Hunt Safely This Fall
Get Set With Magazine Stories And Other DNR Resources
Deer hunting is a longstanding Wisconsin tradition. | Photo credit: iStock/arlutz73
Wisconsin’s nine-day gun deer hunting season is nearly here — Nov. 22-30 — and other hunting seasons are already underway. Find what you need for hunting in Wisconsin on the DNR’s hunting webpage. There’s also plenty of hunting coverage in recent issues of Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine, with all the latest digital editions available online. Here are a few safety tips and other resources, including recent magazine stories, to help you have a safe and enjoyable hunting season.
FIREARM SAFETY
Before heading out, review the TAB-K rules of firearm safety:
- T — Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.
- A — Always point the weapon in a safe direction.
- B — Be certain of your target, what’s before and beyond it.
- K — Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot.
TREE STAND SAFETY
If you hunt from a tree stand, some basics of tree stand safety are important to note:
- Always have three points of contact while climbing into and out of the tree stand, i.e. two hands and one foot or two feet and one hand.
- Wear a full-body harness (fall-arrest system), connect to your tether line and keep your tether line short.
- Use a haul line to raise/lower your unloaded weapon to and from the stand.
- Use a lifeline when climbing up and down to stay connected from the time you leave the ground to the time you get back down.
IT’S PHEASAN-TASTIC
Wonder about all those pheasants stocked on public lands for Wisconsin’s ongoing pheasant hunting season (through Jan. 4)? “From farm to field” in the spring 2025 issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources spotlights the DNR’s State Game Farm near Poynette, source of 75,000 pheasants stocked on more than 88 properties statewide.
| WATCH FOR ELK
The DNR urges hunters to brush up on the differences between deer and elk to avoid mistakenly shooting the wrong animal; use the deer-elk comparison guide for reference. And you can read more about the state’s elk populations and how the DNR employs the latest technology for management in the magazine’s recent winter 2024 story, “Elk tracking goes high-tech.”
TALKING TURKEY
Fall turkey hunting runs through Nov. 21 statewide and continues through Jan. 4 in Zones 1-5. But it wasn’t too long ago that there were no turkeys in the state at all, let alone for hunting. Wild turkeys had been extirpated from Wisconsin in the late 1800s and remained eradicated until 1976. So what brought the bird back to the state? The fall 2024 issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine tells the tale of the turnaround in “Wild ride for Wisconsin turkeys,” a true conservation success story.
OUTDOOR SKILLS TRAINERS
Great hunts start with hunter education, and in Wisconsin that means volunteer safety instructors. These dedicated individuals teach hunter safety classes around the state, and they also do ATV/UTV, snowmobile and boating safety instruction. The DNR stands behind every volunteer safety instructor with support from the agency’s five outdoor skills trainers, who coordinate recreational safety and education programs statewide. “We provide all the training, certifications and equipment they need,” said Kayla Sasse, a DNR outdoor skills trainer since 2022. You can read more about Sasse and her OST colleagues in the fall 2025 issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources and learn how the team offers “Superb support for safety instructors.” |
| A WORD FOR WATERFOWL HUNTERS
Waterfowl hunters can help stop the spread of aquatic invasive species and protect the places they love. Before entering and leaving any waterbody, be sure to:
- Inspect waders, boats, trailers, motors and hunting gear, including boots, blinds and dogs.
- Remove all plants, animals and mud.
- Drain water from decoys, boats, motors and other equipment.
- Never move live fish or plants from one waterbody to another.
- Remove seed heads and roots from vegetation used in duck blinds. Note that it is illegal to use phragmites for camouflage in counties where it is listed as a prohibited species under NR 40, which includes the western half of Wisconsin.
And for duck hunters and bird watchers alike, the magazine’s recent “Duck ID guide,” complete with descriptive details and photos, can help you ID what you see.
Bull elk photo credit: Kate Brinkman
Hooded merganser photo credit: iStock/Frank Hildebrand |
Remembering The Edmund Fitzgerald
Thousands of shipwrecks are scattered throughout the Great Lakes, but none seems as widely known as the Edmund Fitzgerald. Perhaps it’s the mystery that still surrounds the 1975 sinking of the massive freighter, or maybe it’s the famous haunting song by Gordon Lightfoot that recounts the event. Whatever the reason, even now decades after the Edmund Fitzgerald went down on Lake Superior, there remains great interest in the tragedy that claimed the lives of its 29 crew members.
Nov. 10 marks the 50 anniversary of the sinking of the ship, which had set sail from Superior but never reached its intended destination of Detroit. The fall 2025 issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources looks at what happened, with details from Coast Guard reports, historic information and expert opinions about the largest ship ever to go down in the Great Lakes. Read “Gales of November remembered” to learn more.
Edmund Fitzgerald photo credit: Bob Campbell via Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum |
Rep Wisconsin With New DNR Merch!
Showing your love for Wisconsin and its amazing natural resources just got easier, thanks to the DNR’s new online merch store.
Products feature a variety of items celebrating the state’s fish, wildlife, plants, public lands and recreation traditions that we all hold dear.
Not only that, but proceeds from DNR merchandise sales directly support conservation and environmental education and outreach initiatives across Wisconsin. Proceeds from Smokey Bear merchandise directly support the National Fire Prevention Program.
Check out what’s available and gear up for your next adventure. |
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