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RESULTS FOR POLL S710
Do you think Wisconsin should have a hunting season on sandhill cranes?
YES 55.6% | NO 44.4% | MAYBE 0% | UNDECIDED 0% | COMMENTS [1]
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Charge the same fee for resident and non-resident fishing licenses?
As in most states, fishing license options differ or Wisconsin residents and nonresidents. Nonresidents have more short-term license options, but are charged significantly higher fees than residents for comparable licenses. A resident annual fishing license, for example, is $20, while a comparable nonresident annual license is $50. Although higher license fees for nonresidents are a long-standing tradition, the reason why this is done is unclear. READ MORE HERE: | |||||||||||
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   When you LEAVE a COMMENT & YOUR NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS, you are entered into the drawing - for a ZipVac portable vacuum sealer starter kit, complete with a rechargeable pump, a hand-operated pump and reusable, resealable storage bags. Follow ZipVac on Twitter and subscribe to the ZipVac blog. | |||||||||||
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 THE EVENTS CALENDAR HAS BEEN MOVED DANSMALLOUTDOORS.COM/EVENTS•FISHING CONTESTS: Find them ALL online: @ American Fishing Contests | |||||||||||
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 Leftover spring turkey permits available beginning week of March 19
The following zones have leftover permits, and the scheduled sales dates are as follows:
Customers may purchase one permit per day. Read more here: For more information contact:
Volunteers needed for 2012 sturgeon guard
While groups of male sturgeon battle it out for the opportunity to fertilize a female’s eggs, standing on the shore are groups of volunteers making sure the fish are not touched. It has been this way for nearly 30 years and will happen again in 2012. The Department of Natural Resources is looking for volunteers for the Sturgeon Guard. This elite group was created in the mid-1980s to make sure the fish, which slam themselves along the shoreline during spawning, aren’t illegally netted or speared. “Those working as members of the sturgeon guard are extremely important to the continued strength of the sturgeon population,” said warden supervisor Carl Mesman, DNR sturgeon camp coordinator, “Our volunteers are not only passionate about protecting the fish, but have become part of this incredible success story. Many come back year after year just to be a part of it.” Spawning usually takes place between a five and nine day period. Those who can be available day or night have the best chance of observing the spawning sturgeon. Guards should be prepared for any and all weather conditions and are encouraged to pair up with a friend or family member to keep them company during their 12-hour shifts. Anyone interested in volunteering should visit the DNR website and search for “sturgeon guard.” Read more .... FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
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Friday, March 16, 2012
Other News: S711
• Jeff qualifies again for the USA Ice Team
Friday, March 9, 2012
Other News: S710
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DNR unveils new website
The new layout, global header, footer, topic-based landing and content pages will make it easier for those looking for information or ways to access permit applications and purchase licenses online. This new look and functionality is designed to provide a better customer experience. “I’m absolutely thrilled with this new design,” said DNR Secretary, Cathy Stepp. “It’s been a challenge but I think it’s turned out wonderfully and I’m very interested in hearing from our customers what they think of this effort. I hope they will be pleased and as they explore the site give us feedback for ways to make it even better.” In addition to a cleaner design and improved search functions, the new website will feature images of Wisconsin outdoors and outdoor activity in all seasons of the year and one-click links to news of the day and other popular features. Visitors will also be able to link directly to the department’s Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr sites from any page. “Our visitors will notice a cleaner, simplified, more customer and business-friendly layout,” said JD Smith, redesign project manager. “We’ve improved our search function using keywords with the goal of helping website visitors find the information they’re looking for easier and faster. We invite visitors to click on the feedback link in the footer to provide comments.” Read more here: For more information contact:
Bears with cubs on public property need understanding and space, not food
Wildlife biologists with the state Department of Natural Resources are asking people to give these bears a lot of space. Curiosity is natural, and seeing bears is exciting, but when people gather at these sites, the sows feel threatened, according to John Dunn, a DNR wildlife biologist. DNR conservation wardens report that people have gotten too close to a sow with cubs in Eau Claire County and have also tossed food at bears. The bears do not need human food and this amounts more to harassment than charity, biologists said. “In this case, you have cubs that are probably two months old,” Dunn said. “They are dependent on their mother for warmth and food and nursing. If there is a certain level of harassment, she will abandon them. We are depending on the public to leave the sow alone so she can take care of her cubs.” DNR employees report that a similar situation in Wood County has been troublesome. In that case, with