‘Brotherhood Outdoors’ Takes Sheet Metal Worker on Bow Hunt for Elk
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On this week’s episode of “Brotherhood Outdoors,” Lee Hengsteler, a member of Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) Local 359 in Arizona, gets to realize a dream he’s had since he was 6 years old: He heads to Montana to hunt elk.
The show airs on the Sportsman Channel at 8 p.m. EST and PST every Thursday.
His bow hunting expedition was made possible when his wife, Neva, applied to the show on his behalf. Says Hengsteler:
People like me don’t win things like a guest shot on a nationally televised show, but Neva insisted on applying for me. I have one heck of a wife.
The award-winning “Brotherhood Outdoors,” Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA‘s) hunting and fishing series pairs union members with renowned outdoorsman Tom Ackerman for a guided hunting or fishing trip in North America or the opportunity to show off their skills by taking Ackerman to their own favorite hunting or fishing sites.
You can click here to apply to be a guest on “Brotherhood Outdoors.” Says Hengsteler: Read the rest of this entry »
‘Brotherhood Outdoors’ Voted Top Hunting/Fishing Show
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“Brotherhood Outdoors,” the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA‘s) union-dedicated hunting and fishing TV show, was honored with the 2011 Sportsman Choice Award as best combination (hunting and fishing) show. More than 140,000 viewers of the Sportsman Channel cast ballots for the network’s best outdoors shows.
Hosted by noted outdoorsman Tom Ackerman and produced by Warm Springs Productions, “Brotherhood Outdoors” is a unique outdoor TV series that pairs union workers’ commitment to their communities with their love for the great outdoors. Union members can win a guided hunting or fishing trip in North America or the opportunity to show off their skills by taking Ackerman to their own favorite hunting or fishing sites.
USA Executive Director Fred Myers says the show has:
the potential to help shape the American public’s understanding and positive impression of unions. This was a very competitive category and winning clearly demonstrates that America’s sportsmen and women are engaged and respect the dedicated volunteers and conservation heroes prevalent in the union community.
Currently in its second season, “Brotherhood Outdoors” airs in 31 million homes at 8 p.m. EST and PST Read the rest of this entry »
‘Brotherhood Outdoors’ Goes on Louisiana Gator Hunt
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Mention Louisiana swamps and likely the first thing that comes to mind is alligators—big alligators and lots of them. Wayne “Kip” Benoit, a United Steelworkers (USW) Local 750 member from Boutte, La., knows his way around swamps and gators and, in the latest episode of “Brotherhood Outdoors,” guides show host Tom Ackerman on an airboat alligator hunt.
The Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA‘s) hunting and fishing series airs Thursday, Jan. 12, at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. EST on the Sportsman Channel.
While the lifelong Louisianan uses his airboat for hunting adventures, when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, he used it to help rescue and transfer patients from the intensive care unit of a New Orleans hospital to the ambulances waiting on high ground.
Heading down streets in a city covered by the flood with people wading by up to their necks in water was like being in one of those doomsday movies, something Spielberg might make; it was just unreal. People were stunned and, for the most part, very quiet and very cooperative.
Read more about Benoit and the gator hunt from USA’s Ken Barrett here, and click here for photos.
Wild Hog Hunt Launches New Season for ‘Brotherhood Outdoors’
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“Brotherhood Outdoors,” the unique hunting and fishing television series of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA), kicks off its second season Thursday night on the Sportsman Channel, with Indiana Ironworkers member Jessica Reagor on a California wild hog hunt.
Hosted by noted outdoorsman Tom Ackerman, “Brotherhood Outdoors” puts union workers in the spotlight, taking viewers into their homes and communities, on their job sites and into the wilderness for exciting hunting and fishing adventures across North America. Guests on the series have the opportunity to join Ackerman for an outfitted North American adventure or to act as his guide, taking him to their favorite hunting or fishing locations.
The series airs on Thursday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. EST and this season’s guests include a mix of pipe fitters, boilermakers, electrical workers, bricklayers and others who pursue a variety of fish and game throughout the United States and Canada.
Reagor, who began hunting as young girl, hadn’t been in the field for the past two years because she and her husband adopted a special needs 14-day-old boy in 2009. For more on Reagor by USA’s Ken Barrett, click here. For a video preview and photos from the hunt, click here and here.
Union Volunteers Open Outdoors to Special Needs Youth
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More than 30 young people with varying physical and intellectual disabilities had the opportunity to take part in Ohio’s Youth Deer Gun Season earlier this month, thanks to the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA) Boots on the Ground program and 50 volunteers from Bricklayers (BAC) locals 7 and 39 in southeastern Ohio.
Participants, ranging in age from 12 to 17 years, are students at two Lawrence and Scioto county schools. Each youth and their family received a practice round and instruction at a local shooting range, a guided whitetail hunt, food and lodging for two nights at Shawnee State Park and an invitation to a kids-style banquet. The hunts took place on public lands—specifically designated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources—in the Wayne National Forest as well as on select, private lands.
The project originated from a desire to provide kids with something they rarely or never get—access to the great outdoors, BAC Local 7 member David Tibbetts says.
I feel blessed to have been able to attend and help by being a guide at this event. My hunting partner and his father are now my friends and the bond formed in the blind and at the banquet and dinner will last a lifetime.
For more information on the hunt and the Boots on the Ground program, click here.
