at Winnebago Eastshore Conservation Club clubhouse which is located on Hickory Hills Road between Chilton and Stockbridge according to Tom Roberts, chief instructor for the course. The remainder of the course will be held on April 1, 9, 15, 22, 29 and May 5, 2012. Students must attend all classes to successfully complete the course.

Certified Instructors who have completed requirements established by the National Rifle Association and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will teach the course.

Adults that have not successfully completed a Hunter Safety course and anticipate a 2012 out-of-state hunting experience may wish to enroll in this course. Many states now require nonresident hunters to show proof of Hunter Safety certification.

There is no minimum or maximum age restriction though the course is designed for youngsters 12 to 16 years of age.

Pre-registration is required and class size is limited. The course will be offered on a first registered-first served basis. A parent or legal guardian is required to sign the registration form for the student and must accompany the student to the first class. There is a $10.00 fee for the course and prospective students must have a WI DNR customer ID number.

For additional information and/or to pre-register, prospective students should call Tom Roberts at 849-4921.

According to the DNR website, the 2011 adult spawning stock numbers included 16,560 females and 30,260 males. The only mentioned change from last season was that the harvest cap on Lake Winnebago increased to 745 adult females and on the upriver lakes to 83 adult females, up from 711 and 79 respectively.

At last week's Calumet County Sportsmen's Alliance meeting, Bob Krupp of Walleyes for Tomorrow reported that WFT was looking at the possibility of both barges and dump wagons for hauling rocks to construct future reefs in Lake Winnebago. WFT has 20 reef sights in mind and the organization has five million pounds of stone at Quinney for future use. Ice conditions this winter are preventing any reef construction.

One of the big stories last week was as announcement from the DNR that certain residents would soon be able to hunt (read shoot) problem wolves.
Affected landowners were able to get permits starting Jan. 27. People without a permit can still shoot a wolf if it is attacking personal property.

Figures indicate that 10 dogs have been killed this past summer by wolves and 47 farms reported nearly 75 livestock killings in 2010.

The DNR also announced that there will be fewer bear permits issued for 2012. 4,600 permits, down 500 from 2011 will be issued, with three of the four zones having fewer permits available. The agency says the reason for the reduction is that the state's bear population is no longer growing.

I am troubled by the DNR's rationale for the permit reduction, primarily because the most recent population survey has not yet been completed. While the preliminary harvest was down from the previous year, bear hunters, both bait and hound, are becoming more picky, often eating a tag rather than taking a smaller bruin.

There is some good news on the forthcoming spring turkey hunt. More tags will be available for Zones 2 (our area) and 7.

Statewide, final tag numbers will be 233,220, and increase of the 7,800 tags from 2011. In Zone 2, tag numbers increased from 34,200 in 2011 to 40,800 this year. Zone 7 numbers went from 2,400 to 3,600.

The increase to 40,800 tags could potentially make 1,100 leftover tags available for each Zone 2 time period, depending on the number of overall applicants.

Over the past few years, period 6 only had leftover tags, and they were snatched up in less than 30 minutes. Over-the-counter sales of leftover spring turkey tags will be available the week of March 19-23, with one-zone-per-day sales beginning at 10 a.m. each day. After March 23, all zones will be open each day.

There is talk in some quarters that the coyote season in the state should be shortened. John Olson, DNR fur ecologist, is proposing a change that would have the season close during April, May and June but allow the killing of coyotes during the nine day gun deer season.

Olson says the change would help the coyote hunter's image, but I would have to disagree. There are probably very few informed individuals who have a problem with shooting coyotes all-year round. The DNR has no population estimates, but almost every hunter you talk to has a story and there is little question that the predators numbers are on the increase.

There will be time to talk about the proposal since Olson said it probably wouldn't show up on the spring hearings agenda until 2013 or 2014.

Illegal marijuana growing operations have damaged 67 national forests in 20 states. Forest Service enforcement stated that the situation presents "a clear and present danger," not just to the environment but also to forest users.
Closer to home, the ATF has established a task force in Iron River to take on the meth lab explosion.

Recently, the artist known as Christo, received permission from the Bureau of Land Management to cover sections of Colorado's Arkansas River with fabric. Anglers are unhappy, claiming it will limit river access for three years and trout and other fish will be marginalized. Funny, no protests from the environmental lobby!

Until next time, keep your hooks sharp, you feet warm and your powder dry!

