‘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.
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.
IBEW Bass Tournament to be Featured on ‘Brotherhood Outdoors’
Tomorrow’s episode of “Brotherhood Outdoors,” the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA’s) hunting and fishing television series, features Joe Proscia and other members of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3 on their annual striped bass tournament. Proscia helped found Local 3’s Sportsmen’s Club more than 25 years ago. The show airs Thursday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. EDT on the Sportsman Channel.
Check Out the ‘Brotherhood Outdoors’ Labor Day Marathon
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This Labor Day, Sept. 5 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (EDT), the Sportsman Channel and the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance will team up to salute the American worker with a four- hour “Brotherhood Outdoors” Labor Day Marathon. The marathon will feature eight back-to-back episodes of the new Brotherhood Outdoor series that takes hardworking union members on hunting and fishing adventures across North America. See the full schedule here.
Firefighter Hunts Whitetail Deer in This Week’s ‘Brotherhood Outdoors’ Show
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Capt. Bob Barteck, firefighter, paramedic and shift commander from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., stars in a whitetail bow hunt on the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s TV show, “Brotherhood Outdoors” at 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Aug. 4, on the Sportsman Channel.
“Brotherhood Outdoors” gives America’s workers the opportunity to join host Tom Ackerman for a quality outfitted North American trip of their choosing or to act as his guide, taking him to their favorite hunting or fishing location.
An accomplished rifleman, muzzleloader and bow hunter, Barteck, an alumni member of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 425, joined Ackerman for a late season whitetail hunt in southern Illinois.
“I’ve hunted whitetails, black bear, turkey, waterfowl and upland birds in Wisconsin and Elk throughout Montana, Colorado and Idaho,” Barteck said.
Until now all of my hunts have been do-it-yourself, so the thought of going on a guided hunt of any kind was very exciting to me.
Steamfitter Searches for Striped Bass on Tonight’s ‘Brotherhood Outdoors’
The next episode of “Brotherhood Outdoors,” the unique hunting and fishing series of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA), features Jay Rodriquez, a steamfitter with Plumbers and Pipe Fitters (UA) Local 638 in New York City. He takes show host Tom Ackerman to his favorite fishing spot, Montauk Point on Long Island, to fish for stripers, blues and false albacore.
But there was one catch that didn’t have fins. Hurricane Earl was heading up the East Coast. Says Rodriquez:
It was kind of nerve racking. I felt like we had to go out right before it came. It had the ocean stirred up and brought the fish to the top and I guess that’s why we had such great fishing.
The show, which airs July 28 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 Rodriquez does, act as his guide, taking him to their favorite hunting or fishing location.
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.
