DNR Outdoor Report

Late Season Deer Hunting Opportunities In Wisconsin

By RVL / December 2, 2022

 

 

Late Season Deer Hunting Opportunities In Wisconsin

 

Hunters will find more opportunities to harvest deer through the late season. 

While the main gun deer season is over, there is still time to fill the freezer.

Avid hunters can enjoy additional hunting opportunities into the start of the new year:

  • Now to Dec. 7: Statewide muzzleloader hunt
  • Dec. 8-11: Statewide four-day antlerless-only hunt
  • Dec. 24 – Jan. 1, 2023: Nine-day antlerless-only holiday hunt in select Farmland Zone counties
  • Now to Jan. 8, 2023: Remaining archery and crossbow seasons
  • Jan. 9-31, 2023: Extended archery and crossbow seasons in select Farmland Zone counties

Hunters should check their licenses and tags to ensure they know the number of harvests still available to them and which zone, county and land type they can be used on. For many counties, bonus antlerless harvest authorizations are available for purchase.

More information regarding hunts offered in each county and an interactive deer map are available on the DNR website.

 

Reminder: Hunters Should Continue To Test For CWD

CWD testing is free, easy and available to every hunter in the state. Check the map on our website to see where CWD testing is available near you.

Four Ways To Have Your Deer Tested

The DNR offers four easy ways to submit a sample:

  • Self-service kiosks open 24/7

Hunters can drop off their adult deer’s head with 5 inches of neck attached for testing. Check the DNR’s CWD sampling page before your hunt to find a location near you.

  • In-person with cooperating meat processors, taxidermists and other businesses

You can get assistance with CWD testing by visiting a cooperating partner. Use the same interactive map to find their locations.

Hunters can extract the retropharyngeal lymph nodes using a kit provided by the DNR and return them to the DNR for testing. Contact your local wildlife biologist to get a kit.

  • By appointment with local DNR staff

Hunters can contact their local wildlife biologist to schedule an in-person appointment.

Whichever way you submit your sample for testing, try out the DNR’s new online CWD form. You can find the link in your Go Wild harvest history after you register your deer.

The online form automatically fills in your name, contact information, customer ID number and harvest registration number and includes an interactive map to drop a pin on your harvest location.

 

Race To Save Hardwood Swamps

The slender, segmented and winged insect body of the emerald ash borer is, objectively, gorgeous.

But the beautiful sheen and tiny size of the emerald ash borer belie the damage it has inflicted over large swaths of the eastern United States. Making its way west since 2002, the invasive insect has destroyed entire forests and urban landscapes along the way, obliterating hundreds of millions of ash trees.

With the emerald ash borer now in Wisconsin, expert foresters and ecologists are rushing to batten down the hatches in hopes that one particular tree species might not fall entirely victim to the insect’s deadly appetite: the black ash.

“It’s not a matter of if, it’s when the emerald ash borer moves to northern Wisconsin,” said Christopher Deegan, state plant health director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. “This is the worst insect I’ve ever had to deal with.”

Deegan and many others aren’t taking the attack lying down. Efforts are in place to fight back against the emerald ash borer directly through biocontrol and indirectly through conservation and management of the forested swamps.

If successful, these tools could be used to yield even greater results in other areas of the country where the emerald ash borer has not yet reached. “All eyes are on Wisconsin,” Deegan said.

Read the full article in the fall 2022 issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine.

Photo Credit: Bill McNee

Lake Superior Lake Trout Season Is Open

Anglers waiting to catch a lake trout on Lake Superior can rejoice: the season is now open.

Lake Superior’s lake trout season opened Dec. 1 and will run until Sept. 30, 2023 or until the harvest cap is met.

Anyone looking to harvest lake trout must purchase a Great Lakes trout and salmon stamp in addition to their fishing license. Both the stamp and fishing license can be purchased online through the GoWild system or at any license location. All regulations apply.

Recent surveys of Lake Superior fisheries can be found on the DNR’s website. Learn more about fishing for lake trout on Lake Superior.

 

Upcoming Events At MacKenzie Center


Winter Wonders Hike
Wednesday, Dec. 14, 10-11:30 a.m.

Join us for a winter wonders hike on our South Trails. Whether there is fresh snow or not, there is still lots to explore in the forest and prairie. We discover and learn what the plants and animals are doing this time of year to survive. Please dress for the weather and meet naturalists at the South Trails parking lot.

Winter Greenery Workshop
Saturday, Dec. 17, 9 a.m.-noon

Sign up to learn how to make your own holiday greenery, such as a wreath, hanger or centerpiece, using natural materials. Please preregister and prepay ($10) at the MacKenzie Center (608-635-8112) by Dec. 3.  All supplies required will be provided but feel free to bring any materials you may have. Our greenery workshop will once again be indoors this year.

First Day Hike
Sunday, Jan. 1, 1-2:30 p.m.

Start the year off outside with a brisk hike alongside MacKenzie Naturalists. We will meet at the south trails and depart for a 1-2 mile hike through the forests and prairies at MacKenzie. We will hike at a moderate pace and offer turn-around points to accommodate hikers of many comfort levels.
          
 
 

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