A statewide organization based in Shawano that wants to promote deer hunting and other outdoors-related activities is looking for new members and new chapters.
Chuck Dallas, of Shawano, is president of the Wisconsin Deer Hunters Inc. board of directors and is past president of the group’s Shawano chapter.
“The old-timers, when they created this thing back in 1988, they were all involved in Whitetails Unlimited, wild turkeys and all that,” he said. “They were disappointed that they would work really hard as volunteers at these banquets and see the money leave the community.”
Wisconsin Deer Hunters Inc. was originally known as Wisconsin Whitetails Inc. until a name change in 1998.
“Most of what our six chapters are doing is helping promote things within our own communities,” Dallas said. “A lot of this is youth organizations, trying to get youths involved in shooting sports, hunting, fishing. It’s kind of the same with veterans and disabled individuals. We’re funding food pantries, homeless shelters, you name it. I think it’s very impressive that the six chapters have given out over $132,000 to their local communities.”
Dallas said it’s important for organizations like Wisconsin Deer Hunters to get new people interested and involved in the outdoors.
“In this area, we have trapshooting teams at the high school level,” he said. “We have shooting sports through 4-H.”
The organization also provides financial support to Raised at Full Draw, a youth camp for hunters and bowhunters that has been held in Shawano County since 2020.
Dallas said the six chapters include about 1,200 members. Four of those chapters are located in Shawano County.
Each of the six chapters have scheduled a fundraising banquet in 2026.
Upcoming banquets for area chapters are:
• Witt-Birn Chapter: 5 p.m. April 11 at Chet & Emil’s, Birnamwood. Contact Denny Brahmer at 715-454-6637 or buckskinbottoms@gmail.com for details.
• Northwinds Chapter: 5 p.m. Aug. 28 at Northwinds Banquet Hall, Marion. Contact Al Beyersdorf at 715-853-6586 or northwindschapter@yahoo.com for details.
• Shawano Chapter: 5 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Crawford Center, Shawano. Contact Scott Parsons at 715-853-6772, 715-524-1951 or Sparson63@gmail.com for details.
• Woodland Chapter: 5 p.m. Oct. 1 at Woodland Supper Club & Banquet Hall, Gresham. Contact Michael Prey at 715-940-0401 or WoodlandCWDH@gmail.com for details.
Dallas is involved with the Shawano chapter’s banquet and estimated about half of the organization’s members are deer hunters.
“It’s our major fundraiser for the year,” he said. “Some (chapters) may have other events, but this determines how much money we have to support the communities. It can be as high as 300 people and as low as 80.”
Two of the chapters — Shawano and Woodland — are fewer than 20 miles apart, and several WDH members attend both banquets.
“Both of them are very successful with about 180 people showing up,” Dallas said. “Back in the day, the old-timers had different thoughts on what the banquet should look like. We run things a little differently, and our banquets are about a month apart. We have some members that go to both, which is fine, but some that are just a member of one (chapter) and not the other.”
Raffle and door prizes such as firearms attract many people to each banquet.
“Some of us will bundle raffles so you can be in more at a cheaper cost,” Dallas said. “There are youth guns, things for the ladies like apparel or jewelry.”
The Shawano chapter has added exhibitors to its banquets.
For the most part, banquet attendees are WDH members.
“We’ll have members come and go depending on what happens with family activities,” Dallas said. “We have a fun activity where there’s a gun (prize) for every table. We have round tables with eight people, so you have a one in eight chance of winning, and people love it.”
Many of the raffle and door prizes are purchased at a discount, while others are donated.
“In Shawano, we moved to Scheels, and they supply us with guns all tied to a gift card,” he said. “You win a $500 gun, and you get a gift card that night. You can go get that gun within 10 days if you like, or you can buy anything you like in the store. Some of our chapters are still doing the registration right at the banquet, but the vendors we work with are pretty open. If you don’t want this Ruger 10/22 that you just won, but you’re shopping for a shotgun, come on down and we can work with you.”
WDH is currently open to the idea of adding additional chapters throughout Wisconsin. A chapter in the Appleton area recently folded after running out of volunteers, and Dallas said ideal areas for new chapters include the Fox Valley, Madison, La Crosse and Eau Claire.
Dallas said anyone interested in starting a chapter can contact him at cdallas@cornerstone-business.com or 715-304-9484.
