Wisconsin Mixed Bag: Northwest Whitetails Unlimited chapter donates to Spooner, Shell Lake youth trap teams – Outdoor News
Spooner, Wis. — Northwest Wisconsin Chapter of Whitetails Unlimited donated $2,000 each to Spooner’s Northland Trap Team and the Shell Lake FFA trap shooting team.
Spooner’s team is made up of 12 members and coached by Darby and Austin Moltzer. The team started in 2016, and shoots at the Indianhead Rifle and Pistol Club in Spooner. The team is not affiliated with Spooner High School, though team members may earn letters. Members are high school students.
The Shell Lake team has 23 members, with the donation received by assistant coach Todd Coons. The Shell Lake team began in 2017. They are affiliated by the school, and members may earn letters. Members must be in FFA, and can range in age from seventh graders through high school. They shoot at Tuscobia Trap Club.
— By Bill Thornley
MORE COVERAGE FROM WISCONSIN OUTDOOR NEWS:
Group-hunting with bows denied by Wisconsin’s Conservation Congress
Northern Wisconsin’s deer herd: Deer in Iron, Ashland counties living on the edge
Trout Unlimited stream work continues in Wisconsin’s Driftless Region
Sandhill Wildlife Area Learn-to-Hunt Deer Application Deadline is July 1
Madison — The DNR is accepting applications for the 2024 learn-to-hunt deer program at Sandhill Wildlife Area through July 1.
Sandhill’s workshops combine classroom instruction and hands-on field experience with a mentored hunt on thousands of acres of managed wildlife habitat. This unique opportunity will provide participants with an educational experience while helping the DNR reach deer management objectives associated with an ongoing study within the 9,150-acre property.
The program is open to young hunters ages 12 to 15. Adults (age 16 and older) without previous experience hunting deer with a firearm also may apply. A chaperone must accompany all hunters. Registration for the program is $40.
In-person workshop dates for this year are Aug. 21, Aug. 23, and Aug. 24. Selected hunters take part in one of the workshops. The hunt takes place Nov. 2-3. Each of the three workshops covers the same material, including: Deer biology and management, hunting regulations, firearm safety, and sighting and firing a rifle.
“Generations of hunters have come through this long-standing program,” said Darren Ladwig, Sandhill’s DNR wildlife biologist. “This hunt will aid in reaching our harvest quota which, for this year, has been set to maintain the population at its current level.”
WWA Seeking Volunteers for Aug. 23-24 Waterfowl Hunters Expo in Oshkosh
Wales, Wis. — The Wisconsin Waterfowl Association is recruiting volunteers to help out both days of the fourth annual Waterfowl Hunters Expo that will run Friday, Aug. 23, and Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh.
Volunteers receive a Vortex Optics volunteer shirt, free admission to the expo, a shift schedule allowing time to enjoy the expo, an ID lanyard, and a lunch voucher. There are five shift choices: Aug 23, set-up, 2-6 p.m.; Aug. 24, set-up, 6-10 a.m.; Aug. 24, 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Aug. 24, 12:30-5 p.m.; Aug. 24, takedown, 4-7 p.m.
Volunteers may sign up on the WWA website, or email WWA’s Todd Schaller at [email protected].
Vilas County DNR Research Lake Opening Up for Walleye Harvest Starting June 8
Woodruff, Wis. — After 20 years of limited walleye harvest, Escanaba Lake in the Northern Highland Fishery Research Area will have an open walleye season this year starting on Saturday, June 8. From 2003 through 2022, walleye harvest on Escanaba Lake was rare due to a trophy harvest regulation that allowed only one fish a day of 28 inches or better. These strict regulations were in place to allow the DNR to study the effects of low harvest pressure on walleye populations.
Now, research objectives have changed to study the effects of increased harvest levels on a formerly unexploited walleye population. This new study is estimated to continue through 2032.
To help with this research, anglers are needed to harvest enough walleyes to meet the annual harvest quota. Walleye anglers may monitor the remaining walleye quota available for this season’s harvest when visiting at the Escanaba Lake check station, where they are required to pick up a free permit to fish within the five-lake research area, and then report their catch.
If the quota is met before closing day, March 2, 2025, walleye fishing will be release-only until the second Saturday in June 2025.
The following walleye regulations are now in place on Escanaba Lake: 15-inch size limit, 20- to 24-inch protected slot limit, and a daily bag limit of three walleyes, with only one walleye over 24 inches allowed. Summer fishing hours (June through August) will be from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Local Rose Team Wins Winnebago MWC
Oshkosh, Wis. — Gordon Rose and Carl Rose, both of Fond du Lac, won the 2024 Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit third event of the season, this one on Lake Winnebago, with a two-day weight of 34 pounds, 3 ounces. They won $11,450 in cash and prizes that included a $1,000 Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s NTC prize package, two Okuma fishing reels, and trophies. The event was presented by Mercury Marine.
The Rose duo put together a pattern of trolling small crankbaits on the southern half of the lake. On Day 1, they nearly had the entire spot to themselves. On the second morning, two other walleye tournaments had taken off that Saturday morning, putting numerous boats on the same fish. With heavy pressure, the fish shut down. After a little searching the Roses found a spot with no boats around them, and hungry fish. Short trolling passes through the walleye schools proved to be the winning ticket.
