By Bill McCrary, WBH Director
Among the Wisconsin outdoorsmen who have made valued and lasting contributions to the hobby, sport and business of archery and bowhunting in Wisconsin, Glenn Helgeland stands out as a notable entrepreneur, businessman and supporter of the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association.
Growing up on a farm in Barron County in the 1950s, he learned to appreciate the out-of-doors and the challenge of deer hunting. From there he traveled to Madison where he graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1965 with a double major in agricultural journalism and the biological aspects of conservation. Helgeland spent his early working years in various positions in the journalism field in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. By age 27 he was the editor of Archery World (now Bowhunting World) and in 1976 the founding editor of Archery Business magazine.
Greater Kudu taken in South Africa in 2011. The horns are magnificent. So are the steaks. Known as the gray ghost, this animal can become invisible standing motionless in the mottled shade of a handful of 20-foot-tall trees. Doesn’t seem possible, but it is.
In 1980, with his lovely wife Judy, he founded Target Communications and became a publisher and seller of outdoor-related books. In addition, at the same time he authored numerous articles for national bowhunting and sporting periodicals. In 1985, he produced the Wisconsin Deer Expo at the Dane County Alliant Energy Center in Madison. Just after Y2K that expo grew to more than 600 booths and 30,000 attendees. That expo and others in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio were sold in 2011 and Helgeland then returned his attention to publishing sporting books and reaping the rewards of a lifetime of achievement.
• Glenn Helgeland, center, received the 2017 ‘Member of the Year’ award from the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association at its annual conference in early March. He was presented the award by Mike Brust, WBH president, left, and Dave Peterson, WBH vice president, right.
Helgeland has received awards from the U.S. Sportsman’s Alliance/Cabela’s, the Alliant Energy Center of Dane County, the National Archery Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
He is a lifetime WBH member and served as a director 1975-1981. He is still occasionally asked to assist WBH in a variety of matters, and his input is beneficial. Due to his concern and generosity, WBH has been able to have a booth at the Wisconsin Deer & Turkey Expo for many years at a reduced cost. He assisted the Wisconsin Bowhunting Heritage Foundation with a complimentary display booth at the Expo in 2014 and has made notable donations of equipment for the bowhunting museum.
As a bowhunter, he has successfully hunted his native Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, Colorado, Arizona, Montana, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and South Africa.
Glenn Helgeland is certainly a man well qualified to be the WBH 2017 Member of the Year and we thank him for a lifetime of contributions.