"The USDA, like families and businesses across the country, cannot continue to operate like we did 50 years ago," said Vilsack. "We must innovate, modernize, and be better stewards of the taxpayers' dollars. We must build on the record accomplishments of farm communities in 2011 with a stronger, more effective USDA in 2012 and beyond."

The Blueprint for Stronger Service is based on a Department-wide review of operations conducted as part of the Administration's Campaign to Cut Waste, launched by President Obama and Vice President Biden to make government work better and more efficiently for the American people. The agency took a hard look at all USDA operations, from headquarters to field offices. The end result is a plan that will create optimal use of USDA's employees, better results for USDA customers, and greater efficiencies for American taxpayers.

"As part of the Campaign to Cut Waste, the President and I asked all Cabinet Secretaries to make tough choices within their departments to save taxpayer money, eliminate government waste, and allow us to invest in the programs and services the American people need. This announcement by Secretary Vilsack is another example of how this can be done," said Vice President Biden. "By undertaking a thorough and thoughtful review of his Department, Secretary Vilsack has saved taxpayers millions in travel and printing costs and is consolidating more than 700 different cell phone contracts into about 10. What's more, the Department is finding significant savings by consolidating more than 200 offices across the country while ensuring that the vital services they provide are not cut."

"In the past few decades, U.S. agriculture has become the second most productive sector of the American economy, thanks to farmers adopting technology, reducing debt, and effectively managing risk," said Vilsack. "These are lessons from which we can all learn. As we continue to invest in rural communities across the country, USDA has heard from producers about reducing red tape and the need to modernize its services. Today, we are answering the challenge by announcing a series of efforts to help us continue to streamline operations, make the best use of taxpayer resources, and provide the best possible service to the American people."

The USDA will close 259 domestic offices, facilities and labs across the country, as well as seven foreign offices. In some cases, offices are no longer staffed or have a very small staff of one or two people; many are within 20 miles of other USDA offices. In other cases, technology improvements, advanced service centers, and broadband service have reduced some need for brick and mortar facilities.

When fully implemented, these actions along with other recommended changes will provide efficiencies valued at about $150 million annually—and eventually more based on future realignment of the workforce—and will ensure that USDA continues to provide optimal service to the American people within available funding levels. These actions and plans to close or consolidate facility, office and lab operations will impact USDA headquarters in Washington and in 46 states and 1 U.S. territory.

• Farm Service Agency (FSA): Consolidate 131 county offices in 32 states; more than 2,100 FSA offices remain throughout the United States

• Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS): Close 2 country offices; more than 95 FAS offices remain throughout the world

• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS): Close 15 APHIS offices in 11 states and 5 APHIS offices in 5 foreign countries; more than 560 APHIS offices remain throughout the United States and 55 remain throughout the world

• Rural Development (RD): Close 43 area and sub offices in 17 states and U.S. territories.

• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS): Close 24 soil survey offices in 21 states; more than 2,800 NRCS offices remain throughout the United States

• Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS): Close 5 district offices in 5 states; 10 district offices remain throughout the United States

• Agricultural Research Service (ARS): Close 12 programs at 10 locations; more than 240 programs remain throughout the United States

• Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNCS): Close 31 field offices in 28 states; 32 FNCS offices will remain throughout the United States
In addition, USDA is implementing a series of other changes that will save taxpayers' money while eliminating redundancies and inefficiencies. The Blueprint for Stronger Service details 133 recommendations that affirm processes already in place, as well as 27 initial improvements, and other, longer-term improvements.

The Secretary detailed the changes in a speech this week at the American Farm Bureau Federation's 93rd Annual Meeting, where he also highlighted the impressive achievements of American agriculture over the past three years.
Currently, U.S. agriculture is experiencing its most productive period in history thanks to the resiliency, resourcefulness, and efficiency of American producers. The Blueprint for Stronger Service will allow USDA to continue the investments that help to make this possible.

Hot topics on the legislative plate are expected to be agricultural economic development, use value assessment of farmland, animal welfare and environmental issues according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau.

"The difference this day makes for agriculture is tremendous," said Bill Bruins, Wisconsin Farm Bureau President. "By having farmers from across the state taking part, our legislative leaders will have no doubt about the needs and opportunities for a growing agricultural sector in Wisconsin."

Registration will begin at 11 a.m. with introductions at 11:30 a.m.  A lunch will be served at 11:45 a.m. Issue briefings and a panel of guest legislative speakers will begin at 12:45 p.m.  At 3 p.m. attendees will then walk up the street to the State Capitol to meet with their legislators in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate.