Conservation Funding Is Target for USA Shooting Contest
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Laura Bliss Morris sends this report on the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s big conservation fundraising shooting contest.
Nearly 200 shooters—of all skill levels—attended the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA‘s) third annual Kansas City Clay Shooting Triathlon on Oct. 8.
Raising $90,000, which will help support the USA’s nationwide conservation programs, the event brought together union members, contractors, family members and outdoor enthusiasts for a fun-filled day of outdoor recreation at the Saddle and Sirloin Club.
Boasting the highest number of pre-registered shooters for a USA event, the triathlon offered participants the unique opportunity to shoot 50 rounds of sporting clays, 25 rounds of five-stands and 25 rounds of trap.
Drawing nearly 30 teams from across the Midwest, members of Boilermakers (IBB) Local 363 in Belleville, Ill., took home the top prize for the team shoot with a score of 406, while Roofers and Waterproofers President Kinsey Robinson took home the top prize for an individual shooter with a score of 94. Says USA Executive Director Fred Myers:
Not only did the event raise a record amount of money to support our conservation mission, but it brought together union members from various communities around the region—uniting them for a great cause.
In 2011, the USA will host 25 sporting clays and trap shoots in 17 states across the country—including Alaska, California, Nevada, Kansas, Missouri, Washington, D.C., and more. For more information, click here, and for video highlights, click here.
Sheet Metal Worker Hunts Mississippi Flyway for Waterfowl
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Tonight’s episode of “Brotherhood Outdoors,” the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA‘s) hunting and fishing television series, features Philadelphia Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) Local 19 member Doug Bachman. The show airs at 8 p.m. EDT on the Sportsman Channel.
Tonight, Bachman and show host Tom Ackerman embark on a waterfowl hunt in the northwest Missouri portion of the Mississippi Flyway between Missouri’s Squaw Creek Wildlife Area and Smithville Lake.
Bachman says he heard about “Brotherhood Outdoors,” which gives union members the opportunity to join Ackerman for a quality outfitted North American trip of their choosing through the SMWIA’s magazine The Journal.
Bachman has been hunting and fishing since he was four years old when his grandfather began taking him on outdoor adventures.
Machinist Guides Goose Hunt on Next ‘Brotherhood Outdoors’
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The next episode of “Brotherhood Outdoors,” the unique hunting and fishing series of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA), features Machinists (IAM) Local 839 member Brett Graham, who takes show host Tom Ackerman on a two-day goose hunt near the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Kansas.
The show, which airs July 14 at 8 p.m. EDT on the Sportsman Channel, puts union members in the spotlight, giving them the opportunity to join Ackerman for a quality outfitted North American trip of their choosing or, as Graham does, act as his guide, taking him to their favorite hunting or fishing location.
Graham is longtime member of Ducks Unlimited (DU) and a huge advocate for waterfowl habitat and especially National Wildlife Refuges. Every year he donates a father-son/daughter hunt to a different chapter of DU in Kansas to help raise necessary conservation funding.
An avid outdoors adventurer since he was a child, and now a part-time hunting guide, he tells USA’s Ken Barrett:
I remember watching the old American Sportsmen TV show one Sunday afternoon, when I was 10 years old, I saw host Curt Gowdy hunting ducks and thought ‘that really looks cool. I’m going to do that someday.
Click here for more on Graham, here for a video preview of the show and here for more photos.
Win an Elk Hunt from Union Sportsmen’s Alliance
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Laura Morris of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) sends this report on a great contest for USA union members.
A Western backcountry elk hunt complete with wall tents and mountain savvy mules is the ultimate North American hunting adventure and the dream of many big game hunters.
The Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) and the Elevator Constructors (IUEC) have joined forces to give AFL-CIO-affiliated union members the opportunity to win a Nevada trophy elk hunt while raising funds for the USA’s new Boots on the Ground (BOTG) conservation program.
The lucky union winner will join noted guide and outfitter Shad Leeder of Leeder Hunting for a seven-day, pack train hunt in Nevada’s Schell Creek and Snake Range areas, where bulls typically score 330-350 and can exceed 400 Boone & Crockett points. In addition to the guided hunt, the $18,000 prize package includes a highly coveted landowner elk permit, licenses, roundtrip airfare to Las Vegas, ground transportation, meals and lodging.
Union Sportsmen’s Journal Just a Mouse Click Away
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The Union Sportsmen’s Journal fall issue is now available online. The new online version gives anyone with an interest in hunting, fishing and conservation 24 pages of outdoor tips and features and a look at what it means to belong to this unique community of union hunters and anglers.
A printed copy of the quarterly publication of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) is mailed to each USA member.
The current issue includes a message from USA Executive Director Fred Myers on the group’s long fight to win federal Open Fields legislation that encourages landowners to open their property to hunting and fishing. It also showcases its Boots on the Ground program that calls on union members to volunteer their diverse skills to improve and enhance public access and wildlife habitats.
You can read how retired NFL wide receiver Joe Jurevicius turned his long-time passion for the outdoors into a successful Nebraska outfitting business. The USA member grew up in a union family and says the USA “makes total sense.”
We all have one thing in common: We’re all big outdoorsmen and we appreciate what the unions have done and continue to do for our families. But the thing that draws it to me is the brotherhood that comes along with it, just like in football. Everyone likes a deal or a discount but the connection you feel with your fellow union members is what brings it home to me.
