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By Joseph Koback - President |
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Central Wisconsin’s Sensory Safari Trailer is finally on tour. It was a lot of hard work getting it done. Starting last summer we ordered the trailer and hosted a 3D Archery shoot and fundraiser for the trailer at the Koback’s Property. After having the privilege of borrowing Sensory Safari Trailers from both the Northwoods (Michigan) and Lake Superior Chapters for our past youth events, we knew exactly what we needed.
Wanting it eight foot tall inside, we had to special order the trailer, then once it came in, we went to work. Before we could hang mounts, we lined the walls of the trailer with heavier plywood to hold the weight of the mounts. Then we got two very generous donations from a couple of local businesses and personal friends of mine. First was from Pete Feltz of Feltz Manufacturing. I was telling him about the trailer and how I would like to put thin tongue and groove wood paneling on the walls when he graciously offered to donate not only the milling but also all of the wood to line the walls of the trailer with custom milled cherry paneling. WOW I didn’t expect that. When the walls were finished, it looked way too nice to put in the screws needed to hang the mounts.
The next surprise came when another friend of mine and chapter member Noel Olszewski of Olszewski & Sons Flooring volunteered to donate the flooring and installation. Having donations like these from two family owned businesses allowed us to put this trailer together without cutting corners and more importantly still have enough funds to support our other great programs.
After that it was time to start hanging mounts. Board member Dan Cisewski volunteered to weld up the brackets to attach the mounts to the walls. We received mounts from numerous people. It’s a great feeling to see a person believe so much in what we are doing to hand over their trophies. We received mounts and furs from Phil Rank, John Irwin, Lake Superior Chapter, Wisconsin Trappers Assoc., Wisconsin DNR, Bob Jakusz, Noel Olszewski, Max Racks Taxidermy, Tom Jakusz, Dan Cisewski, SCI Wildlife Museum and a special Wisconsin wolf mounted for us by Jim Beenkin of Wildlife Expressions.
By time March rolled around the trailer was just about full so we had plenty to start showing it. On March 27th & 28th the new trailer was displayed at our Chapter Expo which coincides with our Grand Banquet. Everyone who attended the Expo got a chance to go through and see the trailer. We also had information available for people to take back to their schools, Boys and Girls clubs, 4-H and anyone else that could use the trailer for educational purposes. Everyone was impressed with trailer. We had the trailer set up next to the Sables area which featured the Safari in a Box, along with all their other programs.
After the successful showing at the Expo we then added a fur display and a few more mounts. The fur display is a collection of Wisconsin Mammal pelts displayed in a manner that an instructor can teach & test the children’s knowledge of these animals. The Wisconsin Trappers Association and Wisconsin DNR donated the bulk of these furs. Then we also added some skulls and antler sets (3 consecutive years) of Deer and Elk to be used as teaching aids.
This was all just in time because in early May a Marquette County 4-H group called and asked if we could bring the trailer to their next meeting. These children were being taught all aspects of the sport of archery, from making their own arrows to high tech bows and from competition leagues to hunting. We were asked to talk about the hunting aspect of the sport and the animals that can and can’t be hunted. The instructors were amazed when we set up and started teaching. I spent hours in the trailer teaching and answering questions about all of the different animals. This was our first non-SCI event with the trailer and we were met with great enthusiasm and interest.
On June 6th we were invited to bring the trailer to the Wisconsin Rapids Kiwanis Youth Outdoor Day. We had approximately 200-250 area youth come through the trailer. With all of the news on the Great Lakes Wolf de-listing and problems with wolves here in Wisconsin; the life-sized wolf mount and 2 tanned wolf pelts were a main attraction and topic of discussion. Especially since all of the wolf pelts, mounts and skulls we have all came from Wisconsin wolves. These were all donated to us from the Wisconsin DNR for our educational programs. We talked to a lot of teachers that were interested in the trailer and Safari in a Box (SIAB) for next school year. We also had children doing activities from the SIAB outside the trailer.
The following weekend was our own Central Wisconsin SCI Youth Archery Day. Having the trailer there this year was a great way to tie in the shooting sports that we teach with hunting, conservation, and wildlife education. Because we instruct as the children go through the trailer, we had lines to get in right away. There were just tons of questions from not only the children but their parents who all came through with their children. This is just a great situation when a whole family can be learning together. It makes it a family affair trying to name all the furs or the 5 sub-species of North American Deer we have in the trailer. We also had the Safari in a Box set up outside the trailer for the children to do activities. Then they would go on and learn to shoot archery on the teaching range or onto the 3-D range for those who were proficient. Again we talked to quite a few teachers and educators interested in bringing both these programs into their schools.
The following weekend after that we were set up again. This time we were at the Montello Rod & Gun Club and Montello Bowbenders “Youth Outdoor Rendezvous”. This was two day event, including an overnight campout. They had kids shooting .22’s, trap, blow darts, muzzleloaders, reloading, air guns, archery, fishing, blood trailing, gun education/safety, bow fishing, and then the Sensory Safari Trailer. This was well organized; they had the children split into groups of 10 or less at each station. We would split that group in half and take half in the trailer to teach and the other half would go to the track & skull identification station (SIAB) that we had set up outside the trailer. Then they would switch with plenty of time before they needed to go to the next station. Again everybody was very impressed with the trailer and SIAB (track & skull identification). This was especially nice because both of these clubs donated to our fundraiser to help build the trailer.
At this point I was wondering if we were going to have a weekend off this summer. Because the following weekend was our other chapter youth event, the “Sables Environmental Camp” run for us by the University of Wisconsin’s College of Natural Resources. They run an outstanding camp at their Central Wisconsin Environmental Station. They have great facilities at this remote location. Along with all the resources they have, they do a great job of educating, deepening the children’s respect & knowledge of their environment while making it enjoyable. The camp is all hands on and having the trailer here allowed the UW staff to come up with even better programs. Now that they have seen what we have, they are excited about how they can utilize and incorporate the trailer into their programs even more next year.
Like all the SCI Chapters, we spend a lot of money on very worthwhile programs, but building the Sensory Safari Trailer is some of the best money we’ve spent. This is wildlife education for everyone from the toddler to the seasoned hunter of any age.
“The Future of hunting is through education and Education is Power!”
