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Patrick Durkin

Patrick Durkin: Recent study offers detailed look at Wisconsin’s falling hunter numbers

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

More females and crossbow hunters joined Wisconsin’s deer hunting’s ranks the past decade, but those gains didn’t halt the state’s nearly 20-year decline in hunter numbers and license sales.
That’s one takeaway from a recent DNR study by the agency’s science operations staff. The team studied 18 years of license data gathered since 2005 by the agency’s high-tech ALiS licensing system. That software allows the DNR to precisely track and analyze the ages, gender, success rates, and license-buying patterns of hunters, anglers, and trappers throughout their lifetimes.

Patrick Durkin: Recent study offers detailed look at Wisconsin’s falling hunter numbers Read More »

Patrick Durkin: Show folks a sturgeon, they’ll tell you a story

Featured, Featured, Fishing, Fishing, Home Page News, Illinois, National Fishing, Nature Page & Night Sky, Wisconsin /

First, they made the morning headlines April 22 by not landing on the nation’s endangered species list (ESL). The Center for Biological Diversity claims lake sturgeon are “imperiled,” and had petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to put them on the ESL even though sturgeon doing well in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
Hours later, the prehistoric fish made more headlines when news broke of a Wisconsin-based lake sturgeon turning up in a research net 651 miles from home on the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri. In other words, just another day in the media spotlight that shines often on Wisconsin’s “dinosaur fish,” our version of charismatic megafauna.

Patrick Durkin: Show folks a sturgeon, they’ll tell you a story Read More »

Wakeboats dominate Wisconsin spring hearings; a look at how voters responded to key questions

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Hunting, National Fishing, National Hunting, National News, Nature Page & Night Sky, News, Wisconsin /

Wakeboats struck another tsunami of opposition during April’s Wisconsin conservation hearings, with more than 70% of voters favoring restrictions on the fun, but controversial, wave-generating boats.
Voters also supported a proposed ban on 360-degree forward-facing imaging cameras for fishing, but rejected a proposed ban on all lead-based ammunition by 2030. The hearings attracted 18,802 participants, who weighed in on 49 proposals. It was the first time since 2019 that citizens could attend the hearings and vote there. Roughly 1,000 people voted in person April 8, but most voted online April 10-13.

Wakeboats dominate Wisconsin spring hearings; a look at how voters responded to key questions Read More »

Patrick Durkin: Researchers say ‘feds’ should manage deer herd

Home Page News, Hunting, Hunting, Minnesota, National Hunting, Nature Page & Night Sky, Opinion, Opinion, Wisconsin /

Three researchers from Cornell University and UW-Madison think the federal government should take the lead on managing the nation’s deer and elk, arguing that hunters and state wildlife agencies aren’t controlling the herds’ impacts on society, forests, and other wildlife.
In a report published April 3 in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Conservation Science, the researchers charge state wildlife agencies are catering to recreational hunters. Their paper – “Where have all the Flowers Gone? A call for federal leadership in deer management in the United States” – claims state-agency deference to less than 10% of the population (hunters) lets deer herds overpopulate, thus neglecting the states’ obligations to manage wildlife for all citizens.

Patrick Durkin: Researchers say ‘feds’ should manage deer herd Read More »

Patrick Durkin: Rebounding beavers gnaw, build Wisconsin’s wetlands

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

The first Wisconsin game warden killed by gunfire didn’t die protecting deer, bears, wolves, walleyes or waterfowl.
No, Einar P. Johnson, 33, died in May 1929 after confronting two Minnesotans who were bootlegging beaver pelts near Ladysmith. Wisconsin closed its beaver season that year to protect the depleted species after pelt prices hit $45 ($792 today, when adjusted for inflation), causing widespread overharvests. At that price in that era, one prime beaver pelt was worth more than many families’ monthly incomes.

Patrick Durkin: Rebounding beavers gnaw, build Wisconsin’s wetlands Read More »

Patrick Durkin: Year-round daylight saving time reduces car/deer crashes

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

When the humorist Dave Barry turned 50 in 1998, he compiled a list of things that took him a half-century to learn. One of his insights never fails: “A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter is not a nice person.”
Barry also was right about this: “You’ll never find anybody who can give a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight saving time.”

Patrick Durkin: Year-round daylight saving time reduces car/deer crashes Read More »

Patrick Durkin: Trappers lend a hand when dogs wander off

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

Fur trappers can seem uneasy and vulnerable, even though they’re the most skilled, regulated and well-rounded outdoors-folks you’ll find in our marshes, woodlands, and muddy shallows.
They often don’t share their best stories, fearing their insights will be ignored or distorted. After all, assumptions and ignorance sometimes make others dismiss or disrespect their experiences, causing good deeds to be snubbed or demonized with each retelling.

Patrick Durkin: Trappers lend a hand when dogs wander off Read More »

Patrick Durkin: Wisconsinites invest time, labor in fish, wildlife areas

Featured, Fishing, Hunting, Nature Page & Night Sky, Opinion, Wisconsin /

Whether you fish, hunt, hike or birdwatch on one of Wisconsin’s 200-plus fish and wildlife areas, you’ll benefit even more if you “adopt” and work on that prized land with help from the Department of Natural Resources.
After all, you don’t have to own property and pay its taxes to bond with land and earn your neighbor’s respect through sweat equity or financial contributions. We all value land more personally by investing time, labor, and recreation into its soils, plants, and living creatures.

Patrick Durkin: Wisconsinites invest time, labor in fish, wildlife areas Read More »

Wisconsin ready to honor Aldo Leopold on 75th anniversary of Sand County Almanac

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

Several anniversaries come to mind as we approach Leopold Week, the annual celebration of legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold and his classic book, A Sand County Almanac.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the book’s first printing in 1949. It has since been translated into 15 languages and sold well over 2 million copies. This year marks the 25th celebration of the original Leopold Weekend, when the professor’s fans in Lodi, Wis.  – population 2,893 at the time – gathered in the town’s library in March 2000 to read aloud A Sand County Almanac cover to cover.

Wisconsin ready to honor Aldo Leopold on 75th anniversary of Sand County Almanac Read More »

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