For the Gazette

JUNCTION CITY — A local author known for his writings on the outdoors will be releasing a new book in August.

Wisconsin Bird Hunting Tales is the newest addition to The History Press. The book is written by local author Ken M. Blomberg, and is set to release on August 6. The Badger State’s thriving upland bird population beckons hunters from across the country. Author Ken M. Blomberg recollects nearly half a century of the hunt in his backyard grouse paradise. Marshaling years of experience, he explains how logging roads often lead to grouse and, just as often, to nowhere.

He paints an uplifting portrait of an old hunter dragging his creaky body through unforgiving terrain. And with spirit and humor, he tells of boon companions sharing stories around a campfire or nervously slumbering to a wolf country lullaby. Novice and veteran hunters alike will draw delight and inspiration from a relatable love affair with gun dogs, upland birds and Wisconsin.

About the Author:

Ken M. Blomberg, 64, has spent a lifetime hunting and fishing across all corners of Wisconsin. His writing career can be traced back to the mid-70s while attending college at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Success in English courses prompted him to try his hand at freelance writing. After graduating with a B.S. degree in Resource Management, he found employment in the water resources field and continued to write on the side. His first published article in a regional weekly outdoor newspaper landed a paycheck of $4.80 back in 1979.

Subsequently, he discovered he had a talent for putting words on paper and that fact was acknowledged when his articles were accepted by the likes of national magazines Field & Stream, Fur, Fish & Game, Wing & Shot and RGS Drummer – as well as state publications like Wisconsin Sportsman, Badger Sportsman, and Woods and Waters. Writing was and still is his passion and a day does not go by without it being on his agenda.

In the 80s Blomberg began writing a monthly magazine gun dog column, “Kennel Talk”, which he continued to write for more than twenty years until the magazine, Badger Sportsman fell on hard times. In the 90s Blomberg created a weekly newspaper outdoor column, “Up the Creek”, which ran for years in several central Wisconsin weekly newspapers – the Plover Profile, Manawa Advocate and the Tomorrow River Times.

In 2006, the column was picked up by Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers in the Stevens Point, Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids markets. In December 2010, he was asked by the editor of the Portage County Gazette to write the column for their weekly newspaper.

Blomberg retired in 2013 as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Rural Water Association. He now owns a gun dog kennel near Junction City, WI and writes full-time.