If any one person can bring both groups together, it may well be Charles Alsheimer.
"He has a lot of insight," said Matthew Weller, a sophomore conservation law major at Unity College. "He talks about deer hunting techniques, but he also talks about deer, and quality management, and how to keep the herd healthy through selective harvest and protecting their habitat."
Alsheimer will be the featured speaker during the first-ever Unity College Sportsmen's Conference and Wild Game Dinner, scheduled for 4-10 p.m. on Thursday, April 19 at the Unity Center for the Performing Arts.
Raised in rural upstate New York, Alsheimer has been a nature photographer since 1979. The 1996 Nikon Hunting Annual called Alsheimer, "the hottest outdoor photographer in the field."
In addition to being the longtime field editor for Deer and Deer Hunting magazine, Alsheimer's work has appeared in Outdoor Life magazine, Whitetail News and other publications. Alsheimer has written six books on whitetail deer, including Quality Deer Management -- The Basics and Beyond and Whitetail -- Behavior Through the Seasons. "I've been reading Charlie's stuff since I was a kid," said Joe Saltalamacalamachia, associate director of admission for Unity College and conference organizer.
Hunters recently voted Alsheimer the nation's second-most influential figure in the sport, next to famed hunter and President Theodore Roosevelt, Saltalamachia said.
"This guy is pretty highly thought of among outdoorsmen, especially hunters," Saltalamachia said.
Weller, student president of the Conservation Law Enforcement Club, contacted Alsheimer last fall about speaking at the club's first hunting seminar. Alsheimer will give a three hour presentation that will touch on numerous subjects, from scouting and hunting strategies to deer management. The lecture is illustrated with Alsheimer's award-winning photographs.
"He's seen more things than most people will ever see in their lifetimes," Weller said.
He first heard Alsheimer speak in 1998 and was looking for a big name to give the seminar a splash.
"I thought it would be a good thing for the club to get its name out there," Weller said. "Plus, it would be a beneficial seminar for the surrounding community."
Weller scheduled the seminar for April 19 at the performing arts center, the same evening and venue that Saltalamachia's Unity College Archery Club had planned a wild game supper.
Rather than reschedule, the Conservation Law Enforcement Club and the Archery Club, two of the largest clubs on campus, decided to join forces and create the first-ever Sportsmen's Conference and Wild Game Dinner.
"We basically put our heads together to come up with this," Saltalamachia said. "Even though it's the fourth year of the game supper, it really is the first year we've had a collaborative effort."
The exotic game dinner, which is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m., will feature beaver, bear, moose and deer among other items. All the food will be donated by local hunters and Unity College students.
There also will be an art show featuring eight award-winning Maine artists in paintings and taxidermy.
The dinner and the seminar are open to the public.
"It's just a phenomenal event that showcases things that Unity College Students are into," Saltalamachia said.
Tickets are $25 for VIP passes, $20 for the seminar and fixings and $12 for the dinner or the seminar.
Just 165 tickets will be sold for the dinner and 200 for the seminar.
"They usually go fast," Saltalamachia said.
Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Operation Game Thief, an anti-poaching program, the Unity College Archery Club's trip to the 2007 World 3D Championships, and Catch A-Dream, which is the only organization that sends terminally ill children on hunting and fishing trips.
"We have three really good causes this year," Saltalamachia said.