Category: Fishing and Hunting
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Wild Things: ‘Free’ Fishing a Good Time to Introduce a New Angler
Longtime anglers will tell you that one of the things they love most about fishing is watching the facial expressions and hearing the excited voices of a beginner who’s hooked up for the first time. It’s often a highly contagious mix of surprise, suspense and, finally, satisfaction at having mastered the piscatorial pursuit on the […]
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Wild Things: Sporting Group Starts +ONE Movement
National Shooting Sports Foundation seeks to increase hunter numbers Sales of Wisconsin fishing licenses and turkey-hunting permits have been strong this spring – two of the few bright spots in the ongoing battle with the coronavirus. With firearm sales also up, these may be signs of more citizens awakening to the importance of self-sufficiency. It helps […]
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Wild Things: It’s a Good Time to Revive Letter Writing
For much of the 21st century, letter writing has been on life support. Oh, there are a few people who keep cursive alive by still practicing the lost art, but for the most part, computers and smartphones have changed the way the world communicates: Using these devices is easy, fast and requires no stamps. But […]
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Wild Things: Charter-Fishing Industry Dry-Docked
Captains want state to open access Hundreds of Lake Michigan and Green Bay charter captains and guides lure thousands of visiting anglers to Lake Michigan each spring, but not this year. Or at least not yet. Troy Mattson of Kinn’s Sport Fishing in Algoma co-owns the largest charter fleet on Lake Michigan: 11 boats targeting […]
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Wild Things: Anglers, Birders, Hunters Enjoying Mental-Health Break
Hundreds of anglers will be spread out along Door County’s bayside shorelines this weekend to get after smallmouth bass. Even though a rule change allows catch-and-release fishing for both largemouth and smallmouth bass prior to the opener in most areas, opening day (May 2) is still special. Boat launches are open, including in state parks. […]
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Wild Things: Comment on County Deer Proposals by April 29
If you have a strong opinion about deer management, now’s the time to voice your concerns regarding hunting seasons in Door and Kewaunee counties. Whitetail fanatics have until April 29 to provide input online about preliminary recommendations for the 2020 hunts that the County Deer Advisory Councils (CDAC) made recently. Both the Door and Kewaunee […]
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Deer Council Wants Holiday Hunt, Extended ‘Bow,’ 5 Free Tags
Kewaunee County wants extra hunts, four permits The Door County Deer Advisory Council (CDAC) set preliminary 2020 hunting-season recommendations during an April 6 teleconference meeting. After much debate – and a failed vote on reducing the number of antlerless tags awarded to three per license type – council members voted 5-2 for five free tags […]
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Wild Things: Brown Trout Tournament Falls Victim to SARS-CoV-2
Continued concerns over what scientists are now calling Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has forced organizers to cancel the Baileys Harbor Brown Trout Tournament. A statewide “Safer at Home order” that’s in effect until April 24 and a national social-distancing recommendation until April 30 means the planned April 23-26 event is off. Darren Collin, […]
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Wild Things: County Deer Councils to Hold Conference Calls April 6, 8
County Deer Advisory Councils (CDACs) will meet as planned next month, but not in person. Concerns about the coronavirus mean that CDACs will convene by conference call April 6, 7 pm, for Door County; and April 8, 7 pm, for Kewaunee County. Members of the public are welcome to listen in, but because of challenges […]
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Virus Concerns Postpone Deer Meetings, DNR’s Learn to Hunts
Everyone’s talking about the coronavirus, but you won’t hear about it at any DNR Learn to Hunt workshop meetings this month. Nor will COVID-19 be on the agenda at the April County Deer Advisory Council meetings or the Deer & Turkey Expo in Madison either. That’s because they’ve all been postponed due to the pandemic […]
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Weigh In Online about Spring Fish, Wildlife Hearings
A decades-long tradition that’s unique to Wisconsin will take place in every county in the state April 13, when citizens can take an active role in natural-resources management through the 2020 Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) spring fish and wildlife rules hearings and the county meetings of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC). Locally, they’ll begin […]
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Dan Isermann to Present Fish Tales Lecture
Dan Isermann will present the next Fish Tales lecture – “Where Fish Wander in Green Bay: Tracking the Movements of Walleye and Whitefish” – at Crossroads at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay on March 19, 7 pm, in the Collins Learning Center. He will discuss how acoustic-telemetry technology enables him to track where fish spawn and move […]
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March Meltdown Has Turkeys Strutting, Bay Ice Deteriorating
Wild turkey toms are gobbling from the roost and strutting once down on the ground, trying to impress the hens. But gobblers anticipating the upcoming mating season aren’t the only ones with spring fever. The first northbound sandhill cranes, tundra swans and red-winged blackbirds were spotted in southern Wisconsin last weekend, and the first anglers […]
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Anglers Leap into March with Mix of Ice, Open Water
March is knocking on the door – a month filled with opportunities for anglers who are looking to catch some of the heaviest fish of the season. They’ll need to be vigilant and aware of changing conditions, but there will likely be plenty of ice for foot traffic at many locations during the coming weeks. A […]
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Anglers Want Action on Double-Crested Cormorants
It’s been four years since a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C., shot down a successful program that allowed Great Lakes states to reduce booming numbers of double-crested cormorants. U.S. population estimates are in the millions, including about 250,000 in the Great Lakes. Whether swallowing newly stocked salmon and trout in Lake Michigan, spawning […]
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Survey Seeks Input on Kewaunee County Outdoor Opportunities
The Kewaunee County Promotions and Recreation Department wants to find out what residents and visitors enjoy most about the outdoors through a 15-question online survey that includes an interactive mapping component and asks respondents about their favorite outdoor recreational activities, how often they participate in them and ideas for future development. “Kewaunee County has a […]
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Birds of a Feather Can Help Scientists in Count Feb. 14-17
Like watching birds? Take it a step further this weekend by donating a few minutes of your time to a citizen-science project of global proportions. The 23rd annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) will run Valentine’s Day through Feb. 17. All you need to do to participate is to count birds for 15 minutes or […]
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Latest CWD Info Available in New Video
The National Deer Alliance has launched a communication initiative about chronic wasting disease (CWD) to provide accurate and timely information to the public. Using testimonies and data, a new video aims to educate hunters about the spread of CWD, which has cast a long shadow over America’s most popular hunting pastime. Unlike other known or more visible […]
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Lake Winnebago Sturgeon-Season Opener an Unusual Tradition
A return to colder air in the middle of next week may be too little, too late to help opening-day sturgeon spearers on Lake Winnebago. The annual season – a tradition not unlike deer hunting in its popularity among its passionate devotees – is set to open Feb. 8 on the state’s largest inland lake […]
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State Takes Shot at Spring-Hearing Advisory Questions
Wisconsin’s seven-citizen Natural Resources Board (NRB) has its sight set on deer in a series of advisory questions proposed for the spring fish and wildlife hearings in April. The NRB plans to seek citizen input, both in person and through online voting, about extending the current nine-day firearm season to 19 days (which would eliminate […]