It is important that attendees call the offices of their legislators in advance to schedule an appointment between 3 and 5 p.m. for Feb. 8.

Register for Ag Day by calling the Wisconsin Farm Bureau at 800.261.3276. The cost is $20. The registration deadline is January 31. Late registrations will cost $25. A copy of the registration form is also available in the events section of wfbf.com.

The panel of legislative speakers will soon be announced.

The Rural Mutual Insurance Company and GROWMARK Inc. are major sponsors of the event. Cosponsors of the event with the Wisconsin Farm Bureau include a variety of other dairy, beef, pork, horse, corn, soybean, cranberry, potato and vegetable groups.

With a 30:06 and a 12-gauge laying next to me I was hidden on the ground in an oak forest waiting with high hopes to fill my fall turkey permit, or possibly shoot a coyote, if one came to the dying rabbit call that I was screaming every 15 minutes or so.

I could hear the flock before I saw them. Suddenly, a good-sized jake was 30-feet away.

I put the bead of my shotgun on the top of his head, pulled the trigger and made meat.

Tuesday, Dec. 27
High 33, low 25

That turkey hunt took place yesterday, and was the lead into today's ice fishing trip with my daughter Selina and my stepsons Joey Dushek, who is 18, and Travis, who is 20.

The adventure that the four of us went us was the definition of "going for it."

We were up at 4 a.m. and headed toward Schreiner's Sport Shop in Alma soon after that. We met with my good buddies Mike Buchholz and Jay Maloney, loaded up on large shiners and headed to a Mississippi River backwater for a day of fishing, all of this before the sun had hit the eastern horizon.

Early November-like weather was keeping many fishermen off the ice, but our group of six wasted no time loading sleds and going on a long trek to our northern pike honey hole.

The real theme of this week's column is split three ways; one and most importantly, is staying involved with stepchildren after you become divorced from their biological parent. Two, is the 15 years of outdoor adventures I have shared with these boys and how good we are at it. Three, is a totally go-for-it day.

A strong northwest wind would be a huge part of this day as we put out 18 tip ups and set up two ice shacks. When it came to setting out the tip ups, the boys' experience was obvious; each of them has lived on the ice at least 60 nights of their lives and I instructed them to not only get the job done, but to be teaching their 10-year-old sister as well.

Perhaps the biggest fish of the day hit first and it was on one of Selina's tip ups. My guess is that it was a northern pike in the 12-plus pound range and Selina fought it splendidly for 10 minutes, then just like that is was no longer on the other end of her line.

On this day, the flags were going up almost nonstop. The wind was hard on ice shacks, everyone on the ice put theirs on land or next to it.

About mid morning Mike Buchholz lit up a grill and cooked five pounds of venison backstraps. We all fed like the pure carnivores that we are and later in the day, Joey and Travis returned the favor by cooking the turkey that I had shot the day before. I taught the boys to cook at a young age while camping, simply because I could not do all the work.

These days all three of them are excellent cooks.

In the middle of the day, Jay Maloney was fighting what we figured was another big gator. What a surprise for all of us when a true 21-inch largemouth bass came out of the hole in the ice. That bass was the biggest I have ever seen caught while with the person that was catching it.

When I went through my divorce back in 2008, I did not know what would happen to my relationship with the boys. What I did to try to keep it alive was stay involved with them. Travis and Joey lived with me much of the time and I stayed in touch with what was happening at school. Now Joey is a senior at Necedah High School. Travis is in the landscaping business and Kevin lives in Alaska. They all are addicted to the outdoors, can build or take down a camp in any conditions, and each of them knows how to peg out the fun meter.

Today we got back to the truck an hour after dark, were home three hours later and thanks in part to our experiences over many years in the great outdoors are always planning the next adventure. Play lots!
Sunset

Ray, my source for fishing, etc. in the Eagle River area, described pan fishing as "non-stop bluegill bite" and the walleyes having a "very good sporadic bite."
The area received four inches of new snow last week and 100 miles of snowmobile trails are open for riders.

Whitetails will finally have a break! Locally, the muzzle-loading, four-day antlerless and late archery seasons were slow. Registrations were down from previous seasons.

While the DNR reported that the preliminary gun deer kill was up 3.6 percent, a couple of Natural Resource Board members are questioning those numbers. Board member Greg Kazmierski reportedly said he would have questions if the estimated total deer kill of 300,000 was achieved.

That number would be similar to the four previous years, but unlike those years, that harvest would supposedly leave 1.4 million deer on the state's landscape, "the highest ever over-winter population."

