Deer Hunting

Hunting Deer From the Ground in Wisconsin

November 6, 2018 by Charlie 5 Comments

The pungent smell of a buck drifted down on the morning thermals right when an urge to stretch crawled through my muscles. The yearn to stretch was mentally pushed aside, on a windless morning like this the smell of a deer this strong leaves me with no doubt a buck is close, very close. A glance at the winding string tied to my bow tip indicates the deer is uphill behind me 45 degrees to my right. Deer just like turkeys seem to always approach on my weak side. Many years of turkey hunting has taught me how to hide on the ground in plain sight and at moments like this, a hunter must be quiet and motionless. Everything in the woods has slowed to the speed of a molasses flow. My eyes have moved as far to the right side of my head as possible and strain to push further, there is no sound of a moving deer perhaps my nose mistook the odor. I slowly inhale, nope, there is no mistake a rutting buck is not far away. With a smell like that my bet is he is an elder carefully checking the safety of his next steps. My eyes shift to confirm the thermal’s direction. According to the frayed dental floss tied on my bow tip still shows the path of scent movement is in my favor.

Last week while sitting in a Gobbler Lounger a doe unexpectedly showed up standing right in front of me at ten yards. She busted me, stomped her foot, snorted and bounded away. After a few minutes, I bleated in the manner Ishi once upon a time would do to call deer for Pope and Young. After a short period of time, she came back, stopped at fifteen yards and bolted when my arrow passed through her engine room. I found her laying peacefully within forty yards of my shot.

Knowing that the buck uphill behind me could move off unseen in any number of directions, I decided to make the Ishi call. In this case, I did not dare touch the heel of hand to my lips. Instead, I pressed my lips tightly together as when I kee-kee on a wing bone. As I sucked air in through my lips, the desired soft bleat sounded. It worked, the buck begins quartering down the hill passing 6 feet to my right and continued angling down the slope toward the trail I had figured deer would walk along broadside past me.

Keeping an eye on the buck and the winding string on my bow I could anticipate the exact spot where the buck’s nose would intersect my scent line, much experience has taught me if there is going to be a fatal shot it must occur before that intersection. When his head went behind a tree I raised my bow, he never noticed and when his front leg extended out for his next step my arrow hit in the pocket with a hair cutting blood spraying thump. The surprised buck launched, scrambling/crashing away, all went quiet, after the saga of the buck trail last year I decided to wait 30 minutes before standing up to check anything out. Even though my broadhead was robust, sharp and the shot was good. Checked the time, 9:00 A, at 9:10A there was loud sounds of a falling deer sliding down a steep hill being cheered on by some startled squirrels. Not sure who made more noise the buck or the squirrels, this little puzzle kept me occupied for the next twenty minutes or so. Then that long-awaited stretch as I stood up felt so good.

After a rough slide down to the bottom, he lays with head resting on a rock.

Sure I had heard the buck drop I contained the urge to make haste to the place of that sound; it is always best to move with purpose along the trail without taking any shortcuts until you see the deer laying dead. At the point of the shot, there was lots of cut deer hair and foamy pink blood, but the amount of blood leading out from there was less than I like to see. However, with the large divets kicked up through the fallen leaves, there was no doubt which way the buck went. I advanced on high alert watching the trail well ahead for my deer after moving forty yards the edge of the deepest ravine on the property came into view, and few feet from the drop was a huge puddle of blood as if someone had just dumped it from a pail. Best of all 150 yards almost straight down, at the bottom of the ravine lay my buck.

The Ten Minute Buck Leads Us to Next Day

January 6, 2018 by Charlie 10 Comments

Hunt date October 24, 2017

The buck stood just a mere 15 yards with one back leg lifted as if a dog on point. The setting sun’s glare was blinding as I settled into the stand, so I turned my back to it while waiting for its further descent to the horizon. The view on the other side of this short ladder-stand can be just as productive. Figures, just like turkeys, deer like to appear on your backside.

The first assumption is the buck has busted me in this seven-foot stand. However, buck’s eyes are focusing on something at ground level and not at my position. Apparently, this buck has come to find out what made the walking noise. Whenever approaching a deer stand it is best to walk in like a deer, the noises made must be natural sounding within the cadence of the deer’s world. In this case, instead of thinking a hunter had moved in this beautiful buck came to investigate a potential doe.

The temptation is to count points while waiting for a good shot; longtime experience has taught me not to do this, stop the one, two, three… immediately and focus on the task at hand. This evening’s thermal current is gently cascading downhill from the buck to me; there is plenty of time.

