A Little Bit of Surf & Turf Today
2-24-2012
Well, turf & surf anyway. Remember when the spring turkey application deadline was looming in December? I have it locked away safely in the noggin after all these years, especially since I missed the deadline last year, and a few times before that. December 10. Every year. Like Christmas. Who could forget?
My brother John, who bagged his first Tom in 2011, started badgering me the first of December that the 2012 turkey app was due. He’s a United Airline Pilot so he has an excuse for being smart. “No problem,” I said. “I’m on it.”
And his reminder on the 5th. “No problem,” I said, “Reporters work on tight deadlines.”
And on the 9th. “No problem…. tonight.”
And on the 11th. “Darn it.”
I know; I can still go for one of the 90,000 over-the-counter kill tags that the DNR is offering. And I will. I just received my annual “Darn it” call from hunting buddy Scott Heitman. “Darn it,” he said. “We better get an over-the-counter tag and hunt at my dad’s place in Adams County. I wish I had a United Airlines brother.”
At least Scott has an excuse. The Appleton native started for four years as the quarterback for the University of Colorado two decades ago. I think he gets headaches now. Leroy Selman chased him a lot.”
You have your tag. Don’t forget to site-in and do the things necessary to prepare for the gobbler season. I am going to link to my column “Practice Makes Better” posted under “Small Game and Upland Game” on this website written before the 2011 season when John and I sited in. I didn’t really have to site-in. Did I mention I didn’t have a tag? But we’ll also post his kill story in a week or two. He nailed a nice gobbler in Grant County on a beautiful opening day at high noon before all that first season cold and rain basically made the next four days a turkey hunter’s nightmare.
While you’re preparing for the turkey hunt, don’t forget to check out the turkey hunting stories under “Small game & Upland Game”, and to check out the March-April issue of On Wisconsin Outdoors posted now on the home page. If you or someone you know prefers reading hardcopy instead of browsing online, we also distribute 50,000 copies at 700 Wisconsin locations.
On to the surf. Or at least the hardwater. Good buddy Randy Rothenbueler of New Berlin traveled to Big Green Lake with his friend Vic Hren on February 18 to target lake trout. His report with photos is posted under the main heading of “Explore Wisconsin”. Click on “Outdoor Reports”. It’s worth a look and shows how location, a little advice and a change of bait can change the show.
The fish are 23 and 24 inches, Randy’s largest ever on Big Green and beautiful Lakers in anyone’s book. See you next time. Send us your outdoor “stuff”.