A day in the life of the Marshiks

HILLMAN, Minn. — For Kevin Marshik, the tradition of deer hunting is more than getting a trophy buck; it is about spending time in nature with his children.

“I make the time to spend time in the woods and enjoy seeing the deer,” Kevin said. “I especially like sitting with my kids in the stand and seeing them get a deer.”

Kevin and his wife, Amanda, and their children — Addison, Joel and Luke — milk 55 cows in a tiestall barn near Hillman.

“I enjoy seeing the excited look on our kids’ faces when they come running up to the house to say they got a deer,” Amanda said. “I also enjoy seeing the smile on their dad’s face even more.”

To make milking cows and deer hunting work with his schedule, Kevin keeps the cows on daylight saving time until after deer hunting season.

“I milk around 5:30 a.m. in the summer and I stay on daylight saving time for deer hunting season so that I can milk at 4:30 or sometimes 4 in the morning and still have time to sit in the stand,” Kevin said. “I will switch the cows over next week.”

On the Friday eve of deer hunting opener in Minnesota, Kevin Marshik and his children prepared for the next morning by doing farm chores and going to bed early.

“Luke has been practicing target shooting for the past month to get ready for this weekend,” Kevin said. “It is nice that we can hunt on our own land so it is not very much time away from the farm.”

At 4 p.m. Kevin, Joel and Luke fed the calves and gave them fresh bedding. The boys checked on the chickens and brought the fresh eggs to the house.

Addison was at the Pierz Healy High School playoff football game Friday evening.

When Saturday morning of deer hunting opener arrived, Kevin went outside at 3:30 to milk the cows and by 6:15, Kevin, Addison and Luke made their way to their deer stands in the woods near their farmstead.

“I just like sitting and hearing everything since it’s quiet,” Addison said. “I just look around; I like seeing the squirrels.”

Addison has been hunting for the past five years and has shot five deer, two of which were last year, on opening weekend. Growing up, she and her brothers would sit with Kevin in his ground stand.

“I just like seeing the deer and spending time with Dad,” Addison said.

Now, that Kevin has two of his children out in the woods actively hunting, he sits with Luke. In a nearby stand, Addison is perched.

“My heart picks up when Addison gets ready to shoot,” Kevin said. “She hunts with her grandpa’s gun, who died five years ago. I think it’s pretty neat that she has a part of grandpa with her in the woods.”

Last year, Luke sat in the stand for two days but never got a deer. This year, Luke had his first opportunity to harvest a deer when one came through the pasture around 7:30 Saturday morning. He took a shot, but missed and the deer ran away before he could take another shot.

At 8 a.m. the hunting crew made their way back up to the farm site to finish chores and have breakfast. Joel had cleaned mangers while his dad and siblings were out in their stands. 

“Joel doesn’t care for hunting, but will help with chores when we get back so we can start feeding,” Kevin said.

The rest of the morning the Marshik family stepped into their routine of mixing the total mixed ration and feeding youngstock. Addison helped Kevin by opening and watching gates as he maneuvered in and out with the tractor.

Kevin also finishes his steers and manages a hog barn with 7,000 head, which he checks daily.

By 3 p.m. the Marshik family started evening chores again and went out to their stands at 4 p.m. This time, Luke’s luck changed for the better, and he was able to bag his first deer.

“Luke was very excited,” Kevin said. “It came up quickly and just appeared, so he didn’t have time to get nervous. That was a doe, but he still wants a buck.”

Kevin, the third generation on his farm, appreciates the flexible farming schedule.

“I like dairy farming because I am able to do my own thing and it is different every day,” Kevin said. “I enjoy what I do.”