When deer are in close moments must be slowly deliberate so that they don’t catch the deer’s attention by sight or sound, including neurological background noise. Like the hands of a clock my lower torso shifts to align the bow when its time comes to rise. The front angle of the deer is too sharp for a shot; he needs to move down about eight feet for an arrow to hit the pocket behind the left shoulder and exit before the last rib on the opposite side.

Time seems to have stopped, I’m not sure if 54 years of deer hunting have numbed my excitement or if more concerning, shooting a buck no longer causes the fever. Sadly, I feel no excitement only intense concentration to not screw this up because no matter the experience level things can go wrong in a hurry.

The multipoint buck sniffs the thermals one more time before moving on the downhill trail, almost broadside he comes to a stop with his front shoulder extended forward. Perfect, the arrow is released. My buck bounds angle straight away uphill, stops, his antlers are above the brush then disappear while the sapling he was standing by vibrates as if life is leaving the deer or he is making a rub. It is time to wait at least a half hour; I give it 40 minutes even though my arrow is blood-soaked. Slowly descend to the ground all senses alert. Upon inspection, the blood on the arrow has bubbled up and down the shaft, indicate substantial lung penetration. There’s chest color hair on the ground and a good blood trail to follow. However, this deer should not have gone up any hill, which always makes me suspicious that things are not as they first appear.

It takes me at least 15 minutes to move 50 yards towards a dead buck, the sound of a deer bounding downhill freezes me, and more deer sound like they are walking away side-hilling. More time passes the sun is low, and light is fading fast as I reach the sapling. At the base of this little tree, an empty blood-soaked deer bed. Wait some more even though a substantial blood trail beckons me to follow.

Apparently a mortal hit. Air bubbles in blood pool indicate lungs are pierced. At this point, I did not think the deer would go far.

The thick hillside brush makes moving sound like anything other than a human crashing their way ahead impossible. At any moment a carcass should be illuminated in my beam of light, depressingly, I find another bed, blood, and a good crimson trail leading off onto neighboring land. Time to seek permission.

The neighboring landowner was, perhaps, one of the most accommodating, he promptly granted permission to search. Shane with Calling all Turkeys was to arrive tonight so that we could video some fall turkey dogging. I called to let him know I’d likely be busy hauling a buck in, at that time my expectation was for a smooth recovery. This year Shane was training his 9-month-old Blue Tick hound, Callie, for deer recovery, a leashed tracking dog is legal in Wisconsin. I agreed and waited until Shane arrived with Callie before resuming the buck’s trail.

We were back at the point of shot five hours later. Callie easily picked up the trail as she started dragging Shane behind her. Large puddles of blood confirmed she was on the correct deer. With all Callie’s baying and commotion of us busting brush to keep we flushed several other deer on the way. In spite of the distractions of the deer, Callie stayed on the track. However, that gut feeling of something is not going right begin to seep into me. During my half-century-plus of deer hunting, I have been on hundreds of recovery trails, for many of those years I was on the tracker’s call list to help other hunters; something was not going right here. A deer who has lost this much blood and continued to do so, should not be leaving yet another bed.

After a couple of more hours, the blood on the ground started turning a grainy black color typical of deteriorating lungs and not a lot of it. According to Callie’s nose, the deer crossed an open grassy field that took us to another woodlot. We decided to wait until sunrise before going further. We all needed rest and a break from the inky black night. My sleep was not restful as the mind kept replaying all the events of the shot and track over and over looking for some details it might have missed.

As the sun rose it all its splendor, we were back sorting through the evidence to figure out where this buck went. At a planted food plot the deer was expected to cut across to the other side, wounded animals are known to take the path of least resistance. The buck did not do this.

Blood sign continues to be easy to follow.

Instead, he circled and bedded in the opposite side’s brush line. He bedded stretched out; the moist ground leaves

Charlie is pointing out the bucks outline where he laid stretched out.

held an imprint of his body. And he had moved out yet again! Tracks and small spots of blood led us downhill towards a paved county road and past a number of trail cameras. Shane suggested I contact the landowner for permission to pull the cards so that we could perhaps see the condition of the deer was. Yeah, I, of course, was having doubts about my shot placement too; to my pleasant surprise, the landowner allowed us to pull the camera cards.

As we ate lunch, we perused all of the camera pictures and were shocked there was no photo, not a single one of the buck! How could this be? The sign and Callie’s nose confirmed the buck had used the trails heading downhill.

