Mike Mitten lives in Beach Park, Illinois. Woodsmanship was learned early on during camping and fishing trips with his father, and through Boy Scouting where he earned the highest rank of Eagle. Mike received his bachelors degree in biology in 1983 from Northern Illinois University, and has made a thirty year career in the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently employed as a dedicated member of a research team that discovers new treatments for cancer. Mike has hunted with the bow and arrow for over 45 years, cutting his bowhunting teeth on the familys vacation property and surrounding Chequamegon National Forest in north central Wisconsin. His passion for bowhunting whitetail deer is offset each year by annual solo bowhunting adventures to distant western states, Canada, or Alaska. Over the years, Mike has frequently shared his stories and experience by authoring articles published in hunting magazines such as North American Whitetail, Bowhunter, Traditional Bowhunter Magazine, Trad Archers World, Professional Bowhunter Society Magazine, and Bow and Arrow Hunting. He also encourages membership in local and state hunting organizations along with national organizations such as Professional Bowhunter Society, Comptons, and Pope and Young Club.
Mike attributes his lifes passion for the outdoors and bowhunting success to an understanding family. Following a long journey building self-reliance and redefining the definition of failure, Mike has found reward in every hunting trip. He is now able to teach his own children and help them accept the stewardship and responsibility each generation has for conservation of our natural resources. Mikes experiences as a solo hunter with a video camera in one hand and a bow in the other have enabled him to contribute as a co-producers of the award winning films Primal Dreams and Essential Encounters (www.brothersofthebow.com). He has published his first book, One with the Wilderness (Passions of a Solo Bowhunter). Mike wrote multiple chapters for a book compiled by Don Higgins called, Real World Whitetail Icons (in Their Own Words). Mike is a member of Sitka Gears Athlete staff where his field tests, advice and suggestions help with improving the functionality of hunting gear and apparel. He is a member of Wensel/Mitten Productions, whose videos and books go a long way to help non-hunters understand our passions for the chase and the true spirit of the hunt. Mike is also on the Professional Bowhunter Societys speakers bureau.