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Patrick Durkin

Record EHD deer deaths piling up in three southeast Wisconsin counties

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, National Hunting, National News, News, Wisconsin /

Deer in southeastern Wisconsin are suffering the state’s worst outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) since this viral disease first appeared in 2002, with nearly 900 whitetails likely dead as of early September.
Confirmed reports of EHD-killed deer as of Sept. 4 put the count at more than 700 in Washington County, more than 150 in Waukesha County and more than 30 in Ozaukee County. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) disease specialists list only firsthand reports of dead deer in the agency’s totals.

Record EHD deer deaths piling up in three southeast Wisconsin counties Read More »

Patrick Durkin: Wisconsin’s Ben Gruber campaigns for wardens’ healthy work culture

Fishing, Home Page News, Hunting, National Fishing, National Hunting, Wisconsin /

Assembly candidate Ben Gruber thinks the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has a detached, centralized command structure that ignores an often-toxic work environment for Wisconsin conservation wardens.
Since January, Gruber has been on leave from his DNR law-enforcement duties and his role as union president of Conservation Wardens Local 1215. That’s because he’s the Democratic candidate for the 51st Assembly district in southwestern Wisconsin and will face Republican incumbent Todd Novak in the Nov. 3 election.

Patrick Durkin: Wisconsin’s Ben Gruber campaigns for wardens’ healthy work culture Read More »

Racine County deputy faces four felonies stemming from mentor turkey hunt in Wisconsin

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, National Hunting, National News, News, Wisconsin /

A 35-year-old Racine County Sheriff’s Department deputy faces four felony charges after letting his 3-year-old daughter trigger a shot that wounded a 40-year-old turkey-hunting mentor and the man’s 7-year-old son April 12 during Wisconsin’s two-day youth-only turkey season.
James D. Lehman, of Union Grove, was charged Aug. 17 in Racine County Circuit Court with two counts of second-degree reckless injury with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of injury by negligent use of a dangerous weapon.

Racine County deputy faces four felonies stemming from mentor turkey hunt in Wisconsin Read More »

Patrick Durkin: Sonar expert Rick Krueger solved Wisconsin’s 45-year mystery of two missing men

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, National Fishing, Wisconsin /

My dad’s oldest brother, Donnie, worked at Kellogg’s cereals in Battle Creek, Mich.
Each summer, he pulled his boat and its twin 50-hp Mercury engines 320 miles to a cabin he and Aunt Jeanie rented for two weeks on Lake Monona in Madison, Wis. That was the early 1960s, when rental cabins bordered the beach at Esther Park. Our family didn’t own a boat until 1968, so Uncle Donnie’s vacations offered us rare treats to waterski and fish from a boat. He especially liked fishing a rock pile just north of the cabin.

Patrick Durkin: Sonar expert Rick Krueger solved Wisconsin’s 45-year mystery of two missing men Read More »

A quick chat with Mossy Oak’s Ronnie ‘Cuz’ Strickland

Home Page News, National Hunting, Quick Chats /

Ronnie “Cuz” Strickland will turn 72 this month, and he’s in no hurry for a younger person to take his job as Mossy Oak’s senior vice president after nearly 40 years with the company.
Besides, it’s not easy to replace a man who considers his career a long-running string of divine interventions. Strickland joined Mossy Oak as a salesman in January 1987, less than two years after Toxey Haas launched his company and created its legendary “Bottomland” camouflage pattern.

A quick chat with Mossy Oak’s Ronnie ‘Cuz’ Strickland Read More »

Snapshot Wisconsin helps track the state’s elusive river otters

Featured, Home Page News, Nature Page & Night Sky, Wisconsin /

You’ll always find more otter puns than actual otters if you go looking for either.
Just google “otter puns” and you’ll find lists of 37, 40 or even 200-plus otter puns, jokes and one-liners. Some of them aren’t bad. What’s another word for an otter’s life partner? Its “significant otter.” Speaking of which, researchers can’t agree on whether river otters mate for life.

Snapshot Wisconsin helps track the state’s elusive river otters Read More »

Patrick Durkin: Unsightly fish sores don’t always make fillets unfit to eat

Featured, Features, Fishing, Home Page News, National Fishing, Wisconsin /

Few conversations are more futile than trying to persuade someone to eat a fish that’s scarred by a virus, parasite, bacteria or other nasties.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recognizes that challenge, which is why it includes this explanation on its fish diseases web page: “Even though we are reporting on fish disease in Wisconsin, we encourage you to continue to enjoy your fishing experience. You can enjoy catching and eating your fish as long as you fully cook them before eating.”

Patrick Durkin: Unsightly fish sores don’t always make fillets unfit to eat Read More »

Patrick Durkin: What happened to this bluegill? A handful of theories exist

Featured, Features, Fishing, Home Page News, National Fishing, Wisconsin /

When my grandsons catch a bluegill 7 inches or longer, it seldom swims another day. Catch and release? Save your breath.
The boys haven’t yet read stories by the immortal humorist Patrick F. McManus, but their thinking aligns with his comment in “Kerplunk,” one of his 2007 stories: “I remember only one fellow who practiced catch-and-release. He was eventually nabbed, I think, and placed in an institution.” Therefore, I paused July 4 when my grandson Connor Switzer, 8, agreed without comment to release a 7-½-inch bluegill with an ugly scar and dime-sized hole in its back.

Patrick Durkin: What happened to this bluegill? A handful of theories exist Read More »

Wisconsin’s Northern Highlands research station has been for answers for 80 years

Featured, Features, Fishing, Home Page News, National Fishing, Wisconsin /

You likely missed it, but the Northern Highland Fishery Research Area in Vilas County celebrated its 80th anniversary June 20, making it one of the world’s longest-running fisheries research projects.
So, let’s blow our kazoos and pop champagne corks to show we support the Wisconsin DNR’s commitment to research and science-based policy-making. Sure, lawmakers often ignore it, but we’re better served when data-driven facts steer and sustain publicly-owned fisheries.

Wisconsin’s Northern Highlands research station has been for answers for 80 years Read More »

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