Archives for August 2016

Wisconsin 2016 Fall Turkey Permits are available

August 23, 2016 by Charlie 8 Comments

As Monday, August 22, 2016, the Wisconsin fall wild turkey drawing is complete. Turkey hunters must check their turkey permit status online; www.GoWild.wi.gov. At least that is the message on Go Wild, however, on the WDNR traditional website it still says-

Successful applicants will be notified by mail the week of August 22, 2016

Last week, when I inquired about the fall turkey permits via phone, the DNR representative told me the usual postcard would be mailed to hunters the week of August 22. Being a fellow who feels a sense of completeness when his license is in hand checked the new Go Wild site on Monday and found my turkey license waiting for me to print.

Come on fall! There has been enough video watching to this to last a lifetime.

Where to find and buy a Wisconsin fall turkey license

After logging in at Go Wild and confirming your personal information, you will see your home page.
Select “Buy License.” Then the WDNR product catalog will appear.
Under the featured or Hunt/Trap tab “Awarded Fall Turkey Tag” line appears, select to bring up the Awarded Fall Turkey Tag screen.
The drawn tag is included with the purchase a fall turkey license at this time.
Conservation Patron license holders have the fall turkey license included.

Now don’t forget-

Remaining permits will go on sale beginning Saturday, August 27 at 10 a.m. Leftover permits will be issued on a one per-day basis.

Permits are $5.00 for 10 and 11 year olds, $10.00 for residents, and $15.00 for nonresidents.

One per day per customer, until they are sold out.

Please note that at the time you purchase your permit you will be required to purchase a fall turkey license. If you did not purchase a spring turkey license, you will also need to purchase a Wild Turkey Stamp.

Go here to review the leftover permits.

As usual, an internal review is being conducted to make sure the drawing was accurate. The leftover turkey permits will be posted soon.

Update 9:20 pm August 23: The leftover permits are posted. Here’s the chart of available over the counter turkey permits.

WDNR – Permit Availability

Zone	Remaining Permits
FM	0
Zone 1	15,346
Zone 2	4,254
Zone 3	18,150
Zone 4	7,816
Zone 5	0
Zone 6	0
Zone 7	0

Best of luck turkey hunting and above all else have fun, enjoyable hunt.

Update August 24, 2016, WDNR mailed drawing notification postcards. The cost of this mailing is about $17,789 including postage and the cost of printing the card and hunters still have to go online to buy their turkey license. The game fund is operating in deficit; Why did they waste our money on this expense?

Velvet Trophy Shows His Stuff

August 1, 2016 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Due to Vic’s training, he will not chase deer.

On Sunday, Vic and I were out for a woodland stroll during the lunch hour. Of course, our ultimate goal is to locate turkeys and check on the local flock dynamics. There are so many deer across the landscape these days that most of the time they just blend into the background, but then on occasion, a few standout.

You never know what you’ll see on a summertime stroll in a Wisconsin Woodland.

This smallish velvet buck was eating small burning nettles, as Vic and I approached he lifted his head and walked over to get a better look at us. Fortunately, I had my camera and was able to get out and turned on.

Deer, including trophy class bucks, are not afraid of dogs.

As the deer approached, Vic sat near my left leg, so I was able to snap this picture of a beautiful public land buck. After spending the better part of a half a century pursuing trophies like this, I marvel at how at home they are around dogs. I wrote about deer and dogs here. I know what some readers are thinking, “Oh, well, that’s just a summertime buck.” Wrong, this happens in the fall while wild turkey hunting, pheasant, grouse, or woodcock hunting. At that time of year, a shotgun is in my hands, and the camera is in a waterproof, cushioned pocket so getting a picture like this is more challenging. Interestingly the deer will tolerate my dog even if he growls or barks at them, but they will not stand around when I start digging in my pockets.

My passion these days, fall turkey hunting, so now the question I ponder; Should I go out this season and take him or should I give the GPS coordinates to some other deserving hunter?

Deer can’t be reliably saved for future years because there are too many hazards in the wild that most likely will take their lives. In Wisconsin, a buck deer like this has about a 50% CWD infection rate. There is a 50/50 chance that any buck you encounter will look like this next year.

Patrick Durkin wrote an excellent piece on CWD in WI. His article should be mandatory reading for all hunters.

Somewhere along the line this fall I’ll meet a deerhunter who’d like a crack at a nice buck and I’ll give them the coordinates. Perhaps, they’ll tip me off as to where all those turkeys I’ve been seeing went.