a sow and cubs easily visible in a road culvert, people have thrown food at the bears and the landowner reports seeing spotlights shined into the den at night. Additionally, while black bears are not generally a threat to people, Dunn said, and will tolerate a fair level of harassment without becoming aggressive, there are limits. When a sow with cubs has a den in a publicly accessible location, public safety becomes an issue. In the Eau Claire county case, the sow has already exhibited aggressive behavior indicating it is feeling threatened and doesn’t have enough space to feel safe with its cubs, Dunn reports. Fortunately, the bear has moved its cubs a short distance onto private property, still visible but less accessible. DNR employees have increased monitoring efforts, have spoken to neighbors and have sought assistance from local law enforcement. Read more .... FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
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Friday, March 2, 2012
Other News: S709
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Hunters Shape Their Futureby Mark LaBarbera
"The conference was a huge success with the potential for accomplishing great things in the future," said Jeff Nass, President of the National Rifle Association’s chartered association in the state. "We look forward to working with this group and representatives from other groups that were unable to attend." His group, Wisconsin Firearm Owners, Ranges Clubs and Educators Inc. (Wisconsin FORCE), actively participated at the conference with leaders from Whitetails Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, Wisconsin Deerhunters, Becoming an Outdoors-Woman, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, National Wild Turkey Federation, Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, Wisconsin Bowhunters Association, Wisconsin Trappers Association and others, including members of local hunting clubs and the Wisconsin Conservation Congress. As a Life Member of North American Hunting Club, Safari Club, Mule Deer Foundation and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, I’ve heard fellow members share concerns about the next generation losing touch with nature and wondering what can be done to reconnect youngsters and introduce new ones to hunting, conservation and the shooting sports. Most people agree that there is no silver bullet. Read more here: Hunters register 5,433 birds in 2011 fall wild turkey hunt
The 5,433 registered birds compute to a success rate of 10 percent, a slight decrease from the 12 percent success rate for hunters during the 2010 fall season. “The fall turkey season, along with our spring season, continues to provide important recreational opportunities for Wisconsin’s hunters,” says Scott Walter, upland wildlife ecologist for the Department of Natural Resources. "Hunters that pursue turkeys during both the spring and fall seasons are really treated to two very distinctive outdoor experiences, and get to enjoy turkeys during very different phases of their annual cycle.” Hunting turkeys in the fall is quite different than taking part in the spring hunt, where hunters use the breeding behavior of gobblers to call one into range, he says. Fall hunters learn that the key to success is to pattern turkey flocks, and locating roost sites and feeding locations in order to get close to turkeys. The decline in harvest between the 2010 and 2011 fall seasons continues a downward trend in fall turkey harvest over the past seven years and likely reflects turkey numbers and hunting trends, Walter says. “Certainly, the previous three winters have stressed turkeys, and recent wet springs have likely limited production," he says. "Long-term, turkey populations – and the number of turkeys hunters encounter in the field – will ebb and flow in response to weather conditions that determine production levels." The fact that there are so many opportunities available to hunters in the fall also seems to have resulted in fewer hunters pursuing turkeys recently, with the number of fall permits sold declining steeply the past few years. This also has reduced the total number of birds harvested in the fall season, Walter says. Not including Fort McCoy, the total number of permits available statewide for the fall 2011 season was 95,700, the same as in 2010. A total of 54,949 permits were sold, including 41,332 via the drawing with another 13,617 permits sold over-the-counter after the drawing had been completed. Turkey permit levels for fall 2012 to be set this summer Permit levels for the 2012 fall season will be set this summer once harvest data for the spring 2012 season is available and biologists can assess spring production levels, Walter says. Permit applications for the 2012 fall season are due August 1st, 2012 “Statewide, the population of turkeys remains strong,” says Krista McGinley, DNR assistant upland wildlife ecologist. “Long-term, turkey numbers are primarily driven by the quality of habitat available and weather during the critical nesting brood-rearing period. "We’ve got excellent turkey habitat across the state, this winter’s been mild for turkeys and, given good production this spring, hunters should have an excellent opportunity to see turkeys and perhaps harvest a bird this coming spring and fall.” The number of permits available to hunters in each of the state’s seven Turkey Management Zones is recommended by members of the Wild Turkey Management Committee, who consider recent trends in harvest, hunter success, and turkey reproduction, as well as hunter densities and field reports of turkey abundance, when deciding on final permit numbers. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
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