After lunch and some rest, we replaced the camera cards. Unless this deer possesses powers from the gods not yet discovered by us mere mortals, there must be an earthly explanation. While Callie continued dragging Shane around in attempts to pick up the trail and that included attempting to take him for a walk along the busy county road, I started back trailing in an effort to find the

Shane covered in burdock including some particles in his eyes. He trusts me to remove them from his eye.

“earthly” reason for no pictures.

This old buck knew where the trail cameras were! Figured out he should let his picture get taken. He had left the trail to walk behind every one of the cameras! Never before had I encountered this kind of behavior from any deer. How could he possibly have figured out how hunters use and why hunters use cameras? Of course, my mind has worked on this quirky happening. The only thing that seems logical is the electronics in the camera make some noise that spooked a cautious buck; he did not like the sound or the flash causing him to move around the camera.

By this point in the day, I’m feeling queasy, hate not doing my part well and losing a deer and, the thought of giving up bowhunting gnaws in my head. The trail is cold and the final option, grid searching appears to be it. There’s a long grass swamp at the hill’s base along the road; he must be in there. As we searched I lost track of the deer remains that we found, one a small buck died within a week, others large, literally mossy covered natural European mounts and some more recent. What we could not locate was our buck.

In what was to be the final loop along an old logging trail that would allow Callie to scent on the downwind side of the swamp. As we moved around the swamp getting close to the county road, I was ready to give up on the recovery of this buck. Or at least until the vultures and crows showed me where he was in a few days. The case could not be made that he’d be OK and alive. In situations like this I always consider my tag filled because clearly, I killed the animal.

Callie suddenly jerked Shane off the path into a thick bushy patch that lay between the trail and county road. Shane yelled I got something in my eye and need help. Earlier Callie had dragged him through dense patches of cockleburr, and I had to get him to hold still while pulling some fragments out of his eye. Oh no not again. But my partner needs my help so into the brush I go.

Shane had his camera pointed at me, his eye was ok and on the ground lays a large dead twelve point buck with a perfectly placed arrow wound. It’s about 3p, nearly 24 hours since the shot. Shane has a video of me he continues to laugh at–as my face from depression to ecstatic “Holy shit is that my buck?! I mean holy moly…” The back story there is Shane had made the reasonable request that I refrain from profanities during recordings.

We would not have recovered this deer without the aid of Callie the deer tracking hound. She had tried to take us along the buck’s trail along the shoulder of the road. We did not think a wounded deer would walk on the shoulder of a busy county road during daylight. Moral of this story, trust the dog. In this case, even if she is an inexperienced 9-month-old.

Shane has every reason to be proud of Callie and training he as given her over the summer months.

Excitement might not have hit me way back at the shot, had the buck been recovered from his first bed, I’d have been thrilled. But after all

I will be forever grateful for Callie’s excellent nose work. Notice where the arrow hit. This is a shot opportunity I would take every time it is presented.

that trailing and becoming ready to give up then finding him; well I was in touch with a lot of that old-time deer excitement. The buck’s meat is perfectly fine and delicious, weighed over 200 pounds field dressed.

Callie absorbing the hard found deer scent.

What went wrong? Why such a long trail?

This is an obvious question that all hunters think hard about, and the answer did not hit me until I was reading a piece by a chef regarding knife sharpening and proper knife selection for the task. The chef stated a knife cuts best by slicing not pushing. It is the length of the back and forth pulls causing the food to be sliced cleanly and not pressure pushing the blade down to get it through. Of course, I knew that! This year I had been convinced to use a different broadhead which has a wide stout blade. This head smashed its way into and out of the deer’s chest but did not do a good job cutting its way. Kind of like a hatchet would have performed.

An arrow kills by hemorrhage, which requires cutting like a knife, not a hatchet type whack. Broadheads that are wide, and short, even though they are sharp, are not as deadly as the longer knife like heads. A big wide broadhead causes entry damage, making for copious amounts of blood. However, internal cutting–hemorrhage may be minimal. Both lungs on this buck were penetrated, plus the edge of the liver. With my old Zwickey or Grizzly heads, he would have been dead within 60 yards with a hit like this.

Both lungs were hit and the liver which has a large wound. Notice the bruising and tearing. No evidence of the broadhead slicing.

Starting from the left; QAD Exodus this is the broadhead I used this year, notice the short blades, they are not long enough to slice. The Grizzly has the most extended cutting surface and slices it passes through a deer’s chest. The Zwickey operates similarly to the Grizzly head with slightly shorter cutting length. The last broadhead on the right cutting length is short due to notches at the rear so it too will tear rather than slice. Tearing does less tissue damage thus allowing game animals to live longer after a lethal hit.

