On Wisconsin Outdoors Blog
5/23/2014 Memorial Day. Remember the Fallen
You know the one and only reason we are able to hunt for turkeys and target walleyes and muskies this weekend right? The reason we do whatever we want to do, whenever we want to do it? Because hundreds of thousands of American service men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice so we can do... More
5/16/2014 Crappies, Toms, and a Red Hot Lake Michigan
On Wisconsin Outdoors writer extraordinaire John Luthens took his nephew on his first Lake Winnebago crappie expedition this week. Do you think maybe Indigo Thede, 10, of Oshkosh enjoyed landing his first crappie? Send us photos of your kids (must be under age 95) working the big outside fo... More
5/9/2014 I Should Have Held It…..
First, all 44 Menards and 252 Kwik Trip locations carrying On Wisconsin Outdoors are now posted on this homepage. Don’t forget to take your shot at winning your Kwik Trip Outdoors’ fishing trip with Super guide Phil Schweik. Check out the details in the May-June issue of On W... More
5/2/2014 On Wisconsin Outdoors Increases Distribution Statewide, Florida Shore Fishing Kind to Hart & Ellis
First things first; Congratulations to Marlis Kremer of Appleton for winning a $100 gift card from Kwik Trip Outdoors. Watch for all kinds of winning opportunities from KT Outdoors in the near future, and don’t forget to send them your photos and stories from the field for posting. The May-Ju... More
4/24/2014 Searching for the Perfect Cover Shot…
As you read this Lori and I will be in Florida. Life-long buddy Mike Hart and I will be working the surf near the Floribama line for pompano and whiting and coming up with the occasional Ray. Lori and Kerry Hart will be catching another kind of ray. As a long-time outdoor writer who dov... More
4/17/2014 Kids, First Time Turkey Hunters, Mentors Score Big
On Wisconsin Outdoors received some head-turning photos from successful youth turkey hunters and their mentors spotlighting their experiences from all over Wisconsin. Those highlights including a story with photos from a young woman who hunted successfully after completing the Hunter’s S... More
4/11/2014 Calling All Toms, Catching All Walleyes….
The old man finally loosened his grip, except that he’s planning to slip his icy fingers around our necks again next week I understand. I hate to be the bearer of bad weather news but it’s the truth. He’s on his death bed anyway, and he can’t hold on long now. War... More
4/3/2014 Some Better Men Deserve The Stage…
Even in their passing. Maybe especially at their passing, so that we never forget that this freedom most of us inherited was earned through great sacrifice of the few. I am grateful to give up this spotlight today to Jeremiah A. Denton. I would appreciate it if you would read about him through... More
3/27/2014 Open Water, Searching for Yesterday
Sunday’s inaugural hunt for lake trout, steelhead and browns on the Milwaukee Harbor was locked out by 12-degree temperatures and new ice on the landing. Jim Olsson rescheduled our trip for this coming weekend with the weatherman’s promise of mercury climbing toward 60, but couldn’... More
3/20/2014 Open Water Time
The first Saturday of May falls on the 3rd this year, and about one million Wisconsin anglers will join the floating mass known as “opening day” on inland waters. Many fishermen though, won’t be waiting another month to chase migrating walleyes on Wisconsin’s main veins... More
3/12/2014 Kwik Trip Takes “On Wisconsin Outdoors” Statewide
257 Wisconsin Kwik Trip stores statewide began making On Wisconsin Outdoors available to its customers this week, supplementing its own outstanding Facebook presence introduced recently with Kwik Trip Outdoors. Kwik Trip Outdoors is ready to post your photos and stories from the field ri... More
3/7/2014 Florida or Wisconsin? Ask these Badgers
You know those retired guys and ladies who wallow on the beaches and boats of the deep south for months fishing and catching rays, literally and figuratively all day long while we freeze and shovel day in and day out like my brother, father-in-law and long lost friends from Wisconsin? I hate t... More
2/28/2014 Looking ahead...
