Maribel Sportsmen’s Club will host its second annual Big Game Extravaganza Jan. 18.

From 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. that day, take any North American big-game mount to the club and display it for the day.

All exhibitors will get a free chance to win a gun just for displaying. The gun drawing will be at 4 p.m.

There is no charge to show your mount and there is no admission fee.

Official scorers for Boone and Crockett Club, Pope and Young Club, and the Wisconsin Trophy Record Book will be on hand to score your trophy. The scoring will be done from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at a cost of $10 per mount. Scorers will help get your trophy into the record books.

Food and refreshments will be available, so take the family out to view some great mounts.

Have questions? Contact Carl Bonde at 920-973-4151 or [email protected] or Charlie Philipps at 920-755-4692 or [email protected].

Maribel Sportsmen’s Club is next to Interstate 43, exit 164, State 147, Maribel.

Read last week’s column:Fish & Game elects officers, & more in the latest Manitowoc outdoors report from Bob Schuh

Gun Club to hold Cosmic Black Light Shoot Jan. 11

Manitowoc Gun Club will hold its Cosmic Black Light Shoot Jan. 11 with only limited spaces available. Most openings are after 7:30 p.m.

Get signed up and join the fun by calling or texting Crystal Wondrash at 920-794-4168. Cost is $30 and includes 50 targets and Lewis Class entry fee.

Rabbit Hunt & Pig Roast coming to Reedsville club Jan. 11

Reedsville Sportsman Club will hold its Rabbit Hunt & Pig Roast Jan. 11.

Registration is 5-9 p.m. Jan. 10 with food being served from noon until it’s gone Jan. 11. Refreshments will also be available. Proceeds will be used for the Reedsville Sportsman Club Youth Trap Program.

Call Gerald Fischer at 920-901-3907 for more details. Reedsville Sportsman Club is 2 miles north of Reedsville on Pleasantview Road.

Indoor archery league starts Jan. 8 at Maribel club

Maribel Sportsmen’s Club’s indoor archery league starts from 6 to 9 p.m. Jan. 8.

The league is open to both members and the public.

The league will run for 10 to 12 weeks, depending on interest.

This is a fun league where people can shoot against their own scores. Cost to shoot is $10 per week. Call Rodney Gove at 920-901-2654 with any questions.

Reedsville club’s winter archery league opens Jan. 7

Reedsville Sportsman Club will hold its winter archery league with open shooting from 6 to 9 p.m. Jan. 7 and 9.

The 10-week league will then start at 6 p.m. Jan. 14 and 16.

The course will be set up for 20-yard and 40-yard shooting.

For more information, contact Jeff at 920-323-5864 or Weston at 920-973-4585.

Fish & Game’s next meeting is Jan. 8

Manitowoc Unit of Fish & Game will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 8 in Lincoln Park Cabin No. 1.

The club will now be back at Lincoln Park for all monthly meetings until late fall of 2025.

Manitowoc Unit meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month, with the exception of July. Members and the public are welcome to attend. Meetings feature a speaker, short business meeting, and lunch and refreshments.

Speaker for the Jan. 8 meeting will be Andy Janicki, Lincoln Park Zoological Society coordinator. She will update the group on activities at the zoo and plans. Fish & Game is a long-time partner of the zoo’s.

Manitowoc County Fish & Game has completed a total redesign of its website, mantyfg.com. The new site includes updated calendars for unit meetings, directors’ meetings and special events. A new interactive map function also shows locations of club meetings, area lake access and all of the 450 acres of public properties owned by the organization.

The Manitowoc County Fish & Game Annual Meeting is scheduled for Jan. 30 at City Limits in Manitowoc. It will include speakers and information about the work being done in Manitowoc County by the 24 clubs in the organization.

The group will also have a booth at the Country Visions Outdoorsmen Expo Feb. 8 at the County Expo grounds.

Related:Smith: ‘Positive, exciting’ study shows a way to bigger bluegills and crappies for Wisconsin fishermen

Wisconsin DNR celebrating successful elk hunt

The state’s seventh managed elk hunt opened Oct. 12 and concluded Dec. 20. It represented a milestone in Wisconsin’s elk management as, for the first time, hunters had the chance to hunt in both the Northern and Central elk zones. Previously, hunts only occurred within the Northern Elk Zone.

“It’s exciting hunters have the opportunity to pursue elk in our home state,” said Christina Kizewski, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist. “Each year, every hunter experiences something unique and memorable, but especially this year with the first opportunities to hunt elk in the Central Elk Zone.

“The fact that the population is now at a level that allows for a limited hunt underscores the successful management of Wisconsin’s healthy and growing elk herd,” Kizewski added.

The eight Wisconsin hunters who participated in this year’s hunt were randomly selected from a pool of more than 25,500 applicants. The DNR received 17,761 applications to hunt in the Northern Elk Zone and 7,750 applications for the Central Elk Zone. The random drawing ensured each applicant had an equal chance of selection within the respective management zones.

Applicants were required to identify their management zone of choice during the elk hunting application process.

In the Central Elk Zone, all four hunters harvested a bull elk on the third day of the season.

Two hunters in the Northern Elk Zone successfully harvested a bull elk, and Ojibwe tribal hunters met their four-bull harvest declaration.

Of interest, a 10-year-old mentored hunter was able to harvest a mature northern Wisconsin bull elk.

The 2025 elk hunt application period for Wisconsin residents is expected to open in early spring and run through May 31, 2025. During the application process, hunters must select which management zone they would like to hunt in. For more information about elk in Wisconsin, visit the DNR’s Elk in Wisconsin webpage.

That’s it for this week, so have fun in the great outdoors.