DNR OUTDOOR REPORT FOR OCTOBER 17, 2018

2018 Wisconsin ring-necked pheasant season opens Oct. 20

Contact(s): Mark Witecha, upland wildlife ecologist, 608-267-7861; Jaqi Christopher, assistant upland wildlife ecologist, 608-261-8458

MADISON – The longtime and popular tradition of pheasant hunting in Wisconsin will again take center stage when the fall 2018 pheasant hunting season opens statewide at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20. The season will run through Jan. 6, 2019.

Several other seasons also open that day including bobwhite quail, Hungarian partridge and ruffed grouse in Zone B. Like pheasant, the bobwhite quail and Hungarian partridge seasons open at 9 a.m. The ruffed grouse season opens with the start of legal shooting hours.

Hunters should check the Wisconsin Small Game Hunting Regulations [PDF] for rules and season structures for the game species they will pursue.

Pheasant hunting in Wisconsin will again take center stage when the fall 2018 pheasant hunting season opens statewide at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20.Photo credit: DNR

“Pheasant hunting offers a fantastic means to experience the outdoors, and it complements the other upland bird hunting opportunities in Wisconsin very well,” says Mark Witecha, Department of Natural Resources upland wildlife ecologist. “Pheasant hunting offers the chance to explore landscapes and habitat types you might not otherwise see,” added Witecha.

Pheasants are one of the most sought-after gamebirds in North America, and populations do best in the agricultural landscape of southern and western Wisconsin provided there is habitat present in sufficient quantities to meet their food and cover needs throughout the year, according to Witecha.

The 2018 spring pheasant surveys in Wisconsin show that pheasant abundance is above the 5-year average with the highest pheasant detection rate in the west-central part of the state.

To pursue wild pheasants, hunters should look for areas that contain adequate winter cover, such as cattail marshes and dense brush, intermixed with cropland, hay and idle grasslands which provide food and nesting cover. It will be important for hunters to identify areas with high-quality habitat, concentrating their hunting efforts in those areas, according to Witecha.

During the 2017 pheasant hunting season, an estimated 42,450 hunters went out in search of pheasants and reported harvesting 301,490 birds. The top counties for harvest included Fond du Lac, Kenosha and Jefferson.

Regulations

A 2018 Pheasant Stamp and a valid small game license are required to hunt pheasants statewide. Please note that the free leg tags previously required on the hen/rooster areas are no longer required. The daily bag limit is one pheasant daily for the first two days of the season and two pheasants daily for the remainder of the season, with a possession limit of three times the daily bag limit. More information is available in the Wisconsin Small Game Hunting Regulations, available online at dnr.wi.gov, keyword “regulations.”

A new hunting app also allows hunters to brush up on regulations as well as explore public lands on an interactive map, see up to the minute shooting hours, or even listen to podcasts. For more information and how to download the app, visit dnr.wi.gov, search keywords “hunt app.”

Pheasant Stocking Program

Pheasant stocking.Photo credit: DNR

In addition to wild pheasant hunting opportunities, the DNR wildlife management staff plan to release approximately 75,000 pheasants from the state game farm on 90 public hunting grounds. These numbers are similar to the 2017 stocking efforts. Pheasants raised by conservation clubs as part of the Day-old Chick Program will also be released this fall. The Day-old Chick Program involves conservation clubs that typically receive about 35,000 rooster chicks annually. These clubs release pheasants on public hunting land and private land open to public pheasant hunting. Hunters are reminded to be polite and notify the landowner before hunting on private property open to public hunting as part of this program.

A list of all properties stocked with pheasants is available on the 2018 Pheasant Stocking Information Sheet [PDF], or go to dnr.wi.gov, and search keyword “pheasant.”

Where to Hunt

Hunters can use FFLIGHT, the DNR’s gamebird mapping application, to locate and explore properties stocked with pheasants, as well as ruffed grouse and woodcock habitat and managed dove fields. FFLIGHT allows hunters to use aerial maps, topography and measuring tools to easily navigate and identify areas of interest and make their trips more productive and enjoyable. To learn more about FFLIGHT, visit dnr.wi.gov, keyword “FFLIGHT.”

Land enrolled in the Voluntary Public Access Program (VPA) is open to public hunting this pheasant season. The VPA Program has more than 30,000 acres of private land open to public hunting, fishing and bird watching year-round. Many properties are located within a short driving distance of urban areas and are popular pheasant hunting spots. To find properties enrolled in the VPA program, visit dnr.wi.gov, keyword “VPA.”

Mentored Hunting Program

The Mentored Hunting Program allows any hunter, born on or after Jan. 1, 1973, to obtain a hunting license and hunt without first completing Hunter Education, provided they hunt with a mentor and comply with all the requirements under the program. For additional information and the requirements of the program, visit dnr.wi.gov, keyword “mentored hunting.”

“Pheasants are a popular gamebird, and they offer a great hunting experience to both novices and experienced hunters,” said Witecha. “I wish hunters safe and successful trips this fall.”

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Oct. 31 deadline to buy sturgeon spearing licenses

Contact(s): Ryan Koenigs, , 920-303-5450, or Ryan.Koenigs@wisconsin.gov

MADISON – The deadline to purchase licenses for the 2019 Lake Winnebago sturgeon spearing season is Oct. 31, with state biologists forecasting great opportunities to land the fish of a lifetime.

