Remember Memorial Day First...
5-24-2012
First things first as we approach this most solemn of days; remembering our fallen. Because everything we are about to talk about… the Wisconsin trips we have taken and those we are about to… could never have been possible without the freedom earned and kept by the ultimate sacrifices of American servicemen and women, and their families. Just a thought, but to me the worst moment in Saving Private Ryan, worse than the beach landing, has always been the moment when Mrs. Ryan doesn’t have the strength to even stand on her family’s farm porch because she knows the pastor is bringing the most dreaded news up the winding driveway. She just doesn’t know yet that three of her sons are dead.
It’s knowing that news like that isn’t born in Hollywood, that it has come to the farm hundreds of thousands of times over almost 240 years, that makes a guy like me who has done nothing for this freedom know he at least had better appreciate it. By the fate of history and necessity, there are the ultimate debt payers. And then by luck, there are the rest of us.
In April, I was quietly waved over to the terminal window by hunting and fishing buddy Scott Heitman as we waited a connecting flight in northern Florida. We were tanned and rested from a week catching sheephead and whiting on the Gulf beach. You could have heard a pin drop as hundreds of people respectfully watched a flag-draped casket taken from his final flight to the hearse that would take him on his final ride. Home again and surrounded by a family’s love. Who I assumed to be the father and mother both needed assistance to simply stand as the Honor Guard did their duty.
You may have noticed that Wounded Warriors in Action and their logo and link take a prominent place on the On Wisconsin Outdoors homepage. They have since the day several years ago when retired lieutenant colonel and WIAA Founder John McDaniel called us just looking for an occasional voice for these wounded debt payers. Although this is a day for the fallen, it’s also an appropriate time to click and link and check WIAA out. It’s also the time to remember Memorial Day first.
So, just what are you going to do this week with all your “free” time? With Lori, (Taylor is 18 and dumped us like a ton of rocks) I’m heading to our cabin on the Manitowish Chain near Boulder Junction in Vilas County. I’m going to row troll for muskies on this opening weekend. When we target fish suspended in deep water using baitfish as structure, we also often pick up the big walleyes to 30 inches which have no problem taking a 10 or 12-inch Jake or Depth Raider or Bobby Ellis Special. Big walleyes are usually taken later in June, but with this warm spring weather I wouldn’t be surprised to see the early “Eyes” show now.
This weekend or very soon I’m also planning to head north to Iron County where my brother Steve built his cabin to target the Gile Flowage. We’re linking here to “Dick’s Trips” and a column with many photos I wrote on the Gile during our last journey there in 2007. The Gile is uniquely beautiful and isolated, it’s full of fish and the column has all the contact information you’ll need to make your own trip easy. Why would you want to go?
Anyway, we’ll be posting a “Dick’s Trip” column each week from now on, or close to each week. You will want to go yourself when you can. I spent way more time on these 1200 journeys over two decades taking notes with the experts and taking photos than I did actually fishing. That always gave me a good excuse for not catching fish. You should, though, reap the benefits of the guides I was with who really do know the water or the interviews with local DNR fisheries biologists. We will always try to include guide contact numbers and contact numbers too for lodging, dining and entertainment information for that region. I will also be on the road often these days producing new trips for On Wisconsin Outdoors.
Connect now and every week to “Outdoor News”. The word is out that we’re here and we’re receiving more news items weekly. It’s a growing mound of information. Spend some time there and learn some things worth knowing. Over the last few days we’ve posted all kinds of information from the DNR and Conservation Congress, Fox Lake’s Kolpin Power Sports, Cabela’s expansion to Green Bay, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), Bullet Points and much more. Among many news items worth scanning, my favorite heads-up of the week was sent by the NSSF. Nine out of every 10 donors to the United States Humane Society never knew that virtually none of their money ever got close to an animal shelter. Anti-hunting organizations like the USHS don’t want the truth….or their official name….getting in the way of collecting millions or accomplishing their real goals. Read the details.
We also have our usual talented guides and writers from throughout the state offering their up to date suggestions for fishing the waters they’re most familiar with. Check all of those reports out at “Inland Fishing” or “Fishing Reports” and send your own reports and photos for posting when you’re ready.
Veteran outdoor writer Mike Yurk from Hudson, Wisconsin just returned from a trip to Lake Superior’s Chequamegon Bay off of Ashland targeting the famous smallmouth bass. If you haven’t tried Chequamegon yet for both the fishing and the scenery, Mike will tell you at “Inland Fishing” what to do and use and we’ll tell you who to call too for the necessities like lodging, guides, dining, etc. Also under “Inland Fishing”, tournament pro, educator and guide (and last but not least, Daddy) Mike McQuitty has some things to say about introducing kids to the wonderful world of fishing. So he wrote them down and gave them to us. We’re giving them to you.
You’ll also find the usual good stuff from the high school trap teams under “Firearms”, along with some of those industry news items we were talking about earlier. Look for insight into, as one example, potential ammunition laws that politicians are trying to adopt which will drive prices north and drive more people like you from the hunting and shooting sports. There are good watchdogs out there and they wave the warning flags and tell you who to call. We will print here what they say.
Last week I had three mid-day hours to try and fill my over-the-counter turkey tag in Zone 3 west of Fond du Lac. The last time I was out I had watched my brother John tag Tom in Zone 1 during season 2 in Fennimore. This time, I hunkered in all by my lonesome except for a lone hen decoy and began to call with the diaphragm call in stifling heat. I had encounters with several deer. It was so hot every one of them smelled like sizzling tenderloin. We’re posting a photo or two under “Deer Hunting” and “Upland Game”. From the turkeys, all I got was a very verbal hen imitating my calling to a tee. I think she was saying “You idiot…it’s 80 degrees in the shade. Go home.”
I did, eventually. But she better watch out this fall. I’ll remember that tongue lashing. Thanks for visiting On Wisconsin Outdoors. Talk next week.