JOHNSON CREEK, Wis. — Rifle deer hunting season is right around the corner. At Milford Hills, workers are helping hunters get sighted in and ready for the tree blinds.
Hunter Vanbeek is the trading post manager at Milford Hills. Vanbeek said this time of year is always the busiest for him and his team.
“We have a lot of people coming in to sight in rifles, purchase scopes and ammunition,” said Vanbeek.
Sighting in your rifle is a key part of hunting. Vanbeek said sometimes that it can be tricky, but his team is there to help.
“We will sight them in for you. We do have range officers out here that can help you get your own rifle sighted in as well,” said Vanbeek.
This is not only the busiest time of year at Milford Hills, but also the most popular hunting season in Wisconsin.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, hunting is a $2.5 billion industry in the state and 88% of that economic impact comes from deer rifle season.
Taylor Williams is the director of operations at Milford Hills. Williams said the hunting season not only brings hunters out to the shooting range but also into the dining hall.
“We have some people stopping in here after they have their rifle zeroed in on the range and getting all ready to go for the deer hunting season,” said Williams.
Milford Hills hosts weddings, fundraisers and corporate outings. Williams said this is the most popular time of year for all those things.
“It is like the clash of all of our seasons compounding all at one time,” said Williams. “We just finished our 2023 wedding season and our upland wing season has also just begun.”
Williams and Vanbeek said they love seeing the people at Milford Hills, but they do ask that if you are coming there to get your gun sighted, that you don’t wait until the last minute.