Archives for July 2016

Does Wild Venison Tastes Best when Procured in September or Early October?

July 28, 2016 by Charlie 17 Comments

Ever wonder if wild deer meat, venison, has a different taste and or meat quality during the year? Which is better table fare; a buck, doe or fawn? Many a deer hunting camp have hotly debated the second question, but it seems no one talks about or even thinks about the first question. Perhaps, this is because due to work and family commitments most deer hunters have a limited window of time to hunt and as a result hunt during their state’s firearm season. Most gun seasons are open later in the fall, so without a thought of hunting any other time they go out to fill freezer when they can.

Deer killed in November and December are good to eat and for many outdoor folks, some very excellent eats indeed.

Whitetail deer numbers have grown significantly since the late 1960’s, and early 70’s when some states had to close deer season due to the small numbers or in some areas where there were no deer. Nowadays, deer are found all over the country with very liberal deer hunting seasons.

Here in Wisconsin farm country, deer season starts with archery mid-September continuing with a variety of seasons into January. The long season structures give deer hunters the chance to shoot, eat and compare table venison each month of the fall.

I have killed deer throughout all of the seasons, in many years I have taken deer during each month of the open hunting periods and found early season (mid-September to mid-October) venison is the best eating. Here’s why:

No matter which sex the deer, they have less fat or tallow on and in their flesh. Tallow is not pleasant to eat, without the fat build up the venison’s flavor is not tainted nor gamey.
Deer food sources are abundant and varied, so the animal does not need to travel very far to eat. Nor do they need to eat a lot during the summer months, so their meat is more tender due to much less effort required to live comfortably.
Neither bucks or does pay much attention to each other, for the most they stay in their chosen territories eating and sleeping to build up strength for the upcoming rut in early November.
The reproduction hormones are not flowing yet. The production of these hormones seems to change both the texture and flavor, not saying it’s bad, just different.
Starting late October the deer begin to move about much more. Bucks are on the move setting up breeding territories while the does attempt to avoid them. All the extra exercise firms up the muscles which have a direct effect on the texture of the table venison.

Several times when I have had dinner guests we dined on venison from each month, and there has not been a single guest who did not prefer the early season deer over the later season. All the venison is delicious no matter when it’s taken so continue hunting and enjoying yours. Just, if you get the chance at a September deer, take it and see what you think.

Grouse 2016 Wisconsin Outlook; Ruffed Grouse Drumming Survey

July 24, 2016 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Audubon painting

Excerpts from 2016 Wisconsin DNR Ruffed Grouse Drumming Survey

Wisconsin statewide ruffed grouse population indices increased 1% from 2015 to 2016, based on the number of drumming grouse heard during roadside surveys. Changes in breeding grouse populations varied by region and the statewide mean number of drums per stop were not different from 2015 to 2016. Drummer densities on the Sandhill Wildlife Area in Wood County showed an increase of 2%.

While grouse populations ebb and rise on a nine to eleven-year cycle, a longer term downward trend can be noted for the Wisconsin Grouse population since the inception of this survey. Grouse highs are not as high as they have been in the past and the population seems to be slower to recover from cyclic lows. The long term aging of Wisconsin’s forest are likely playing a role in these changes. Not all regions of the state see these changes in forest aging occurring at the same rate, with the more commercial forests of the Northern and Central regions aging at a slower rate than the more privately owned forests of the Southwest and Southeast regions. It is likely this trend in grouse numbers will continue to occur until our forests reach a stasis in their aging process.

Early spring conditions were above average for temperature with most of the snow melted before the start of the survey in the spring of 2016. No major weather events should have affected surveyors during the survey period, but more typical weather returned during the second part of the inquiry period and may have reduced surveyor’s evaluations. Overall survey conditions were “excellent” on 45% of transects run, while 65% rated the overall conditions as “excellent” in 2015. Conditions were rated as “Fair”, the lowest available weather condition rating, 5% of the time in 2015 and 7% in 2016. Survey conditions do influence drumming activity and may cause grouse numbers to be over or under estimated.

View the complete 2016 Ruffed Grouse Survey here 2016 grouse drumming survey Survey contains drumming locations, charts, and graphs of the drumming data.

Update September 9, 2016; Wisconsin’s 2016 brood counts. The following excerpt provided by WDNR.

