Outdoor Report

November 15, 2018

Wisconsin’s traditional nine-day gun deer hunting season opens this Saturday and with snow in many northern areas and more in the forecast for Friday into Saturday but with otherwise relatively mild hunting conditions it should make for a good opener.

Hunters can find all the information they need by searching the DNR website for keyword “deer.” Or new for this year, hunters with mobile devices can download the Hunt Wild Wisconsin mobile app, which provides mapping, shooting hours and easy access to regulations. Hunters can download the app from the DNR website at keywords “hunt app.”

Little Manitou Falls at Pattison State Park has begun to ice over. Skim and shelf ice is forming on lakes and some smaller lakes have frozen over.Photo credit: DNR

This is the earliest possible opening of the season and while it is winding down in some areas, rutting activity is still noticeable with bucks visiting their scrapes and rubs and still being seen chasing does. A reminder that hunters must register their deer by 5 p.m. the day after recovery and registration is now easier than ever online, by phone or in person at registration stations. Search the DNR website for “GameReg,” for details. Hunters can get a deer tested for CWD at no cost and can find sampling locations by searching for keywords “CWD Sampling.”

Elk harems have disbanded in the Flambeau River State Forest, and mature bulls are separate from the cow-calf groups. With the upcoming gun deer season hunters in areas of Sawyer, Bayfield, Ashland, Price and Rusk counties are cautioned to be very sure of their target as yearling elk are now about the size of an adult doe.

Snow depths range from a dusting to nearly 10 inches across about the northern quarter of the state. It looks like the middle of ski season at the MECCA trails in the Turtle-Flambeau Scenic Waters Area, but swamps need to freeze up before any grooming can be done. Crews have started rolling these wet areas.

Skim and shelf ice forming on many bodies of water and across swamps and some of the smaller lakes in the north have frozen, but not strong enough yet to support ice anglers. Heavy chunks of ice are flowing down the Flambeau River, which still has high water levels and the Big and Little Manitou Falls at Pattison State Park are starting to ice over.

Anglers were still fishing the Menominee River for walleye, whitefish, and brown and rainbow trout with moderate success. One lucky angler reeled in a rainbow trout that measured 34 inches and weighed close to 17 pounds. Anglers are still doing well on walleyes on the Wolf River.

Brisk northwest winds, cold temperatures, and freezing water bodies led to a busy week for bird migration. Perhaps most notable was the exodus of many sandhill cranes and arrival of peak numbers of tundra swans. Thousands of tundra swans reached traditional haunts along the Mississippi River and hundreds can also be found on Madison area lakes. Along the Lake Michigan shore, thousands of red-breasted mergansers continue to be seen daily, including an incredible count of over 25,000 on November 10 at Harrington Beach State Park.

Hunters and other heading north can cut Christmas trees from the Northern State Forest but must first get a low cost permit from forest headquarters offices. Tree cutters, hikers and others who will be out in the field over the next nine days are encouraged to wear blaze orange or other brightly colored clothing.