CountryAcres Aug

By MARIA HAGER Staff Writer A Supplement to the Star S hopper Focusing on Today’s R ural Environment C ountry A cres Friday, August 21, 2015 • Edition 08 PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #46 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 SCHREIFELS continued on page 4 RICHMOND – The on- set of September marks the beginning of a new school year. Students equipped with sharpened pencils, brand new pens, pristine notebooks and nervous anticipation for the year ahead. But, for the Sch- reifels children, September is the opening of bear hunting season. The Schreifels family – Anton and Amy, with their children, Hunter, 17, Hannah, 16 and Hope, 14 – of Rich- mond are quite simply, a family of hunters. “We go on family hunts, or whoever can go out at the time goes,” Anton said. “Nothing is going to stop us from hunting.” Amy and Anton, from Richmond and Cold Spring, respectively , rst started hunting in their youth. “I went hunting with my dad,” Amy said. “We would ELROSA – As an early-morning August thunderstorm rolls over the lush Minnesota landscape, the deepest purple, beautifully-veined beet plants rest on the front porch of the Zenzen farm. By the time the clouds part, and the heat churns the air humid, those beets will be resting in a new way – as fresh- ly-canned pickled beets. They won’t, however, make the transformation by themselves. Virginia Zenzen, daughter of Neal and Theresa, is the chef and her specialty is canned goods. Zenzen, 24, is the oldest of ve children who call the 39-cow dairy farm near Elrosa home. The organ- ic farm features Holstein and Brown Swiss milking cows as well as chick- Schreifels nd delight, camaraderie in sport go deer hunting and shing. But, Anton and I started dating when we were sophomores in high school, so we went hunting together, too.” For Anton, the list of ani- mals hunted at an early age ex- tends far beyond deer and sh. “Oh, we’d hunt deer, pheasant, grouse, ducks and eventually turkeys,” Anton said. “The whole barrage.” Amy, a home daycare pro- vider, and Anton, an employee of Granite-Tops in Coldspring, have kept the hunting tradition alive in their family, exposing their children to the sport. “All of the kids started archery at the indoor lanes at Channel Marine and Sports in town when they were in sec- ond grade,” Amy said. “And now, it’s amazing to see their progression. When they were little, we helped them hold a gun and told them the spot to shoot from. To see how far they’ve improved in their skills, it’s rewarding as a par- ent.” The family hunts, traps and shes – quite literally – everything they can in the area, including bear, deer, goose, duck, turkey, pheasant, turtle, coyote and carp, to name a few. While all initially hunted using guns, the family favors bow hunting instead, noting the challenge and convenience of a longer season with fairer weather . The family owns sev- en Mathews bows, including Hannah’s pink camouage va- riety and Hope’s jet-black bow with blue accessories. In addi- tion, Hunter and Hannah have bows for carp shing. The family also owns several guns and decoys, including home- made spearshing decoys. “The money is an invest- ment, but it’s irrelevant to the PHOTO SUBMITTED The Schreifels family – Amy , Hunter, 17, Hope, 14, Anton and Hannah, 16, – enjoys hunting togethe r throughout the year. The family lives in Richmond and prefers to hunt using bows, with each family member having their own. Preserving a tradition Zenzen rooted with canning, growing a future By MARIA HAGER Staff Writer

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