In my experience, the Grizzly and Zwickey broadheads when adequately placed have killed deer without fail to cause the deer to drop dead within 60-70 yards. After my experience with the QAD Exodus this season no one will talk me into using a broadhead that does not have enough cutting length to slice rather than tear its way through a chest cavity. Other broadhead designs may look “wicked,” but no company has done a study that refutes the finding of Dr. Ashby’s study of arrow lethality on African game. I should have known better.

Wisconsin Hunting and Trapping Forecast

September 5, 2016 by Charlie 4 Comments

Wisconsin DNR’s annual Wisconsin Hunting and Trapping Forecast is published and available.

The downloadable PDF is here:

2016 Wisconsin Hunting and Trapping Forecast

Download Wisconsin 2016 Hunting & Trapping Forecast

Some of the highlights inside include

Find a place to hunt in Wisconsin

Pocket Ranger App has been downloaded 210,000 times for Apple and Android phones.

Places to hunt

Deer registration locations

Rules and regulations

License and permit information

Safety communication tool

Advanced GPS mapping features

Trophy Case, join a community of anglers and hunters

News and alert feature.

Public Access Lands (PAL) Atlas

Finding Open Lands – A mapping tool shows the approximate location of all MFL–Open and FCL lands in Wisconsin – here, you’ll find landowner info, acreage, and enrollment information.

Voluntary Public Access VPA and Habitat Incentive Programs HIP

Provides financial incentives to private landowners who open their property to public hunting, fishing, trapping and wildlife observation and improve wildlife habitat.

FFlight the Fields and Forest Lands Interactive Gamebird Hunting Tool

Features available within the program will help hunters locate DNR public parking areas, overlay township descriptions, and provide access to maps and aerial photos of prospective hunting areas.

Deer District Forecasts

West Central
Northern
Northeast
Southern

Migratory Game Birds

Ducks
2016 Changes
Canada Geese
Mourning Doves
Woodcock

Upland Game

Wild Turkey
Pheasant
Ruffed Grouse
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Bobwhite Quail
Rabbits & Hares
Gray & Fox Squirrels

Furbearers

Raccoon
Coyotes
Gray and Red Fox
Beaver
River Otter, Muskrat, and Mink
Fisher
Bobcat

Black Bear Forecast

Northeast District
Northern District
West Central District

The folks at WDNR did an excellent job producing a thorough overview of the upcoming 2016 fall hunting and trapping seasons. I highly recommend you download this document; there is lots of useful information. You will not be disappointed. Good hunting.

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.

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

Deer Can Hear Your Muscles Move?

June 26, 2016 by Charlie 3 Comments

Have you ever had a whitetail deer standing real close looking the other way while the wind is blowing from the deer towards you? This deer appears to be totally unaware of the danger near him. The draw is silent yet, suddenly for no apparent reason other than some dang sixth sense he tenses and bolts away out of range only to stiff leg around for a few minutes before fading off out of sight.

During my half-century of hunting a scenario like this has happened on more than one occasion. I’ve sadly shaken my head in defeat while racking my brain trying to figure out went wrong at the moment of truth. And not just deer, other animals such as turkeys, elk, coyotes, fox, cats and bears at times have appeared to have that sixth sense warning of danger at the very last moment. I have always thought something unnoticed went wrong, some movement, noise or scent and then redoubled my efforts to avoid making whatever mistake it was. However, in March another possibility was unveiled to me.

Early this year the upper left side of my body seized into pain shooting down my left arm causing my hand to go numb to the point where a needle pushed through it did not produce any feeling or pain. Needless to say, this is always a good reason to seek medical attention. Thankfully a heart attack and stroke were ruled out. The doctors suspected nerve damage and referred me to the neurology department.

An MRI showed nerve damage at the base of my neck, so the Doctor ordered an EMG (electromyography) and this was when things got interesting as they relate to hunting.

This EMG graph represents the noise made by contracting human muscles.

During the EMG I discovered when my muscles are moving and tensing they make noise, a lot of noise, the electrical static coming out of the EMG speakers was astounding. As soon as I heard that racket all those deer described earlier came to mind, and I remembered they came to attention just when my muscles were tensing for the draw or lifting the gun. I immediately asked the doctor if any research has been done to determine if animals can hear all those sounds. He was taken aback by that question; apparently, it had never occurred to anyone to consider the possibility. Of course, my next request was when the test is complete could we experiment with different muscle moves. He agreed.

