Michael Sieve grew up in a rural family that was big on hunting — a fall tradition that remains important to him, along with conservation.
Both of those things, he said, would be in good hands under a Kamala Harris-Tim Walz administration. “Tim Walz is somebody who can relate to hunters,” he said, noting that Walz has hunted in the 1st Congressional District that Sieve knows well.
To be sure, a love of the outdoors is a common denominator in Houston County, where Sieve lives and where voters went big for Trump in 2016 and 2020 — by 14 and 13 percentage points, respectively.
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But when Sieve organized a DFL Party-backed gathering at his art studio, invited people from across the political spectrum and called it “Hunters for Harris,” the reaction was mixed. He took some heat on Facebook, especially.
“I was very disappointed in some of the attitudes,” he said. “People’s responses (of), ‘How dare you do this.’ A lot of opposition to my doing this at all. I’m in a position now … I’m in my 70s now, and I’ve been very successful over the years with my art and so I can afford to take a chance.”
He added: “It seems like we all have politics on our mind all the time, and we’re all worried about what’s going on. But rarely do we have conversations. It’s almost like a taboo. It’s a taboo subject to bring these things up.”
Seeking common causes
Growing up in Wilmont, in the southwestern corner of Minnesota, Sieve helped out on family members’ farms and hunted with his dad, for whom “hunting became a big part of his life in rural America” after he returned from serving in World War II.
Just as many conservatives do, he thinks hunting is under threat because hunters are in the minority — and need the majority to support them.
He also thinks hunters get a bad rap. To him, Walz being on the ticket is an opportunity for hunters to push back on that narrative and demonstrate their conservation efforts, a story he feels has been untold. “To have a guy who’s supportive of hunting and understands hunting in a position like that has got to be good for hunting,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said, the ticket of Donald Trump and JD Vance poses a threat to hunters because their platform calls for the seizure of federal land to build homes.
While he thinks a Trump administration would defend everybody’s right to possess a firearm, he wanted to explain to his fellow hunters about how there’s much more to hunting than owning a gun — and the potential pitfalls of losing land.
“(Vance) kind of implied that (the lands) were worthless and empty, anyway,” Sieve said. “From the conservative side of the spectrum, Western lands are there to be developed, to be turned into whatever profit-making motive you have,” he said. “I disagree with that 100%.”
‘Not scary’
The “Hunters for Harris” event, which Sieve wasn’t able to attend, was held in his home, which doubles as a gallery for his wildlife art and looks like a trophy room with stuffed animals on the walls.
“You just don’t see that very often,” he said. “I wanted to bring people who would never go to an event in a game room in the past … and I wanted to bring hunters in there to meet the people who would never go into that room and bring them together.”
Teresa O'Donnell-Ebner, the Houston County DFL chair who helped Sieve with the event, said about 75 people showed up for conversation about hunting and conservation, including a question regarding the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund that will appear on the November ballot.
“I wanted to make sure that the (political left) met some reasonable hunters who are dedicated to conservation and who are very active conservationists,” Sieve said. “Also, I wanted the hunters on the right to meet the DFL left in Houston County and realize that they're a bunch of decent people. They're not scary. They're not going to do things that I think a lot of hunters would be afraid of.”
Ava Kian
Ava Kian is MinnPost's Greater Minnesota reporter. Follow her on Twitter @kian_ava or email her at akian@minnpost.com.