Kazmierski stated that using buck harvest numbers, he believes the current over-winter numbers are closer to 700,000. He "intimated" that the DNR numbers were not correct.

NRB member Terry Hilgenberg said he had fielded lots of questions about the number of antlerless permits available in the northern part of the state. He suggested that hunters do not believe the number of deer they saw warranted the high number of tags.

Al Phelan, co-chair of the Conservation Congress's Big Game committee, pointed out positives from the 2011 hunt, but stated that his group that hunted Grant County, an area supposedly 100 percent over goal, didn't see many deer. Checking with other Congress members around the state, Phelan said the hunters were seeing fewer deer.

While we don't have many beavers in this area, there is a Beaver Management Survey taking place to gather public opinion for the revision of the state's beaver management plan.

According to the DNR's Todd Naas, public listening sessions and webinar held to discuss the plan have been poorly attended and only 161 people have submitted a survey to date.

If you have an interest in contributing to the plan's revision, you can contact Naas at 715-685-2914 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The DNR, responding to overwhelming support on a question from the spring hearings regarding the hours at the agency's service centers, is expanding those hours. Starting last week, centers will gradually phase in updated hours that will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Clients wanted the centers to be open during the lunch hour, and this change should take care of that concern. I would call ahead to make sure the hours have been phased in.

The National Shooting Sports foundation recently announced that it has awarded $299,200 grants through its Collegiate Shooting Sports Initiative to 41 colleges and universities for shooting sports.

UW-Platteville received a $10,000 grant. The new club has 200 members and a core group of 30 who have taken on leadership roles.

The Summer Olympic Games in London, despite the best efforts of London's mayor and its organizing committee, will be providing free tickets to shooting events. Back in August, these parties decreed that free tickets would not be available for shooting events because the highly structured matches might "glorify guns."

Shooting groups, outraged by the edict, responded that "The Olympics represent the international peak of safe and responsible shooting."

One member suggested that linking Olympic shooting events to crime would be like a thief using a Formula One car as a getaway car.

The Wisconsin Waterfowl's Association's Between-Lakes Chapter is having a banquet on Feb. 25 at the Eagles Club in Chilton. Contact John Regan at 920-775-4019 for more information.

Kiel fish and Game will host a five-man spring trap league on Sundays from Feb. 26 through May 6. Contact Ken Werdeo at 920-565-3320 for more information.

Until next time, keep you hooks sharp, your feet warm and your powder dry!

This past week I went on my first winter camping/ice fishing trip. My first ice adventure of the season is always a test for myself, of the aging process, and the gear that I use.

In the years gone by, I have always passed and worked with the equipment that I have to survive and enjoy life on the ice.

Until this morning I had planned on fishing and camping on the Flambeau Flowage in Iron County. That plan changed when I was buying bait at Bridge Bait and Tackle in Park Falls and Tim Doughty suggested I fish on Smith Creek Flowage, which is a backwater of the Flambeau River and is located a couple miles west of Park Falls.

Tuesday, Dec. 20
High 30, low 22

Winter camping on the ice, especially the first trip of the season, can be a formidable task. This December, just finding safe ice requires some research and hoping that a person could use a pickup to haul their gear onto the ice is not realistic.

The first thing I did when I reached Smith Creek Flowage, which is about 200-acres, was go for a walk with my golden retriever Fire and try to find where people had been fishing (there was no one on the ice).

Tim Doughty had told me about good-sized crappie in the 11-14 inch range and the potential for northern pike and walleye.

When I found an area with several iced over holes, and where there was 15-20 feet of water, I headed back to my pickup and the real job began, which was loading my 6-foot Otter Sled with as much gear as I could fit into it.

After two trips I was at my new campsite and it was at this time that I began working with what I believe may be the best tool that I own. That tool is a brand new Jiffy Pro 4 ice auger.

I generally do not promote products but this auger is unreal. The Pro 4 runs on propane and I am predicting that the entire industry will eventually go over to propane after all ice anglers run a propane-powered auger.

I put out three tip ups, as I did not have time to jig just yet and then put up my ice shack, which is also my winter home on the ice.

I use a 12x7 foot Eskimo turkey blind-style of shack. I can easily fit two cots into it and still jig in comfort and have a kitchen.

After my camp was built, I pulled two of my tip ups and started jigging in my cabin, on the ice, with one pole and rigged the other with a slip bobber, which I had rigged with a small hook and two crappie minnows.