Kyle Jenkins speared an 84.5 inch, 143.7 pound sturgeon on Lake Winnebago in 2018. It is the longest fish harvested in Wisconsin but official records are tracked by weight so the official state record remains an 84.2 inch, 212.2 pound fish speared in 2010.Photo credit: DNR

“The fish population is strong – we’ve got more fish than we’ve had in decades and plenty of big fish,” says Ryan Koenigs, Department of Natural Resources Lake Winnebago sturgeon biologist. “As always, the biggest driver of spearing success will be water clarity, and we won’t have an idea what clarity will look like until the weeks leading up to the season.”

The 2019 spearing season opens Feb. 9, 2019, with separate but simultaneous seasons for Lake Winnebago and for the Upriver Lakes. Participation in the Upriver Lakes season is determined by lottery.

The seasons run for 16 days or until harvest caps are reached; system-wide harvest caps for 2019 are 430 juvenile females, 950 adult females, and 1,200 males.

A mid-winter warmup before the 2018 spearing season resulted in reduced water clarity and contributed to a lower harvest: a combined total of 951 sturgeon. That total is down from averages over the last decade, but still the largest recreational spear harvest for sturgeon in the world and an increase over the 2016 season total of 703 fish, and 2017 total of 847 fish, Koenigs says.

How and where to get spearing licenses

Licenses are again $20 for residents and $65 for nonresidents and can be purchased by visiting GoWild.Wi.gov or any license sales location. To find a license agent near you, go to dnr.wi.gov and search with key words “license agent.”

The minimum spearing age is 12 years, and youth who turn 12 between Nov. 1, 2018, and the last day of the 2019 spearing season can still buy a spearing license after Oct. 31. Military personnel home on leave can also purchase a license after Oct. 31.

There are unlimited license sales on Lake Winnebago, while the Upriver Lakes fishery is managed by a lottery and limited to 500 permitted spearers. Once a person is authorized to buy an Upriver Lakes license for a season, they are not able to buy a license for Lake Winnebago.

Spearers are now able to transfer Upriver Lakes spear licenses to youth spearers (age 12-17) and can do so by filling a transfer of license form at least 15 days before the 2018 sturgeon spear fishery. Spearers who applied for an Upriver Lakes license in the lottery but were not drawn for a license receive a preference point and can still purchase a Lake Winnebago license before the Oct. 31 deadline.

For more information on harvest trends and management of the Lake Winnebago sturgeon fishery, visit dnr.wi.gov and search “Lake Winnebago sturgeon spearing.”

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Join in the fun Oct. 27 at Wild Rose Fish Hatchery open house and lake sturgeon presentation

Contact(s): Jesse Landwehr, hatchery supervisor, 920-622-3527

Open house runs 8 a.m.-3 p.m.; “Indigenous Perspectives on Lake Sturgeon” set for 4 p.m.

WILD ROSE – Families and fish enthusiasts of all ages will want to visit Wild Rose Fish Hatchery one last time on Oct. 27 for an open house, fun fishing-related activities, and a presentation by a Menominee tribal elder on “Indigenous Perspectives on Lake Sturgeon.”

Enjoy family friendly activities, see big brown trout up close, and tour the beautiful historic grounds at the Oct. 27 Wild Rose Hatchery Fall Open house.Photo credit: DNR

“Our open house ends up being a nice family day,” says Jesse Landwehr, Wild Rose supervisor. “Visitors get a good chance to see what we do and why we do it, and it helps get everybody outdoors more.”

The hatchery in Waushara County is the workhorse of the state’s fish hatchery system, producing more fish and more diverse species than any other, and it features beautiful, century-old historic hatchery grounds where people can see Lake Michigan fish up close.

Open house and sturgeon presentation details

The open house runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is free and open to the public, and is the last big opportunity to visit the hatchery before it closes to visitors in November through March.

The hatchery is located at N5871 State Road 22, in Wild Rose, Wis., and during the open house, visitors can enjoy exhibits and aquaria in the education center, including a new exhibit on lake sturgeon. They can join in fish printing, fly tying and casting and other fun activities at the center, and then stroll the historic hatchery grounds and see big brown trout up close in the show pond and raceways.

Visitors also can see what modern fish rearing techniques and equipment look like through a viewing window into Wild Rose’s coldwater facility up the hill. Here, hatchery crews are raising 800,000 chinook salmon and 400,000 each of brown trout and coho salmon for stocking into Lake Michigan. Wild Rose also operates a “coolwater” facility where crews raise lake sturgeon, muskies, northern pike, Great Lakes spotted musky, and walleye; those facilities are not open to the public.

At 4 p.m. in the education center, visitors can join Mike Hoffman for stories and conversation about “Indigenous Perspectives on Lake Sturgeon.” Mr. Hoffman is an Elder who is a descendant of the Menominee and Ottawa tribes. He is a fluent speaker of the Menominee language and serves as Cultural Consultant to the Menominee Clans Exhibit at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point Museum of Natural History.

The presentation is the last in a series on lake sturgeon sponsored by the Wisconsin Humanities Council, one of the sponsors of the new sturgeon display, along with Sturgeon for Tomorrow, the DNR and Sport Fish Restoration dollars.