The Department of Natural Resources is seeking the public feedback, and will share it with council members. There’s a link to the online input form at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Hunt/cdac.
Deer advisory councils have been active since 2014. They gather public opinion on deer populations and goals, review data on herd trends and consider impacts to habitat, agriculture and vehicle-deer accidents before making recommendations for the fall hunts.
For the first time, the councils in the northern and central forest zones will be making recommendations on numbered deer management units instead of entire counties. While not the same as the previous numbered units that were used up until 2013, the new habitat-based boundaries were created by the DNR after public input.
Every county in the state has an advisory council that meets in spring to provide input to the DNR. They review the previous year’s deer harvest, winter severity and other factors before voting on an antlerless quota and season recommendations.
Anyone interested in the outdoors can weigh in dozens of proposals on this year’s Wisconsin Conservation Congress and DNR fish and wildlife hearing questionnaire.
In-person meetings will be held Monday, beginning at 6:30 p.m., or you can vote online between 7 p.m. Monday and 6 p.m. Wednesday. Those attending in person can also vote for local Conservation Congress representatives.
Area meeting locations include Kewaunee, Sturgeon Bay, Suring and Wausaukee high schools, and Green Bay’s Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (Room SC130, park in Lot G, Lot H, or in the 2-hour parking lot and enter through Door 9).
Check the proposals and find out how to vote online at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/about/wcc/springhearing.
The walleye run is at peak in Green Bay tributaries, with some ‘eyes even being spotted along with spawning northern pike in ditches. Wardens are keeping an eye on the ditches and other refuge areas.
Meanwhile, the spring run of steelhead and suckers is also on, with better numbers in the Lake Michigan tributaries. A few dipnet and seine fishermen were trying their luck for smelt, but in recent years an ice cream pail full — or a half of a five-gallon bucket — was considered a good haul.
Speaking of Lake Michigan, brown trout anglers have been catching some really nice fish so far this spring when the wind allows access. Most of luck is coming in 10 to 20 feet of water using stickbaits and spoons behind planer boards.
Wisconsin’s annual youth spring wild turkey hunt is this weekend, and eligible youths age 15 and under must have drawn or purchased a spring tag for one of the six periods. The youth must be accompanied by an adult. If they are successful, that tag is used. If not, they can hunt again during the regular week.
Meanwhile, the first regular spring hunt period gets underway Wednesday. There are still thousands of leftover spring tags available to purchase, but only in Zones 1, 3 and 4.
Check out youth hunt rules at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/youth. For the regular hunt, visit https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/turkey.
Applications for a chance at hunting elk in Wisconsin this fall are due by May 31. For the first time, there will be five antlerless tags available, all for the Black River zone in west-central Wisconsin. That’s in addition to four antlered elk tags there, and eight antlered tags in the Clam Lake zone (four reserved for tribal hunters).
Only Wisconsin residents can be issued an elk license. Applications cost $10 and are limited to one per person. Seventy percent of the fee goes directly to elk management, monitoring and research. These funds also enhance elk habitats, which benefits many other wildlife as well.
A record 278 field trips are being offered to members of the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin this year. There are a variety of annual membership plans, starting at $35. They include a magazine subscription, e-news, access to the field trips, and more.
There are trips in 62 counties. Local experts lead the outings. See the list at https://www.wisconservation.org/field-trips/guidebook. See what’s available at https://www.wisconservation.org/.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that Lake Michigan water levels have risen six inches in the past month, but are still down seven inches in the past year. Water levels are about six inches below the long-term average and have dropped 41 inches since the April record set in 2020. Still, levels haven’t bottomed out: they’re 25 inches above the record monthly low, set in 1964.
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