I learned that if I quickly bunched up my bow pulling muscles, the noise went off the chart and when I ever so slowly tensed those same muscles for a draw the sound produced was much more moderate, almost a flat-line. We spent an additional 40 minutes as I experimented with different combinations of internal muscle movement while the doctor measured the sound levels and strength application. We discovered I could apply the same pressure with and without noise. Hmm…

Fewer deer escape me these days than did at the beginning of my hunting career. Buck fever does not have much effect on me anymore, and I’m smoother during the seconds of shot preparation and shooting. Perhaps there is no sixth sense, rather just a case of a very finely tuned sensory ability on the part of the prey.

Here’s a video of a basic EMG test. Mine was much more extensive, as in a lot more needles were inserted into me but the principles were fairly close to the same as shown here.

CWD Infects Bucks Twice the Rate of Does

March 7, 2015 by Charlie Leave a Comment

CWD-infected buck. Courtesy Green Bay Press Gazette

The rate of CWD infection continues to increase in Wisconsin’s deer herd. Whitetail bucks 2.5 years old and up have a higher rate of infection according to the most recent sampling.

Statewide in 2014 5,400 deer were sampled for CWD. 324 deer were found CWD positive mostly in Wisconsin’s southern endemic area this is a 6% infection rate.

The infected deer by age and sex-

25% – adult male white-tailed deer (2.5+ years-old)
8% – yearling males
10% – adult female deer
7% – yearling females

Since the beginning of sampling in 2002 CWD infection have continued to increase mainly among bucks 2.5 years and older. The best hypothesis regarding the spread of CWD is that it is spread via body fluids containing the prion. Many researchers believe this is due to the natural behavior of the adult buck.

Creating and maintaining scrapes,
Licking branches to leave a scent that is then licked by other bucks and some does.
Adult bucks wander a wider geographic area which risks spreading CWD to new areas.

So far, research indicates the best thing to do to contain or at least slow CWD’s progress is reduce the herd density while removing as many 2.5-year-old bucks as possible. The problem with implementing this strategy is hunter opposition. During the last couple of decades, hunters have come to believe they should let small bucks pass in order to grow them up for bigger antlers, referred to as Quality Deer Management (QDM). When CWD was first discovered in Wisconsin, the DNR set in motion a deer extermination policy in the believe they could eliminate all CWD-infected deer in what has become known as the CWD Zone. During this failed effort a system known as Earn a Buck (EAB) was instituted. However, according to the documented infection rates an Earn a Doe (EAD) should have implemented instead. Assuming the infection rates by age and sex above it makes more sense to push down the buck population. A lower population of bucks may keep bucks in the area. When bucks become crowded in an area, some move-out or are pushed out by dominate bucks. Causing a certain number of bucks, some which could be infected to move on and infect new areas.

According to Tami Ryan, DNR wildlife health section chief.

“Long-term monitoring of disease patterns is crucial in understanding the dynamics of this CWD, and it’s also important to make sure we keep the public informed, prevalence continues to increase within the department’s long-term monitoring area in Southwest Wisconsin, and remains higher in males than females and higher in adults than yearlings.”

“The department is very grateful for the cooperation that hunters and landowners have provided over 13 years of sampling, they are helping monitor the health of Wisconsin’s deer herds and providing information that is of interest to many.”

WDNR statements regarding CWD monitoring.

Monitoring efforts also included ongoing surveillance within a 10-mile radius of the each new positive found in 2012 in Juneau, Adams and Portage counties in central Wisconsin. Four additional positives were found in 2013 in Adams and Portage counties, while two additional positives were discovered in Adams County in 2014.

Surveillance was also conducted surrounding a CWD-positive captive deer farm in Marathon County, with no wild CWD deer detected.

Following the 2012 discovery of a CWD-positive adult doe near Shell Lake, 2014 marked the third year of surveillance efforts in Washburn County in Northwest Wisconsin. Following recommendations from a local community action team, local landowners and hunters helped the department sample more than 1,900 deer in the area over the last three years. No new positives have been detected. Based on three years of sampling, all information has indicated CWD is not widespread in the Washburn area, and occurs at a very low prevalence rate.

CWD-infected Doe.
Courtesy WDNR

Real Traditional Bow Shooting

February 18, 2015 by Charlie 1 Comment

Centuries ago master archers were able to perform incredible feats of archery. These skills have long been forgotten probably due to the invention of gun powder. Danish archer Lars Anderson has studied and practiced these long forgotten archery skills. If you have smallest interest in archery this is a must see video.