Statewide, ruffed grouse broods seen per observer hour were down 17 percent compared to 2015 and 43 percent below the long-term mean. Ruffed Grouse production was down in two of the three regions that compose the primary range: Central (11.1 percent decrease), northern (14.2 percent decrease), and Southwestern (43.3 percent increase). Ruffed grouse brood size fell from 4.2 young per brood in 2015 to 4 in 2016.”Breeding grouse numbers were up slightly this spring, while brood production in the primary ruffed grouse range showed a decrease,” said Dhuey. “Several severe rain events likely caused declines in brood survival in the areas they occurred — while there were losses in these areas, these events were not wide-spread, and it is probable that brood production in Wisconsin is patchy, with areas of good and poor brood production and survival. While some areas of the primary ruffed grouse range will be better than others, it appears that ruffed grouse numbers will be similar or slightly worse than last year.”

Ruffed grouse are currently in a cyclic low population cycle. While an increase in breeding grouse is a positive sign, it will likely be a few years until Wisconsin returns to the birds’ cyclic high. (courtesy of WDNR)

Deadline; Wisconsin Hunting & Trapping August 1

July 22, 2016 by Charlie Leave a Comment

In Wisconsin hunters and trappers have deadlines to meet. August 1 is approaching fast; it is the fall permit deadline for wild turkey, bobcat, sharp-tailed grouse, fisher, and otter.

MADISON – August 1 is an important deadline for fall hunters and trappers pursuing wild turkey, sharp-tailed grouse, bobcat, fisher and otter.
Permit applications for fall hunting can be purchased for $3 ($6 for bobcat applications) online at gowild.wi.gov, at Department of Natural Resources service centers, and at all license agents. License sales are no longer available by phone, but the live operators at the DNR Call Center can help answer any questions hunters may have about the permit application process. The Call Center is available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, and can be reached at 888-WDNR-INFo (1-888-936-7463).

Fall wild turkey

Unit 1-5

Sept. 17 through Dec. 31

Zones 6 & 7

Sept. 17 through Nov. 18

Sharp-tailed grouse:

Oct. 15 through Nov. 6

Bobcat hunting and trapping

Season 1 – Oct. 15 through Dec. 25
Season 2 – Dec. 26 through Jan. 31, 2017

Fisher trapping

Oct. 15 through Dec. 31

Otter trapping

North Unit; Nov. 5 through Apr. 30, 2017
Central & Southern Units; Nov. 5 through Mar. 31, 2017

Fall Turkey info;

There will be 101,300 wild turkey permits available to hunters for the fall 2016 turkey hunting season.
Permit availability was increased by 200 in each of the three northernmost turkey management zones (Unit 5, 6 & 7) to meet hunter demand better.
Any fall turkey permits remaining after the initial drawing will go on sale beginning at 10 a.m. on August 27.
Leftover fall turkey permits will be sold by unit until sold out or the season ends.
Units 1-5 – 2016 is the first year fall turkey hunting will be open statewide on the Friday before the opening of the firearm deer season.
Hunters may use dogs to hunt wild turkeys during the fall season throughout the state of Wisconsin.
The bag limit is one turkey of any age or sex per fall turkey hunting permit.

Sharp-tailed Grouse info;

25 sharp-tailed grouse hunting permits will be available for Unit 8 only.
Represents a 75 percent decrease from 2015.
Permit levels were decreased to balance hunter opportunity with a more prudent level of harvest.
Sharp-tailed grouse management units use the same boundaries and designations as game management units (GMUs); a map is available on the sharp-tailed grouse page on the WDNR website.
Hunters are reminded to review the zone map carefully and apply only for the open unit.

River Otter, Fisher & Bobcat Info;

Approved quotas for river otter, fisher, and are available on the trapping page of the Wisconsin DNR website.
Quotas for most zones are similar or slightly higher than 2015.
Permit numbers, based on success rates, and drawings for all three species will take place in August 2016
Permits will be available in early September.
Applicants need to check their online Go Wild account early September for an awarded a permit.

July Gobbling in Wisconsin; when and why wild turkeys gobble

July 21, 2016 by Charlie 5 Comments

July 21, 2016, the sunrise was greeted by profuse gobbling. How cool is that on what is predicted to be the hottest day of the summer?

Why do gobblers gobble in July?

This morning is not the first time I have heard gobbling toms during the summer months. There always has been a bit of mystery as to why there is any gobbling outside of the traditional spring mating season. As a matter of fact, I’ve heard male turkeys sounding off during every month of the year, plus, many of my fellow hunters report the same type of off-season gobbling all year long.

Here is my reasoning as to the timing of gobbles

Late January – March:

Male turkeys are coming out of winter with different levels of physical strength along with differing levels of mating hormones. The pecking order as established last fall is in the process of being reorganized while the bachelor flocks are beginning to separate. All of this change is very exciting causing much gobbling.

