Wild Things: County Deer Councils to Hold Conference Calls April 6, 8

Whitetails will be up for discussion when County Deer Advisory Councils make preliminary recommendations about 2020 hunting-season structures and quotas during meetings in early April. Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin DNR.

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 of the open mic, they won’t be able to comment during the call. Instead, the public can share comments directly with CDAC members prior to the meeting or online during the April 16-29 comment period. 

The Door County call-in number is 855.947.8255, and the passcode is 8570-705. The Kewaunee County call-in number is 888.291.0312; the passcode is 6926-133.

Biologists have recorded a presentation that covers a season recap, harvest figures, metrics review, various season options and quota setting. It’s expected to be available online for public viewing by March 27. You can find all the counties at dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/cdac.html.

The DNR’s spring fish and wildlife hearings and county Conservation Congress in-person meetings have been canceled, but public input will be accepted for 72 hours beginning at 7 pm on April 13. Learn more at dnr.wi.gov/About/WCC/springhearing.html.

Duck, Duck, Goose

The state Natural Resources Board won’t be meeting in person in April, but it will convene by conference call next week to discuss some items.

One of them is approving the DNR’s migratory-bird hunting season proposal. Included is an increase in the hen mallard daily limit to two per day, reducing the scaup limit to one per day during the first 15 days, and opening the north zone duck season one week earlier. 

The early teal season is set for Sept. 1-9, the early Canada goose season for Sept. 1-15, and the youth waterfowl hunt for Sept. 19-20. The northern zone duck opener is Sept. 26; the southern zone will open Oct. 3. The regular goose hunt will open Sept. 16. 

Wild Turkey Leftovers

Hunters gobbled up more than 12,000 of the 17,000-plus leftover spring permits for Zone 2 during the past week, including all of them for periods four and five.

As of this writing, more than 4,000 $10 bonus permits in Zone 2 are available for the sixth and final period May 20-26. Have a spot to try in Zones 1, 3 or 4? There were still some tags left for the fourth and fifth time periods. 

Wall of Birds Project

Want to see some beautiful art and learn something in the process? Check out this mural of 270 bird species from all surviving bird families, accompanied by a ghostly parade of extinct ancestors. Learn more at academy.allaboutbirds.org/features/wallofbirds.

MDNR Eagle Cam

You can find nature 24/7 on the internet. One of my favorite live webcams this time of year is the Minnesota DNR’s Eagle Cam. For the first time since 2017, the resident eagles had a successful hatch. See the adults and the three chicks in action at dnr.state.mn.us/features/webcams/eaglecam/index.html.