Hunters rolled into the forests Friday amped for the gun-deer season opener.

Just off the main dirt road through the Eau Claire County Forest are some long standing traditions.

"What happens at deer camp stays at deer camp!" says Don Lange from Menomonie. It says so on his shirt.

Lange has been setting up shop in the same spot since 1974. His setup is about as old as that law of his camp. His two campers are from 1976 and 1966.

Just up that same "main" road lives Lange's long-time neighbor... for a couple weekends a year anyway.

"It's the only time we see each other," says Jay Johnson of Altoona with a laugh.

Johnson's mom Dawn Johnson mans their fort; she's hunted with five generations over the years.

"It's just fun carrying on the tradition," says 14-year-old Nic Johnson, Dawn's grandson. He's part of that fifth generation of Johnsons.

"This is the first year we brought tables down and set it all up. Usually it's just piled," Nic Johnson says of the dozens of cookies, hot dogs, chips and 10 coolers assembled near their old camper. Five of the coolers are solely for ice in anticipation of a buck.

A couple miles away from the Johnsons, off an actual paved road, a group of firefighters from Racine built an even more permanent home.

"It's just one room. It's not much, but it's warm and dry," says John Spranger of his "work in progress" cabin.

There are a couple of bunks and a couch; enough for a good night's sleep far from the city lights and ahead of their 4 a.m. alarm.

We "go out here all day. Come back. Relax. Do it again the next day," says James Spranger, John's son, a firefighter in Milwaukee.

It's a simple plan; one that will no doubt be repeated between the campfires, laughs and tradition.

"We've got a couple nice bucks out of here," says Nic Johnson.

"It is coming down here with all the friends and family," says Jay Johnson, Nic's uncle.

"If we get a deer, that's a bonus," says Lange with a smile.

In Eau Claire County, the hunt is on at exactly 6:39 a.m. Last year, hunters in Wisconsin pulled in 133,828 deer on opening weekend.

Good luck!!