I had been told to be ready for a potential musky and when my slip bobber vanished I had a 10-minute fight with what turned out to be a 30-inch northern pike.

It was at that point that I started catching bluegill on the pole; I was jigging as fast I could bring them up. All the action was right off the bottom and most of the gills were small. I used a tape measure and kept several between 7 and 8.5 inches but had to do a lot of sorting.

In the middle of the day I cooked venison backstraps from a doe that I harvested with a muzzleloader, and was very excited for the late afternoon bite which I was hoping would yield some big crappie.

The fish quit biting at 3 today and I did not have another nibble until 8 the next morning. I did talk to some other fishermen who confirmed everything I had been told about large crappies and occasional musky, walleye and northern pike.

When I put up my shack there was about six inches of ice. Just before dark the ice under my cabin was down to five-inches and I was concerned that my heater might eat a hole through the ice so I said to heck with it, opened all the windows and went without heat while I slept.

I sleep on a cot inside of two sleeping bags and, as always is the case when winter camping, I slept like a baby.

The next morning I was drinking coffee and fishing long before daylight and besides several bluegills, did catch a 12-inch crappie.

By far my favorite season of the year is here. I strongly suggest getting out and enjoying it.

Happy and Healthy New Year to everyone, Sunset!

No prior experience necessary for snowshoeing; staff will teach you. Snowshoe rental $5 per pair. Please call ahead to make sure staff will be present to do the rental and to confirm snow conditions, 849-7094.

Cross-country ski trails are groomed after major snowfalls and are open to the public. A $2 donation assists in trail maintenance.

A limited number of skis and boots are available for rental, $6 per set. Sizes range from adult 4 to 11; a few children's sizes also available. Extra socks assist with boot fit.

Guided snowshoe tours will be offered Sundays beginning Jan. 8.

10-year-old Sawyer Olson shot his first buck during KAMO's deer hunt at the Mackenzie Environmental Education Center.

Hello friends,

This week I am writing to you about the 3rd annual KAMO deer hunt, which was just held for 17 very lucky kids at the MacKenzie Environmental Education Center at Poynette (Columbia County) as well as local private lands.

KAMO is Kids And Mentors Outdoors, which is an organization that was started by you, the readers of this column, back in 2007. KAMO takes kids on outdoor experiences (kamokids.org).

We currently have four chapters in Wisconsin: the Ladysmith area, Florence, Wisconsin Dells, and Necedah/New Lisbon, and we are working on our fifth which will be based out of La Crosse.

The planning for an experience like this requires almost year round work, and much of it is done by Joe Stecker-Kochanski who is a member of The Baraboo River Chapter of KAMO, which is also the chapter that sponsors this event.

Back in October, all 17 of our young hunters went through a three-hour hunter and tree stand safety class. Permission from private landowners is obtained and shooting lanes are cleared at Mackenzie.

Our volunteer cooks, Jeff and Patti Rouse and Marlene Shaw, order enough food to feed 45 people for three days and the work list goes on and on!

Saturday, Dec. 10
High 25, low 4

With the wind chill, it was minus-two at 6 this morning as 17 young hunters and their mentors hit the woods. In about a third of the cases, some of our KAMO members would be hunting with children from their own families and the other 12 kids are from families that have sought out KAMO to introduce their kids to Wisconsin's outdoors.

This morning I would be sitting with my 10-year-old daughter, Selina, in a tree stand overlooking two ravines on the east end of the Mackenzie property. Everyone, even the hunters in heated ground blinds, experienced the coldest morning of this early winter.

By late morning, everyone was back to camp with many stories, of which several were about the cold or falling a sleep. KAMO member Rick Miotke and his stepson Brandon Ross had scored on a young doe and thus our first deer was added to the pole.

Ten-tear-old Sawyer Olson of Necedah hesitated on a shot and a midday break was taken by one and all.

Pete Goethel is a member of The Baraboo River Chapter who sat with his boys the first two years of this hunt. This year, Pete mentored John McMahon and tonight, just before dark, John made a shot on a very large doe. After dark, tracking began by several mentors and John McMahon. The doe was recovered and John's first deer was hoisted up onto the deer pole at camp!

One of my favorite parts of this weekend experience is to watch, as all the kids become a social unit as the weekend progresses on this once in a lifetime hunt.
A lot of playing and laughter are also part of this experience, back at camp and on Saturday night, after the kids each tell about their days experience the adults sit around the fireplace and enjoy the comforts of the lounge chairs in the lodge and the warmth of the fire.

