DIAMOND BLUFF – Diamond Bluff native and Prescott High School Class of 1999 graduate Harley Hotchkiss comes from a long line of veterans, which inspired his path to join the service at age 17.

“My grandpa was in World War II, my dad was in the Navy, I had an uncle who was in Vietnam, another uncle who was in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Hotchkiss said. “I have 12-13 cousins who have all served in different branches and many local friends who have served as well.”

While in high school, Hotchkiss’s junior varsity wrestling coach, Craig Lubich, asked him if he was going to college. He was unsure at the time what he wanted to do, so at age 17, he joined the National Guard.

“I had no clue what I was getting into,” he said. “I started off as a mechanic. I was more into sports, and my brothers were more into mechanics and were gearheads. My dad could never get me out in the garage, but the army was going to pay me to do it.”

The summer of his junior year, he went to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. to complete his basic training.

“I remember getting teased in high school because they (his fellow students) were comparing it to prison,” Hotchkiss recalled. “The funny thing is after we graduated, there were all sorts of people who joined the military.”

Hotchkiss served in the military for 21 years total, with four of those years active duty. He was a member of the Wisconsin National Guard 32^nd Battalion, 1/128 Infantry Regiment, with active duty units going back to the Civil War and WWII. Hotchkiss was a mechanic for two years before they switched from mechanized infantry to light.

“Which meant that we didn’t have mechanics at the unit level anymore,” Hotchkiss explained. “Everything was operator level.”

Mechanized infantry relies on roads and flat, open terrain for vehicles, while light infantry specializes in restricted terrain like mountains, jungles, and urban areas where vehicles cannot go, operating primarily on foot.

Hotchkiss could have transferred to a different unit to be a mechanic, but he chose to stay with his regiment. He had always been curious about what the light infantrymen were training for. While he wasn’t wrenching on vehicles or performing maintenance anymore, he awas trained in night land navigation.

In 2004, Hotchkiss was sent to Samarra, Iraq for one year, where he was a supply sergeant’s gunner.

“So when we would go to different bases in Iraq, like Tikrit north of Baghdad or Anaconda (which served as the main logistical and supply hub for forces during the Iraq War), we would travel to other bases to get maintenance stuff for weapons, whatever my supply sergeant had to get to help at the unit, I was his security in the vehicle for him and the whole convoy. Each vehicle had a gunner,” Hotchkiss said.

When he returned from Iraq, Hotchkiss moved out to Phoenix planning to pursue studies to become a motorcycle mechanic and fabricate custom bikes.

“I went out there for my drill sergeant unit and obviously the military came first,” he said.

From 2007-09, Hotchkiss served as a drill sergeant at Fort Knox, in which he took civilians and trained them into soldiers. After five long years away from Wisconsin, he returned to his hometown area and started his business, Premium Plots LLC. He couldn’t see raising a family in Phoenix and wanted to be closer to family and friends. He and his wife, Whitney, just celebrated their 11^th anniversary. They have a 9-year-old and another baby on the way.

Premium Plots began as a part-time gig.

“Because of my hunting background, I felt like the food plot industry had started getting more popular and I was borrowing a tractor from one of my dad’s friends and he wanted it back,” Hotchkiss said. “I had the funds to purchase my own, and if I could make some money doing this and pay off my equipment.”

His dad was always into hunting and started taking him when he was 5 or 6 years old.

“He would, even before these new laws came out, have me carry and unload a shotgun so I knew the respect of carrying a firearm,” Hotchkiss said. “I learned how to point it in the right direction safely, etc. He’d ask me occasionally if I ever wanted to carry some shot shells.”

He got his first deer, a nubbin buck, the year he finished hunter’s safety while hunting with his nephew. He keeps that memory close, because his nephew and hunting buddy died at age 20.

“He was my half-sister’s oldest son, so he was a year younger than me,” Hotchkiss said.

His business was put on hold when in 2019-20, his squad was sent to Afghanistan.

“I was the ground force commander for a security element,” Hotchkiss said. “There was an active-duty unit that we protected. We were on the western side of Kabul on the British compound, then moved downtown to NKC (New Kabul City) at the new Kabul compound, then right before Covid we went to Bagram Airfield.”

After returning from Afghanistan, Hotchkiss retired from the military in April 2021.

“When I came home from Afghanistan, my wife asked me to go full-time with it (Premium Plots) or find something local,” Hotchkiss said.

His job as a heavy equipment operator for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49 kept him traveling all over the Twin Cities, which was not conducive to family life. He worked for the Pierce County Highway Department for a time, then for a friend’s business before deciding to go full-time with his passion.

“I do tree removal, tree trimming, and stump grinding. I do lawn care but mainly in the Diamond Bluff area and snow care in the winter,” Hotchkiss said. “The hardest part is finding personnel, so I subcontract a lot on bigger jobs. It can be hard work and dangerous work.”

Hotchkiss also designs, seeds and preps food plots, sells hunting blinds and installs water holes for attracting deer.

“Whether you’re preparing your property for the season or improving it for years to come, our services are designed to give you healthier deer, better habitat, and more rewarding hunts,” his website states.

Hotchkiss is grateful for the lessons his time in the military taught him, preparing him for life after the service.

“Obviously, I feel like my parents started that foundation and the military polished that sword or edge. They sharpened my skills and honed them. They gave me all my leadership qualities. I was a senior leader when I retired,” Hotchkiss said. “My organization in dealing with stress, problem solving, we always had contingency plans for everything we did. Always being able to figure out issues on the fly and solving them and completing anything we had to do.”

Learn more about Premium Plots at premiumplots.net, email Hotchkiss at premiumplots@hotmail.com or call him at 715-441-7735.