The extra freezer in Ted Reiss’ garage has been empty for nearly two years. As Reiss begins loading the shelves, his spaniels bark at the smell of freshly-butchered elk. After a couple meatless winters, the Reiss family is grateful to have five coolers of elk sausage. Despite the impression his freezer, gun rack, and collection of skulls give, Reiss has not always supported hunting.

Growing up as a progressive kid in a traditional hunting family, Reiss saw his father’s passion for the sport, but “was scared to kill something [he] wouldn’t be proud of” or hurt the planet in any way. It was not until he was twenty-two, when a brutal Wisconsin winter drove Reiss to desperation, that he took up hunting. On his starving-student budget he bought bullets for his father’s gun and took to the woods, returning with two deer that fed Reiss and his roommates for the remainder of the winter. He said, “By hunting, I gain some percentage of sustenance for people I care about… It’s the most pure form of gathering food.” The hunt helped Reiss form a connection with the food chain and proved that responsible consumption was possible. He soon changed his major to Forestry and immersed himself in both hunting and the study of conservationism.

Now, with seventeen years experience managing a timber company, an Oregon Forester of the Year award, and a wall of hunting trophies, Reiss has turned his sights on a new goal: teaching his daughter Leah about sustainable hunting. He wants her to have the same respect for hunting laws and the environment that he has championed throughout his career. As Leah Reiss, a sixteen year old with a strip of pink hair, talks about her first kill, Ted interjects with details about the hunt. He’s proud of his family’s lifestyle, mentioning, “The vast majority of hunters are incredibly supportive of really good habitat management.” Ted is committed to protecting the environment, if not in the interest of keeping his freezer stocked with fresh game, than for the sake of ensuring Leah will be able to do the same.