April – May:

Of course, all hunters know this is mating time, the gobbling is an attempt to attract hens and scare off lower ranking toms and jakes. A mystery many hunters ponder is why on some of the spring days the sound of gobbling rings throughout woodlands and on other equally nice weather days mornings can be greeted by silence? Personally, for the most part, I believe the amount of gobbling is directly related to the willingness of hens to mate and the number of gobblers competing for the hen’s attention.

June – August

During June gobbling for mating is winding down and the remaining male turkeys are becoming more interested in forming their
Courtesy of D Gordon Robertson

summertime bachelor groups. Some strutting and gobbling continue in an attempt to locate hens that did not breed or have lost their nest. I’ve seen toms strutting in fields with attentive hens as late as the first week in August.
Male turkeys are less competitive and because they are seeking each other’s company rather than only focusing on hens. Gobbling and coarse yelps are used to find each other. A lot less fighting takes place at this time of year.

September

The jakes of the year are asserting themselves and anytime during the day short higher pitch gobbles will be heard. They will be leaving
Jakes milling around

their broods to form what I think of as gangs, much like teenagers who don’t want anything to do with the brood hen. Many times these jakes seek out broods of hens with jennies to target for harassment.
September is an exciting time to hunt these jakes. When you find them, they respond quickly and aggressively to calling. Wisconsin fall turkey season opens mid-September.

October – November

Winter flock formation begins to take place in earnest. As these weeks click by the flocks become larger as more birds join male flocks with separate flocks for the ladies. Establishing pecking order in both flocks is contentious, so wild turkey calls abound at all times of the day.
Male turkeys, in particular, will fight, gobble and yell at each other.; This is the best time to get a fall gobbler, considered an extra special trophy by many hunters.

December – January

Winter has arrived, the turkeys settle in with the acquisition of food high on their daily agenda. Occasional tiffs and arguments erupt over the more desired food sources. A few gobble will be heard from time to time, but mostly angry purrs or clucks warn off an encroaching turkey.
If a band of turkeys finds one particularly, abundant food source they will call to others and males may gobble.

All of the above is reason enough to get hooked on year-round turkey hunting.

How to Ask for Hunting Permission

July 5, 2016 by Charlie 7 Comments

Photo sent with a letter requesting permission to hunt.

Oh no, the hunting seasons are closed now what is a hunter to do?

Fish
Hike
Excercise
Practice Shooting
Get permission to hunt

All the above are good wholesome & entertaining. Personally, I put #5 up to number one. Even though I own land, I still continue securing permission to hunt on other parcels, sometimes I trade with another willing landowner. Occasionally, some high-quality ambitious hunters contact me for permission to access my land. The initial contact varies from phone calls to stopping by the house. Nine times out of 10 the unannounced house visit is the least likely to catch me home or with time to visit. Those call first to arrange a visit generally get a more favorable response. With the exception of turkey season, someone is hunting my property during all hunting seasons; bear, deer, squirrels, fox, coyotes and trappers. But I digress, that is not the point of this post.

A party of hunters sent me the above picture of those who would like to hunt my land along with a well thought out letter to “sell” me on the idea. Excerpt from the body of the letter.

Hello my name is Steve, my son, grandson and a family friend are looking for a place to hunt. We are looking forsome quality deer hunting land, we practice quality deer management. But we are not just trophy hunters we love to ear venison and will harvest does if allowed.

We understand the need to keep the deer population at a reasonable level, to reduce crop damage an over browsing. We are very safe and ethical hunters who are looking to pass on those values to the next generation. We always abide by state and federal regulations. Safety is a major concern for us, we all wear safety belts. We have liability insurance to protect you from any lawsuits, etc. We understand that your land is valuable and very important to you and your family, we will treat the land with the utmost respect, by not cutting down trees, erecting permanent stands, driving in fields causing ruts, leaving litter or any other debris. In a nutshesll we leave the property as we found it or better.

They continue by offering the possibility of a modest lease payment to offset taxes and being flexible to hunt around the time slots of my family members or friends who may be currently hunting, in closing, I am invited to call them. In my nutshell, this is a very straightforward persuasive approach, and it’s the first I’ve ever received an introductory letter of this type. The letter gives the impression of some top notch hunters, and I would have granted them permission to hunt this year had there been an opening. Their contact information will be kept, and they’ll be contacted for a time to hunt.

Hunting Request Letter