Jon’s Story
From my early beginnings as a Tiger Cub/Cub Scout, and paddling through the Boundary Waters with my grandfather, I have always felt comfortable in the outdoors. I remember rushing home after school, not to do homework, but to grab my fishing pole and tackle box, to head down to the docks on Lake Minnetonka. I would fish until dark or until I could hear my mom yelling for me to come home and eat my cold dinner.
This type of behavior continued in college. I attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth for my undergraduate, and on many occasion found myself skipping class to head up the road to hunt grouse. Now, as I have gotten older, and priorities have changed, I find less time to get out and do the things I truly enjoy. For this reason I am grateful to have the career I do. I work for a small company in Isanti, MN that designs and manufacturers tracking devices for the use of monitoring wild animals. My “customer” is usually a biologist of conservationist that is looking to monitor movements on a specific species of animal. I put my project management hat on and guide them through the process on selecting the right type of tracking device/equipment needed for their project. This type of work allows me to interact with many people that share my interest in the outdoors, my passion for conservation, and to scratch my “itch” to get out and hunt/fish for anything that moves or swims. Many of these customers have become friends of mine as we are very like-minded and share the same interests. It just so happens that many reside in really cool places like Alaska, South Africa, and Australia.
I am honored to be part of the Minnesota Hunting Club, and now to be a member of the Pro Staff. We can learn a lot from one another. I don’t have all of the answers, and I am always eager to learn new ways to hunt/fish. Let’s be safe, be courteous, and be stewards of the land.