Know your target
Brandon Lanie’s passion for the great outdoors
inspired hunting safety efforts of BLESS
By Ed DuBois
Two years after Brandon Lanie lost his life in a tragic hunting accident, his passion for the great outdoors lives on in an organization called BLESS.
The Brandon Lanie Ethical Sportsmen Society was organized by his family and friends who were motivated to help promote safe hunting. Brandon’s accident was fully preventable, said his father Troy. BLESS was established to remind everyone about the importance of the phrase, “Know your target and what’s beyond.”
Troy, his wife Nicole and many friends involved with BLESS are inspired by the idea that their message about safe hunting may be getting people to pause and think before pulling the trigger. They are hopeful that their efforts may have already saved some lives.
Brandon died two years ago in November when a hunter thought he was firing at a deer. Brandon was only 14 years old.
Blessed
Few people enjoyed the outdoors as much as Brandon. He truly felt blessed by Mother Nature and opportunities to get out in fields and woods for hunting or get out on a lake for some fishing.
Asked how the BLESS acronym was developed, Nicole said it was a very fitting coincidence.
“We wanted to call the organization the Brandon Lanie Ethical Sportsmen Society, and BLESS went along with it. Ironically, it really fit,” she said.
The Lanie family feels blessed to have had Brandon in their lives, and Brandon felt blessed to have a family with whom to share his joy of hunting and fishing.
Troy recalled fishing on Mille Lacs several years ago when Brandon was about 12 or 13 years old.
“The weather wasn’t very good, and we had been out there about 17 hours. We had only caught one fish,” Troy remembered. “When I suggested we call it a day, Brandon looked at me and matter-of-factly stated, ‘Why would you want to quit?’ I said, ‘No fish,’ and he replied, ‘That’s not what it’s about. It’s about time on the water.’”
Active family
Troy and Nicole now see a lot of Brandon in his five-year-old little brother Colten. “He loves the outdoors, and he is always ready to go.”
The whole family — Troy, Nicole, Tyler, 14, Kaelan, 11, and Colten, 5 — enjoys country living and outdoor activities. They have numerous pets, including dogs, a cat, rabbits, horses, and a goat. They travel to weekend rodeo events all summer. Now with autumn in the air, their attention is once again turning to hunting.
Billboard campaign
BLESS has a billboard campaign underway to help
remind hunters about safety. Troy recalled that hunting
responsibly was what Brandon “stood for and believed in.”
BLESS had ten billboards all over Minnesota last year,
plus ten more in South Dakota. This year from Oct. 15
to early December, BLESS plans to have twenty billboards
in Minnesota and ten once again in South Dakota.
“In the beginning, we wanted ‘a billboard,’
period. Now we have 30,” Troy said with pride.
March 7 banquet
Fundraising events provide the money for the billboards and other activities. The biggest fundraiser, a banquet at the Wild Marsh Golf Club in Buffalo last March, raised about $25,000. The 2008 banquet takes place on March 7 at the St. Francis Xavier Education Center.
nother fundraiser, an ATV raffle held in conjunction with the Buffalo Rodeo, raised around $7,000 last summer.
Troy said some of the money supports programs in other organizations, such as the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association’s youth camp and the youth trapshooting league in Buffalo.
BLESS has roughly 15 very active members and a committee of about 25-30 people. Troy and Nicole welcome new members who are interested in promoting safe hunting and sharing their enjoyment of the outdoors with young people. They realize people in today’s world are extremely busy. Therefore, more BLESS membership can spread out duties among more people.
Kids are the future
They especially want to hear from people interested in working with kids.
“Kids are the future,” Nicole said.
She and Troy dream of meeting people who have a youth program idea and can “take off and run with it.”
Nicole mentioned the possibility of starting a “firearms safety in the home program.” Troy talked about working with the National Rifle Association’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program for youth. He said introducing kids to safe hunting at a young age can make a big difference. He added that simply introducing kids to the outdoors is important.
“If my neighbor had not been willing to show me the joys of the outdoors when I was a kid, I may never have gotten into it,” Troy commented.
Nicole dreams of organizing a youth outdoor safety camp. Troy reiterated the importance of learning about safe hunting at a young age.
“It’s a way of life. It’s a state of mind,” he said. “You learn from day one. You learn to respect the outdoors.”
Join BLESS?
He added that we humans are only borrowing the outdoors. We do not own it. We have no right to it.
Those who would like to join Troy and Nicole, and the other members of BLESS, are invited to call Troy at 612-703-8174 and visit the BLESS website, www.brandonlanie.org.
Eventually, the members of BLESS would like to start new chapters in various parts of the state.
“We would like to see it grow,” Nicole said.
“We would like to see businesses support it and go statewide,” Troy added.
They mentioned conducting a gun raffle at the recent Game Fair to help get the BLESS name out to as many people as possible.
“It was all about making contact with people,” Nicole said.
She added that current members are very devoted.
“We believe the active members we have now will always be active members,” said Nicole. “Many of them are close friends who knew Brandon. His love of the outdoors is something they believe in.”
Passion lives on
Troy mentioned that every committee member has a say in how BLESS funds are used. They all feel ownership and pride in the good work BLESS is completing.
Meanwhile, Brandon Lanie’s passion for the great outdoors lives on in BLESS. Two years after the tragedy that ended Brandon’s life, the organization that his life inspired is helping with the prevention of hunting accidents.
Always remember, “Know your target and what’s beyond.”
