Warden Wire: Day One of gun-deer season is a cold one in Forest County
By: By Joanne M. Haas
Warden Brad Dahlquist
Opening day of the 2014 gun-deer season was the first with snow and bitter cold for Conservation Warden Brad Dahlquist of Forest County.
Dahlquist, who has been serving the people of Forest County in northeastern Wisconsin for more than five years, at daybreak predicted the strong winds and harsh temperatures could slow the hunting crowd on what is usually a busy opening day.
'Warden Brad Dahlquist checks on a hunter perched in his treestand.
While Dahlquist was right about a smaller crowd of hunters, the ones who bucked the wind face-first walking a deer drive, high atop in a treestand, in a blind or with a long lunch break right on site said the day was still one to be enjoyed.
And just as Dahlquist made his way out of Crandon and into the woods at daybreak, a buck crossed his path. "That was an 8-point," he says. As the day went on, Dahlquist would see three deer running before official hunting hours would close.
'Warden Dahlquist uses a 1-gallon pitcher to measure bait and explain the bait law to a hunter.
His first call of the opening day was a citizen complaint taken on the DNR Hotline about illegal bait. Warden Dahlquist found the bait piles and talked to the hunter about the two-gallon limit and other points of the law governing the use of bait. And he found the first of what he anticipates may be more discarded deer carcasses. "Deer carcass littering is a common complaint during the season," Dahlquist says."
Rick Franke of Menasha cooks his opening day lunch on the grill at his SUV.
Dahlquist came upon father-son, Dave and Cole, of Milwaukee and father Bryan and children Riley, 11, and Ali, 9, all enjoying a mentored hunt -- even though some said the temperatures were truly testing some of their patience and endurance.
There also were reports of wardens in other counties checking ice fishers, as well as reports of 3 hunting incidents that remain in under investigation.
All in all, a pleasant opener in what Warden Dahlquist called "crisp" air. That's putting it mildly.