Column: Kevin Naze
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Anglers, DNR Work to Net Best Lake Michigan Fishing Strategy
Planning the next three-year stocking strategy for Lake Michigan salmon and trout is underway. DNR staff are wading through data on alewife abundance, average salmon size, catch statistics and other critical fisheries information, and soon they will be seeking public input. The last plan was developed in 2017 after more than two years of input […]
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Bay Ice Not Leaving Anytime Soon
With continued cold nights in the 10-day forecast, Green Bay’s ice isn’t going anywhere soon. In fact, unless things heat up significantly in the coming weeks, boaters on the bay side may still be dodging ice floes during the 31st Baileys Harbor Brown Trout Tournament April 25-28. A lot can happen between now and then, […]
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Deer Councils’ First Shots at 2019 Hunt Plans
Whitetails caught a break in the past week after a timely meltdown that exposed farm and country fields, allowing easier access to woodland browse. Longtime deer hunter Dick Baudhuin said there’s still a problem, though: too many whitetails for too many years have nearly eaten themselves out of house and home. “We didn’t see many […]
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County Deer Advisory Councils Want Feedback from Local Hunters
How many free antlerless deer tags should Door and Kewaunee County hunters get this fall? North to south, you’ll typically get different answers. Many Northern Door hunters say there are not nearly enough deer to warrant giving out any “doe tags” for free. From Sturgeon Bay south, there’s little debate that there are pockets of […]
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Spring Fish and Wildlife Hearings Allow Online Voting for the First Time
After more than a decade of speculation, the spring fish and wildlife rules hearings will finally offer an online voting option next month. Officially known as the annual DNR fish and wildlife public hearing and Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC) county meeting, the gatherings are held the second Monday of each April across the state. Locally, […]
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Deer, Wild Turkeys Struggle through Old-Fashioned Winter
A brutal winter is taxing some wildlife species, and we’re not out of the woods yet. For the first time since 2013, deep snow and extended cold threaten to trim some deer and wild turkeys from the landscape. The good news: It was a fairly easy start to the winter, and most of the wild […]
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Seven Scenarios for Shorter Crossbow Deer Hunt ‘Not the Gospel,’ DNR Says
A seven-scenario proposal to shorten the state’s crossbow deer season has hunters split on what the fairest and best option is for whitetail fanatics. The short answer: maybe none of them. DNR wildlife director Eric Lobner said the seven options introduced at last month’s state Natural Resources Board (NRB) meeting “are not the gospel” and […]
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Love Is in the Air Outdoors, Too
It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and love is in the air. But in the vast fields and forests of the Kewaunee/Door County peninsula, there’s no need for roses or chocolates. It’s mating season for coyotes, red and gray foxes, wolves, cottontail rabbits, snowshoe hares and raccoons. Coyotes, especially, have been on the move. Increased sightings of […]
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Backyard Birding Can Open Door to Wild Conversations
One thing I’ve learned through the years is to not judge a book by its cover. Take hunters and wildlife watchers, for example. Nationwide, statewide and locally, nonhunters far outnumber hunters, but credible national surveys find the vast majority of nonhunters are supportive of regulated hunting. Fewer than one in five nonhunters, in fact, actually […]
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Vehicle-Deer Collision Damage Tops $3 Million on Peninsula
Motorists reported nearly 1,000 collisions with whitetails on the roadways in Door and Kewaunee counties last year. At an average somewhere north of $3,300 per accident, that’s collectively more than $3 million in damages. Barstool biologists and internet keyboard cowboys have long claimed that the insurance industry pays off the DNR to get hunters to […]
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Resources Board Takes Shot at Options for Crossbow Deer Season
Popular state hunting message boards and Facebook pages are ablaze with debate this week after word spread that the crossbow deer-hunting season may be shortened. Never mind that the state’s Natural Resources Board (NRB) had only requested information on possible options to consider, should the DNR ever decide to pursue a rule change. With crossbow […]
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Last Chance to Donate to Potawatomi State Park Accessible Fishing Pier
How many times can you say you’ve helped fund something that will give thousands of disabled and able-bodied anglers a chance to cast the waters of Sturgeon Bay? For most of us, probably never. Whether you’re an avid angler or just someone who knows a worthy project when you read about it, you’re in luck: […]
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Naze: Potawatomi Near Goal for Accessible Fishing Pier
How many times can you say you’ve helped fund something that will give thousands of disabled and able-bodied anglers a chance to cast the waters of Sturgeon Bay? For most of us, probably never. Whether you’re an avid angler or just someone who knows a worthy project when you read about it, you’re in luck: […]
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Thousands of Leftovers for Spring Turkey Hunters
If you love hunting wild turkeys in the spring but forgot to apply for a harvest permit by the December deadline, you’re not plucked yet. More than 16,000 bonus Zone 2 authorizations for Door, Kewaunee and other eastern Wisconsin counties will go on sale in March. Jaqi Christopher, assistant upland wildlife ecologist for the DNR […]
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Sporting Groups Seek Small Increases in DNR License Fees
It’s been 14 years since Wisconsin raised the price of many hunting and fishing licenses, stamps and application fees, and some haven’t been touched since 1997. Despite pleas for small fee increases in recent years from the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, the Wisconsin Conservation Congress and other sporting and conservation groups, the legislature instead let the […]
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Anglers Play Risky Game on Thin Ice
With ice rescues becoming more common in recent years, one can’t help but wonder if social media and online fishing report pages are playing a role. Anglers posting photos of early or late-season success – when ice conditions are sketchy at best – may be attracting less-experienced fishermen hungry for action. It’s one thing to […]
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Supporters Hopeful New Leadership Leads to New Marine Sanctuary
Will a change in leadership be enough to revive a proposal for the first National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Michigan? Supporters hope so, and some believe it should include Door and Kewaunee counties, where an incredible number of underwater shipwrecks are worth protecting and promoting. In February — after nearly a decade of work by […]
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Longest Door County Deer Hunt Ends Jan. 31
Hunters who want a shot at extra venison this season have plenty of days of blaze orange and camo to go. By the time the last broadhead is fired during an extended bow and crossbow season Jan. 31, archers and crossbow users will have had 139 straight days of opportunities to be afield. Most gun […]