Wisconsin Mixed Bag: NRB to Convene Special Meeting July 23 on Wolf Damage Payments Emergency Rule

Madison — The Natural Resources Board (NRB) will convene for a special virtual meeting at 8 a.m. Thursday, July 23, to act on a request from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on an emergency rule related to wolf depredation claims. The DNR is asking the NRB to approve a scope statement for an emergency rule approval that would first allow the DNR to set a public hearing and comment period.

The DNR is asking for the emergency rule because of budget constraints that could limit the amount of money available to continue making damage payments to livestock and pet owners who lose animals to verified wolf attacks. Depending on future funding levels, the DNR may seek to hold payments until the end of the year, then pro-rate payments if there isn’t enough damage money in the hopper to cover all verified wolf damage. The public may watch the meeting on the DNR’s YouTube channel.

Waterfowl Hunters’ Expo to Run Aug. 21-22 at Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh

Oshkosh, Wis. – The sixth annual Waterfowl Hunters’ Expo will now run two full days, with an extra display building and double the space. Vendors are curated to serve serious waterfowlers – no rain gutters, no windows – just gear, guns, decoys, dogs, and the outdoor life. Organizers expect attendance to grow to 10,000 visitors this year. The expo started with 3,000 attendees in 2023 and saw 6,000 waterfowlers come through the gate in 2025.

Admission is $10, with kids 12 and younger getting in free. Parking is $5. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, and 6 a.m. to  4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22.

MORE COVERAGE FROM WISCONSIN OUTDOOR NEWS:

Wisconsin DNR’s Lobner is navigating knife-edge fine budget line

Dredging project to boost habitat begins Lake Onalaska restoration on Minnesota/Wisconsin border

Newly-formed Friends of Wisconsin Fisheries take on DNR, legislators

Sauk County’s Seeley Lake Access Temporarily Closed for Dam Removal

North Freedom, Wis. – The DNR has temporarily closed the public access site on Seeley Lake in Sauk County while the dam is removed. The site of the dam removal is an active construction zone immediately adjacent to the public access. The closure is necessary to protect public safety until the project is completed, according to the DNR.

Contractors are removing the privately owned dam, which has been in place since 1955, forming the 52-acre impoundment. Once the dam has been removed, Seeley Lake will become a flowing creek again, with restored connectivity to the Baraboo River.

People hoping to access Seeley Lake or Seeley Creek at this location will have to find a different access point or find an alternate fishing location while the dam is being removed.

Woodcock Will Charge Deer to Defend Nests

Bangor, Maine — University of Maine researchers captured what may be the first recorded evidence of nesting birds aggressively driving away deer, revealing an unexpected defense strategy against a little-recognized nest predator.

Their findings suggest that woodcock can respond to deer in multiple ways, challenging the assumption that these large herbivores pose little threat to nesting birds.

Woodcock typically rely on their cryptic feathers, which act as camouflage, to avoid nest predators. They also deploy a “broken wing” display to lure predators away from their eggs or chicks.

In six instances in April 2024, however, five nesting woodcock in West Virginia chirped, postured, charged and even flew into approaching deer, University of Maine researchers found. The deer either walked away or fled the area in response.

“Documenting these behaviors got researchers thinking more deeply about how birds could respond to deer as nest predators,” said Kylie Brunette, lead researcher on the investigation and University of Maine Ph.D. student in wildlife ecology. “That small birds are willing to aggressively defend their nests against something as large as a deer, using different strategies based on the situation, opens a lot of interesting questions about how these unexpected interactions affect wildlife communities.”

Researchers deployed the cameras that captured the footage in 2024 and 2025 as part of the Eastern Woodcock Migration Research Cooperative research project.