Last week’s snowstorm has made travel on Lake Winnebago a little tricky, but questionable ice in some locations may be more of a concern for sturgeon spearers. The Brothertown area was one place that has seen a great deal of vehicle traffic, making conditions suspect.

The “gin clear” water that was present for much of the new year has disappeared in some places. Reports are that locations three to four miles out have murky water and the south side of the lake has also seen water clarity decrease.
This past year’s Deer Donation Program generated 3,921 deer to feed the hungry. Those deer yielded approximately 176,000 pounds of ground venison.

Deer numbers were down considerably, but over the ten years of the program, hunters have donated 73,507 whitetails, providing 3.3 million pounds of ground venison. This past season Dane county led the donations with 476 deer, followed by Buffalo County and Columbia County with 258 and 200 respectively.

Another number that was down was the 2009 fall turkey harvest. 8,265 birds were tagged compared to 10,698 taken during the previous fall. 7,073 were harvested during the regular season and an additional 1,192 were shot during the extended season in zones 1-5.

One reason for the decrease might be that fewer permits were purchased in 2009. The 2009 hunt saw 68,796 permits issued compared to 76,448 in 2008. Roughly 26,000 fall permits remained unsold by the close of the season.

A pilot program allowing the hunting of turkey with dogs continued for a third year in nine counties in the southwest part of the state. The program, which appears to have gone well, will be going statewide next year.

In a recent column I reported that some Wisconsin legislators were pushing a bill that would create a statewide six-week spring turkey hunting season, eliminating geographical limitations and doing away with the preference system. This in spite of the fact that 20,000 turkey hunters who were surveyed after the 2009 season expressed approximately 85% satisfaction with the present season framework.

To my dismay, the leaders of the state chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation have endorsed the legislators’ end run. While nothing is yet cast in stone, folks who like the present, successful season framework should be aware of the attempt by the legislators and others to create chaos under the guise of giving turkey hunters unlimited access.

The Asian carp summit in Washington D.C. has come and gone and proponents of constructing barriers to prevent the invasive from getting into Lake Michigan have once again been relegated to the back burner. Gov. Doyle said he had pressed “very hard on our view that the locks should be closed,” but while he didn’t get the response he wanted, he added that the Obama administration is dealing with the problem “in a significant way.”

The bottom line is that Chicago and Illinois prevailed, and while something may be done down the road, it maybe too little, too late. Since the federal government is looking into the problem, you can be pretty much assured that solutions will be a long tome coming.

With the nationwide recession (depression) persisting, there has been a spike seen in hunting licenses sold. According to Southwick Associates, hunting license sales have increased 3.5% over the past year.

Unemployment and the opportunity to perhaps acquire high protein meat for the freezer are probably major factors. Turkey license sales increased 17% over the month of April and fall license sales were up 16.2% for the months of September, November and December.

If the 3.5% rise holds true nationwide, it would represent one of the largest percentage increases in hunting license sales in over 20 years.

With the arrival of the Obama administration, animal rights groups have been gaining more influence on the state and federal levels. The creation of “Creature Caucuses” is being used to advance animal rights legislation on the national level.

In addition, The Humane Society of the United States, the biggest anti-hunting group in the nation, has petitioned the president to appoint an “Animal Protection Liaison” to the White House. Elections do make a difference.

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

By Bob Wilberscheid
Outdoors Columnist

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