be connected with so many people who are interested in hunting and fishing at Hillsdale because they’re encouraging me to get back into it while living out here,” Santalov said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to get any big game this season, but based on what I’m learning from my buddies who have been bringing home deer in the greater Hillsdale area, I think I’ll have a good chance at getting my own next season.”
Freshman John Blaney said he usually opts to head north to hunt whitetail deer.
“With school, I’ve been practicing with my bow and dusting off my slug gun. I’ve done a fair amount of prep work with some buddies, and sat out one morning so far with my bow.”
Blaney also said he is determined to stock his freezer.
“It is satisfying to harvest my own food, and with the price of red meat nowadays, it’s actually a cost-effective use of my time to hunt,” Blaney said. “Any time in the woods is time well spent, kill or no kill.”
Blaney said he does his best thinking when he is out in nature.
“Anything I can harvest while doing so is a bonus,” Blaney said.
Junior Luke Johnson, a member of the shotgun team, said he has hunted ducks, deer, and turkeys this fall.
“I have been fortunate enough to harvest all of those things here in Michigan while I’ve been in college,” Johnson said. “As a freshman, I was known as the guy in the Simpson kitchen on Saturday morning breasting out ducks — that was me, and always has been.”
Johnson said hunting for him is a time for thought and prayer.
“To say what hunting means to me is almost an impossible question. It is what consumes my thoughts, actions, time, and even my dreams,” Johnson said. “As soon as I was big enough to carry a gun through the woods, my parents have always had a hard time finding me. No matter how many pounds of meat I get on the ground, I always leave the woods lighter than before.”