While watching take notice of smooth speed of shooting while moving with No Quiver – Lars holds all arrows in one hand while shooting. He is right handed but shoots the arrow from the right side of the bow rather than the left.

Perhaps your interest in real traditional archery has be been peaked. For more reading visit The Archery Library Book List to begin your own journey of archery discovery.

About this library

Old archery books still contain a lot of useful information. They are hard to find and often very expensive. This site is dedicated to preserving them by creating an online repository for the benefit of all archers and as a record of passed times of archery.

The library started when the maintainer thought it could be interesting to put some books from his collection online of which the copyright had expired.

The Library is a non-profit site. The proceedings from advertisement go towards purchase of new books and hosting costs.

Wisconsin Electronic Deer Registration

September 2, 2014 by Charlie 3 Comments

During Wisconsin’s 2014 deer seasons some hunters have been selected to test the new electronic deer registration system. These hunters can voluntarily use the pilot program to register their deer via internet or phone call in. They also have the option to continue in person registration.

Selected hunters may receive a survey about the electronic registration experience. The DNR will use the survey results along with the data from the 2014 registrations to fine tune the system so that it will be ready for all hunters starting in 2015.

Charlie elk is proud to have been selected for this test and looks forward to registering all his 2014 deer using the electronic registration. In person deer registration has always been extremely inconvenient; time/gas consuming and in some warm weather late night recovery situations just plain hard work. There are no direct roads to the registration stations where charlie hunts.

How did charlie get selected?

Not sure. charlie does kill more deer than the average hunter each fall. However charlie has no inside knowledge whether or not that was a factor. charlie never wins any drawing. Even if his name were to be placed in a hat 99 times with only 1 other entrant, that other would be drawn first. This was proven years ago at a MNDNR Advanced Hunter Rendezvous when 100 instructors names were drawn to determine the order of selecting from 100 paintings donated as instructor rewards. Guess what. charlie was picked number 100. They are all nice paintings and charlie’s hangs in a place of prominence just so charlie is always reminded he must work for everything he gets.

Perhaps a new day is starting with charlie’s luck and that world record big bugger better look out.

May your season provide a mindful of great hunting memories and check back for updates on e-registration.

Wisconsin 2014 Anterless Deer Carcass Tag Availability

August 19, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Wisconsin bonus deer tags must be purchased before they are sold out. This is new starting with 2014 deer seasons. The first days are zone specific then they will all go on over the counter sale with a limit of one per hunter per day until they are sold out. Many hunters are unaware of this change and those who decide to buy their license and tags at the last minute may be out of luck. Especially those who hunt on public land due to low number of tags available. Due to hunter requests WDNR set the public land bonus antlerless tags at a low level in an effort to increase the deer herd on public lands.

You can check the status of bonus deer permits sales here – Antlerless Deer Carcass Tag Availability

Monday, August 18 at 10 a.m. – Northern and central forest zones
Tuesday, August 19 at 10 a.m. – Central farmland zone
Wednesday, August 20 at 10 a.m. – Southern farmland zone
Starting August 21 at 10 a.m. – All zones can be purchased

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bonus Tag Information Video

2014 Wisconsin Deer Assessment

July 1, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

What will the fall of 2014 deer harvest be like after a record-breaking harsh winter? This is the question on the minds of most of Wisconsin’s 600,000 deer hunters.

of the car-killed deer assessments conducted by Department of Natural Resources wildlife officials. This finding is in line with field observations from DNR wildlife biologists throughout the state and reports from the public.

This spring, 522 deer were sampled statewide during a period when fat reserves were at their lowest point of the year. Local wildlife biologists inspected and gathered data from deer that were killed in vehicular collisions to evaluate pregnancy rate and fat stores at various points within the deer carcass, including the rump, around the heart and kidneys and in the bone marrow.

Dan Storm, a DNR research ecologist-

“Last January, we heard a lot of concerns about the potential winter impacts on the deer herd. From our radio-collared deer studies, we’ve learned a lot about how winter impacts our northern deer, but we didn’t have similar projects in the southern half of the state. Our research and wildlife staff quickly put a plan in place to look at car-killed deer. This was a very inexpensive and informative way for us to monitor winter impacts on deer throughout the state.”

Fat stores are a key indicator of nutritional condition as deer rely on these reserves, accumulated during summer and fall, to survive winter. Fatter does are able to provide better care to their newborns, which increases survival and is important to herd growth rates – fawn survival is closely linked to doe nutritional condition.

