Bear Season Looms, More than 7000 Apply For Wolf Hunt
8-9-12
As many of you already know from navigating the On Wisconsin Outdoors’ website still in its infancy, the primary purpose of this Thursday blog is to introduce and link our visitors to all the outdoor “stuff” we’ve posted that week. If you are interested in a topic that we touch on here, simply click and link to the whole column, feature, photos, news, etc.
If you’re an angler only, there’s plenty posted for you each week but you might not want to connect with Mike Foss’s “Diary of a Wisconsin Bear Guide”. If you just pulled your first kill permit for the bear season though, you’re probably not going to want to miss a word or photo from the wilderness that Foss writes and sends each week under “Bear Hunting”.
If you’re new to our site, as just one example we’ve been posting bear columns, photos, cartoons, statistics, 2011 harvest numbers and 2012 forecasts and much more in anticipation of the September hunt. After you’ve read Mike’s baiting adventure entry this week, where he deals with pie filling in the lap during a rumbling ATV ride and the unsettling news of a close brother’s life-threatening accident (Dave is on the mend), travel back and enjoy some of the photos and writings already posted. The DNR boys in bear management have really helped us to bring you the whole bear story.
In addition to our own columnists, guides and correspondents from across Wisconsin, DNR people steering Wisconsin's hook and bullet sports, in fact, should be credited with keeping us updated daily so we can keep you updated in turn as soon as the news hits the OWO wire. Consider the following.
As of Tuesday morning, August 7, the state has sold 7,286 applications for wolf hunting permits. This included 7,150 that were purchased by Wisconsin residents and 136 purchased by nonresidents. A lawsuit was also filed in Madison to stop the hunt due to the use of dogs. Get the whole story posted under “Outdoor News”, “Deer Hunting”, “Bear Hunting” or “Trapping”.
Waterfowl hunters, Wisconsin will have a 60-day duck season and an extended exterior zone Canada goose season of 92 days, under a waterfowl hunting season structure the state Natural Resources Board approved at its meeting today in Germantown.
“Despite this year’s unusual weather patterns Wisconsin waterfowl hunters can expect a good season,” said Kent Van Horn, DNR waterfowl ecologist. Get the whole story under “Waterfowl Hunting”.
The DNR and its partners working on restoring the elk population want to hear from you about their efforts. The state's 12-year-old elk management plan is due for an update and a review by the Natural Resources Board.
Wisconsin has a small but growing herd of about 180 elk in the Clam Lake area of Ashland County. They are descendants of 25 elk captured from a single wild herd in Michigan and released in the Clam Lake area in 1995 as part of a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point project. Back then, the plans were to release more elk into the Black River State Forest in Jackson County. That was never done. DNR and project partners are proposing changes to the current plan. Read all the details under “Outdoor News” and let your own voice be heard.
Speaking of speaking up, results from a recent survey on turkey management in Wisconsin show strong support of current practices with 80 percent of respondents indicating they believe the current seven turkey management zones provide good hunting opportunity. More than 75 percent of respondents favor the six separate time periods of the spring hunting season, with significant call by hunters for changes to the fall season structure. Read the whole story and survey results under “Upland Game”.
The return of lake sturgeon to Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery’s “show pond” after 40 years is just one of many reasons to visit the state-of-the art facility that’s a backbone of Wisconsin’s hatchery system. Wild Rose, along with 11 other currently operating hatchery facilities, offer a family friendly stop that will entertain and educate, state fish hatchery officials say.
“Wisconsin’s state fish hatcheries are a great place for people to see fish up close and to learn more about a key tool to help keep Wisconsin’s fishing great,” says Al Kaas, who leads the state’s propagation system. “Our hatcheries have a range of activities and exhibits, and they are a great place to visit when you’re in the neighborhood.” Read the details under “Inland Fishing”.
Cat got your tongue? Hopefully not, but try offering a little stink bait. Wisconsin’s record-setting heat and resulting high water temperatures may be stressing northern pike, but catfish aren’t complaining and anglers will find that for the next few months, these fish are the cat’s meow. Find that story also posted under “Inland Fishing”
“The catfish populations are looking outstanding in the Wisconsin River from Wausau to Wisconsin Rapids,” said Tom Meronek, fisheries biologist. “The fish are very active with the high water temperatures. Definitely, folks should try catfishing this year if they have never done it. River conditions are perfect, because catfish love the heat.”
Outdoor columnist John Luthens takes us on a journey between the colliding worlds of the suburban and the rural, and contemplates what we all have probably contemplated at one time in our outdoor lives; do I wander over the barb wire by accident to get to what looks like fabulous fishing on secluded private lands where I’ll probably never be caught? Connect with John under “Inland Fishing” or at the Ozaukee County Jail.
Also each week under “Fishing Reports” and “Inland Fishing”, check the new reports and photos submitted by our fishing guides and outdoor writers. This week under “Dick’s Trips”, we travel to the Buena Vista Marsh and Portage County Drainage District for some unique, incredible brook trout fishing with a historical perspective dating back 100 years thrown in to boot. Like all the 1200 journeys from the archives, we include contact information at the beginning of the column for planning your own trip. This week count on the Stevens Point Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. If I can help you myself, call 262-549-5550.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation reminds new hunters to be sure to enroll in a hunter education course to acquire the necessary certification to purchase a hunting license this fall. "Don't let your hunting plans be spoiled by forgetting to take that all-important hunter education course,” states the release. Check it out and take the easy link to enrolling in class under “Firearms”.
More columns and features are due in today and we’ll continue to update this Blog to make finding your stories of interest simple. Send your own photos and stories and we will post. You’ll find photos from readers just like you under “Inland Fishing”. Our 5th anniversary issue has been on the stands and our September-October issue is in production. Pick one of 50,000 copies up at 700 Wisconsin locations or read any issue online on our homepage.
Thanks for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. See you next Thursday.
Dick Ellis