SEXTONVILLE, Wis. _ The walls of "The Roost" reverberated at 4 a.m. Saturday.
"It's daylight in the swamp, boys!" sang Mike Purnell. "It's time to get your buck, boys, daylight in the swamp!"
The a cappella performance was part joyful reveille, part family tradition.
Those of us gathered in the rural cabin owned by Mike and his brother, Lloyd Purnell Jr., knew it was coming.
"He's not going to win many singing contests, but I guess it's better than an alarm clock buzzer," said Jerry Smukowski.
It's was also effective. Within minutes, lights flicked on and 19 prone figures roused from the menagerie of couches, cots and beds at The Roost.
This wasn't just any 0 dark thirty wake-up. Saturday was opening day of the 2017 Wisconsin gun deer hunting season.
"Doesn't matter how many years you've hunted, the sense of anticipation and excitement comes back strong on opening day," said Lloyd Purnell Jr.
In the next two hours, hunters donned blaze orange and set out to ground blinds and tree stands on the more than 400 acres owned by the Purnells in the hollows of Richland County.
Would the day bring a buck of a lifetime? An antlerless deer? Or several?
Over the last 28 years, the Purnell brothers have cultivated a deer camp rich in tradition and camaraderie.
A sign in the cabin that aptly describes The Roost: "Deer camp ... old friends ... buck stories ... warm fire ... cold beer."
The Purnells approach is relatively rare in the Wisconsin deer hunting community. Rather than hoard animals on their properties, they host dozens of hunters through the year for the Youth Hunt, Disabled Hunt as well as the archery, crossbow and firearm seasons.
For them, the motto is "the more hunters, the merrier." They fully realize deer and other wildlife are held in the public trust.
This year 20 hunters gathered at The Roost for the gun deer opener.
Four father-son groups were included: Bruce Ammel and his son Joe; Glenn Goldschmidt and Bill; Mike Morell and Mark and Mike Jr.; and Jerry Smukowski, his sons Jim and John and son-in-law Gil Zuniga.
Rounding out the group were: Marshall Brazille, Texas; Randy Brown, Texas; Jeff Engel; Mike Ruland; Aaron Wenzel; Jake Yanke; and me.
The ages ranged from 19 to 70-something.
In the deer-rich coulees of southwestern Wisconsin, land ownership carries a responsibility to help manage the herd.
That responsibility has grown more serious over the last decade. Why? Chronic wasting disease.
As the fatal, contagious deer disease has spread through Richland County, it not only threatens the whitetail herd but precious hunting traditions.
The Purnells approach could serve as a model for other landowners in CWD-affected areas.
"We'd like you to take a doe to help keep the population in check," said Lloyd Jr. in a pre-hunt meeting. "And if you see a deer that looks sick, by all means put it out of its misery."
The brothers have instituted two measures at The Roost in the last two years.
First, no carcasses, bones or hides (and potential CWD prions) from harvested whitetails are deposited on the property; all are removed and sent to landfills.
And second, all deer killed are tested for CWD.
Last year, 9 of 38 deer taken by hunters at The Roost were CWD-positive. This year, two of 11 have tested positive.
As per directives from health officials, the meat from the CWD-positive animals was discarded.
Mike Purnell learned "Daylight in the Swamp" from his father, Lloyd Purnell Sr., who used to take his sons to northern Wisconsin for the gun deer season.
Those were days when they would camp and get their drinking water from a lake. They usually hunted on timber company land.
But Lloyd Purnell Sr. had a dream to own, with his sons, some hunting land in Richland County, where his wife, Billie, was born.
With the help of Ann Greenheck of Bear Creek (Billie's cousin-in-law), that wish became a reality in 1989. A woman Greenheck knew from church wanted to sell 180 acres. After a local business owner tried to low-ball the seller, Greenheck called the Purnells.
"She knew my dad had a dream," Lloyd Jr. said. "We made a fair offer and got a great parcel of land and great neighbors in one deal."
The three Purnell men each purchased one-third of the land. Lloyd Sr. was able to enjoy it until he died in 1996.
His sons have carried on his legacy by taking care of the land and inviting friends for annual hunts.
Saturday morning dawned damp and breezy in the coulees. The wind was out of the north; the thermometer read 37 degrees.
Due to recent rains and thaws, many of the hill roads were muddy quagmires.
No matter; the 20 hunters got into position and watched the woods come alive.
The windy, damp conditions seemed to suppress deer activity. But at 7:15 a.m., Mark Morell had four antlerless deer come past his stand. He made good on a shot at a big doe.
The bulk of the hunters were still in their stands when this report was filed at noon.
No matter how many deer are killed, the Purnells will host another contingent of hunters for the Holiday Hunt in late December.
"We want to keep this deer camp tradition alive," Mike Purnell said. "No one knows what the future will hold for CWD and the Wisconsin deer herd, but by hunting hard, testing our deer and removing infected animals we hope we can not only keep our camp thriving but help manage the disease."