According to the WDNR findings:

In the southern portion of the state, 40 percent of adult deer sampled had rump fat, while rump fat was present in only 14 percent of adult deer sampled in the north. A greater proportion of deer in the north had little or no organ fat, as opposed to deer in the south. Similarly, bone marrow condition was better in the south than the north, and adults were more likely to have fatty marrow than juveniles in both the north and south.

Regardless of where in the state deer in the study were collected, the evaluations revealed that nearly all adult does were pregnant.

“Pregnancy rates among adult does were greater than 90 percent across the state, even in the northern forest, We wouldn’t expect the severe winter to impact this year’s pregnancy rates, because the deer became pregnant before winter began.”

While adult pregnancy rates did not differ between regions of the state, pregnancy rates of juvenile deer approaching their first birthday and the average number of fawns being carried were found to be quite different from north to south and between major habitat types throughout the state.

Dan Storm-

“The rate of adults carrying twins exceeded 60 percent in both the central and southern farmland zones, while the rate of single fawns for these zones was approximately 9 percent. In contrast, fewer does in the northern forest zone were pregnant with twins and many were carrying a single fawn.”

Juvenile does (under one year old) exhibited much lower pregnancy rates than adult does. Less than 10 percent of juveniles in the northern forest and nearly 20 percent in the central farmland zone were pregnant. Differences in litter size between the farmland and forest zones likely reflected differences in habitat productivity and the late spring experienced in 2013 in the Northern Forest Zone. A late spring limits the food supply available to deer, which in turn limits the amount of resources deer can use to create offspring.

Turkey Dogs Don’t Ruin Deer Hunting Areas

June 26, 2014 by Charlie 1 Comment

The short answer is no.

Turkey-doggers and their dogs don’t usually interfere with bowhunters or ruin their deer hunting. Turkey dogging is a late morning mid-day activity, and the vast majority of bowhunters have already left the field by the time we start; although deer hunters should stay on their stands if they see or hear turkey doggers in the area. Deer have a tendency to bed down during full daylight hours, and as long as the deer don’t move, a stand hunter has little chance of seeing them. When mobile hunters such as turkey doggers, other small game or upland hunters enter an area, the deer will get up and move around. Deer are territorial; they do not leave their home range unless there is a lot of disturbance. If the deer leave, it is a short time before they will return, just like rabbits who circle the beagles and return to where they started. I see more trophy bucks within easy bow range when Vic is with me than I do sitting on my butt during “prime time.” Turkey dogs and other hunting dogs are trained not to chase deer. The dog may occasionally bluff a deer to get it away from the bird hunting area, but they rarely chase the deer for long distances.

Some bowhunters get upset about anyone else doing anything else in the woods perhaps it’s they start to feel ownership of a spot after placing their stand. Or more likely it’s because–
The scent control salespeople and inexperienced outdoor writers have convinced many deer hunters that leaving any scent in the woods will destroy the quality of the hunting area and all the deer will “blowout”. So they think if anyone walks around without a has-mat suit on the area is contaminated making it impossible for them to kill a deer let alone a trophy.
Oh well, what can I say about these guys? Except you need to get off your stand and out more. Come on think about it- If deer boogied out of all the areas with human, canine or a scent they don’t recognize, there would be no area holding any deer. Some scent is everywhere.

Turkey hunters are arguably the most considerate, sharing and easy to get along with hunters of them all. That goes double for turkey doggers. If you are sitting on your stand, a turkey dogger comes by, wave, so they know you’re there, and they’ll move out. Then stay alert, it’s likely a deer, possibly a trophy will be by soon.

Good hunting.

Wisconsin’s 2014 Disabled Deer Hunt

May 6, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

2014 disabled gun deer hunt provides great opportunity for hunters with disabilities and interested landowners

MADISON — Sponsors and landowners interested in hosting a gun hunt for deer hunters with disabilities are reminded that the deadline to submit an application is June 1. The 2014 disabled hunt will take place Oct. 4 to 12.

For an online application, search the DNR website dnr.wi.gov for keywords “disabled deer hunt.” If sponsors do not have access to an online application, please contact Dan Kaminski, Assistant Big Game Ecologist, at 608-261-7588 for a physical copy. Sponsors are encouraged to own at least 60 acres of land and will be required to allow other interested disabled hunters to use their land during the disabled deer hunt.

In 2013, 108 sponsors worked closely with landowners and made over 78,000 acres of land available to hunters with disabilities. These sponsors and landowners provided opportunities for over 260 disabled hunters to get out into the field and enjoy the outdoors.