We’re putting the March-April issue of On Wisconsin Outdoors to bed as we “speak” at 5:00 pm Thursday, with press time slated in Waupaca in the wee hours Friday morning. That means look for your copy next week on stands from Merrill and Medford to Kenosha, and posted on this ... More
2/21/2014 Nice Day for a Trout Hunt…
Although we won’t be using hooks. This February 20 is actually a nice day to hunt down a cover photo for the March-April issue of “On Wisconsin Outdoors”. The plan is to showcase the early trout season in a little spring- fed stream near Fond du Lac despite the icy, snowy wea... More
2/10/2014 The Wisconsin Sturgeon Season; Put me in the Zoo.
What was it that Dr. Seuss wrote? Put me in the Zoo? Did he mean the Winnebago Chain during an opening sturgeon season with good ice and high water visibility? Last year, I wore my reporter’s hat and showed up opening day 2013 at Wendt’s Landing on the west side of Lake Winnebago ... More
2/6/2014 Winnebago clarity superior as spearing season looms
With just days to go before the 2014 Winnebago lake sturgeon spearing season opens Feb. 8, state fisheries officials report that water clarity and ice conditions are the best in a decade. And these keys to spearing success continue to improve. DNR fisheries biologists checked water clarity the morni... More
1/30/2014 Guns & Ice
Ice fishing of course continues to be the tactic of choice in Wisconsin in January and I suggest you keep tabs on our “Inland Fishing” or “Fishing Reports” pages to see what our guides are saying, and catching, on a weekly basis. Our guides are not nuts for the most par... More
1/24/2014 What to Find On OnWisconsinOutdoors.com
As usual, media releases, reports and stories of high interest came in from the world of Wisconsin’s outdoors over the past week and we posted them throughout www.onwisconsinoutdoors.com. We’ll give you a sneak peek of a few of them here and link to some of the more compelling news. ... More
1/16/2014 Turkeys, Hips and Grading the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Packer Grader
Three weeks ago today I was on the cutting table for the hip replacement. This week I have discarded the cane except for outdoor use, one week after discarding the walker. Pain is minimal and I stopped using all drugs including Vicodin and Oxycontin two nights ago. Perhaps we will transi... More
1/9/2014 Ahead of Schedule
Two weeks out from total hip replacement, recovery is ahead of schedule. Home therapy continues twice daily, where I put myself through a series of exercises designed to strengthen the hip and legs. Three times weekly and transitioning to two times beginning next week, therapy is directed by ... More
1/2/2014 Painless hunting and fishing, dead ahead……
To begin 2014, I would like to thank the thousands of you who sent “get well” notes and cards as I recover from full hip replacement surgery December 26. Yes, I would really like to do that but none of you sent me even a single flower. What’s wrong with you? Actually i... More
12/26/2013 Back in the Saddle Soon
Good morning from Rehabilitationville. I look forward to talking weekly again with the New Year. I have had hip replacement surgery and am just beginning the process of learning how to walk, and eventually climb trees without pain again. You will still find new postings throughout... More
12/12/2013 A BB Gun Christmas
You know, this darn Global Warming is not allowing me stay in the treestand nearly as long as I would have liked. Hmmm. 15 below zero or so. Does this mean without global warming we would be at say, a cozy 62 below? By the way, when data doesn’t match up with their science, ... More
12/5/2013 A New Hip & New Ice…The perfect mix
Later this month I receive a hip replacement. My hip is the only thing that hurts on this 55 year old body. But man, it hurts. I have been hobbling around in the field or whispering “owie, owie, owie” as I climb on my portable deer stand carried in on my back for the be... More
11/27/2013 Applications deadlines loom for turkey, bear
Wild turkey hunters and black bear hunters have until close of business on Dec. 10 to apply for available permits for the 2014 hunting seasons. Preliminary permit levels for the 2014 spring turkey season are set at the same level as in 2013. Final permit levels are not set until after the clo... More