Sunday, Dec. 11
High 46, low 26

As is always the case, our cooks had an excellent breakfast prepared at 5 a.m. This morning more than half of our young hunters would be asleep within minutes of the start of their morning's hunt.

There are dozens of people who should be thanked for their efforts that make this hunt a success. One of them is Bob Nack who supervises the WDNR's State Game Farm and each year does deer drives on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. This morning Bob and some of his helpers pushed a dandy 7-point-buck to young Sawyer Olson and his mentor Jeff Berry. Today, Sawyer did not hesitate and put a bullet in the buck's heart and our hunt ended with a very positive bang!

Folks in the Poynette/Rio area, we need a couple more parcels for this expanding hunt. Only the kids are shooting and we really do not harvest very many deer per property.

Thank you to everyone who helped!

Sunset

I didn't see many hunters out during the four-day December antlerless seasons, but there were more than were out there for the muzzleloaders' 10 days.

Three of us went down to hunt the hills and hollows around Wonewoc on the Saturday of the December antlerless. I saw more deer (all anterless) in five hours than I saw during my entire time bow hunting and gun hunting locally.

54B is rifle country and I was lucky enough to take a nice nub buck with my .270 at about 90 yards. Even without harvesting a whitetail, it would have been a good trip just seeing deer and hunting different ground.

In the next few weeks I will be offering little tidbits about the nine-day gun deer season. The accident rate as most of you know was quite low, with only seven non-fatal incidents. The accident rate was 1.12 per 100,000 hunters.

Mentoring hunting licenses were up 12%. The 12,226 licenses this year compared to 11,331 in 2010 and 9,907 in 2009. Female license holders numbered 56,458.

Baiting and feeding complaints were down 15% from 2010. The North led the way with 69, followed by the West Central area with 50 and the Northeast with 41.

Our neighbor to the south, Illinois, saw a seven-day gun deer harvest of 98,000 whitetails, down slightly from 2010.

With the mild weather, even the north hasn't seen much hard water fishing. A recent survey reported that 590,000 Wisconsin residents more than 16 years of age ice fish, up from 479,900 in 2000. Reasons cited for the sizeable increase included easy access, relatively mild temperatures, better equipment and more two-home folks spending time in the state beyond the summer months.

In 2006, ice anglers spent 11 million hours fishing. They caught roughly 14 million fish, keeping approximately 6.6 million. Pan fish made up the majority of fish caught with 11.7 million, followed by northern with 866,000 and walleyes with 750,000.

In 2011 there were 122 ice fishing tournaments statewide. So far for 2012, 56 tourneys have been approved.

Wisconsin bear harvest num-bers were down this year, but Pennsylvania's 2011 bear season was the second best ever. The 3,968 bruins were a couple of hundred off the 2005 kill that numbered 4,164.

During the four day firearm season 3,154 were taken, and 257 were taken with archery equipment. Another 557 were taken during an extended season during the first week of the deer season.

The largest bear taken weighed in at 767 pounds and was taken by a crossbow. Eighty-one bears tagged weighed in excess of 500 pounds.

Those numbers are quite significant when one realizes that Pennsylvania does not allow baiting and I don't think it allows hound hunting.

The Natural Resource Board recently had two controversial issues to deal with. The first was a proposal to allow deer stands and blinds on public land over night. It argued that it would be more convenient for hunters, especially those long in the tooth. Opposition suggested a stand or blind would create the impression that the area was staked out by a hunter, possibly resulting in hunter conflicts.

The second proposal would allow leaving trail cameras on public land over night between Sept. 1 and the conclusion of the archery seasons. The cameras would have to be secured to prevent theft and the owner would agree to allow removal if the DNR deemed it necessary.

I don't know whether either idea is a good one. I don't know how you would secure either piece of equipment if someone wanted to rip it off.

With a stand or blind, perhaps a fee might be a compromise. Yes, the land is public, but potential conflicts have been resolved by fees in other sticky situations.

I don't know if you use deer scents or not, but they have a pretty good kick. Recently, two Alabama 18-year-olds were charged with criminal mischief and misdemeanor theft when they stole "deer bombs" from Walmart. Caught on security cameras, they took the "bombs" and went to a clothing area and set them off in the pockets of clothes, causing $11,000 in damage. The guys are free on $13,000 bond.

Calumet County Sportsmen's Alliance raffle tickets are out there and all the proceeds go to conservation related programs in the county. Might be a good stocking stuffer!

Until next time, keep your hooks sharp, your feet warm and your powder dry!