“The new online application created in 2013 helped to streamline the application process for both hunt sponsors, hunters and DNR staff,” said Kaminski. “Disabled hunters are now able to see which properties are enrolled in the hunt sooner than in previous years. Our sincere gratitude goes out to all of the hunt sponsors, landowners and volunteers.”

A full list of hunt sponsors will be available on DNR’s website after June 1. Sponsors are required to submit a list of participants no later than Sept. 1. A list of participating hunters can be submitted online. Interested hunters are encouraged to contact sponsors as soon as possible.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Kaminski, Assistant Big Game Ecologist, 608-261-7588

After Melt Winter Kill Finds

April 7, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

A lot of questions are being asked about the extent of Wisconsin’s winter deer and turkey kill. Of course it will vary by area.

All the reports coming in here concerning turkeys are indicating the population is strong and vibrant with strong gobbling reports coming from all across the state of Wisconsin. So it is looking like as predicted Wisconsin’s 2014 spring wild turkey season is going be a good one. Additionally the early reports are of strong gobbling all across northern Wisconsin including units 4, 6, & 7 where WDNR needlessly cut the spring permits. Apparently northern turkeys are either well adapted for survival during adverse conditions or they use their wings and sharp eyesight to find better areas of food and cover to move to. Then return as temperatures become mild and the snow melts.

Unfortunately deer become stranded in deep snow leaving them dependent on local food and shelter conditions. This clearly has led to some die-off in areas exactly how extensive we don’t know yet. Apparently all the monitoring takes place on computer screens these days rather then in the field. In West Central Wisconsin I documented 31 winter killed deer in about a 1,000 acre area, additionally buddies reported more dead deer further north. I reported my findings to the local WDNR manager, he did not inquire any further than expressing surprise at the high number. Even with that overwinter kill deer sightings are very high this spring. A lot of deer survived here in spite of the harsh winter.

WDNR does not have teams that go out and observe deer or turkeys across the state to assess the health of populations. Many think they do but old fashion hands on wildlife management is rarely practiced any more. This is true with the vast majority of game departments across the country. For better or worse they rely on internet postings on social sites and blogs.

Not much happens if a hunter shoots an obliviously sick animal and takes it to a WDNR headquarters or sends pictures. There is no tracking or analysis performed. Hunters are left to their own to really figure out what has happened in their areas or what is happening.

Now is the time to get out to inspect your hunting area if you think there has been an overwinter kill. It’s easy to see the remains now. Here are some pictures of what you may find.

Turkey feathers are well preserved during winter in Wisconsin.

Turkey feathers last a long time.

These feathers were left overwinter from a fall kill.

The feathers above are well preserved so if you scout your area evidence of winter kill will still there.

These turkey bones are from an owl kill about a year old.

Carcass bones remain in the natural kill area longer than most people think. Look for these and feathers as you scout your area.

This is a picture of deer I found in late January. Still easily identifiable after the spring thaw.

Deer carcasses are easy to find especially if you hike with your dog. It is natural for them to become curious and point the way to you. This grizzly stuff to find but important in order to try and understand how a hunting area was affected by the severe winter. If deer were stranded in a deer yard for the winter you will find several carcasses in the general vicinity.

If you do not find evidence of dead turkeys or deer as pictured above perhaps you can consider your hunting area in good shape. Be thankful. Study what deer and turkeys ate over the winter and work to increase the supply of those food items for the next severe winter. This is how carrying capacity of the land can be increased.

Poaching Deer In Wisconsin may soon cost $10,000

March 19, 2014 by Charlie 3 Comments

The Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill authorizing a surcharge penalty from $43- $10,000 for poaching deer. In particular a trophy deer. Judges would be required to add the surcharge fine according to the bucks score based on length of tines and spread. Also anyone convicted of poaching would be forbidden from purchasing a hunting, trapping or fishing license for up to 3 years.

Now the bill moves onto the Senate.

Wait a minute.

Does a poacher by definition care about buying a license?
Aren’t all deer and other species poaching just as reprehensible?

How about we just make the fine $10,000 for poaching any game with 50% going to the tipster?

Wildlife Winter Survival

February 17, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

As this is written mid February 2014 the severe winter of 2013-2014 marches on with no relief in sight. Most human animals are staying in their warm abodes

These remains appear to be that of a fawn.

starring out the window hoping for spring’s arrival. As for the wildlife, they of course do not have this option. Unless they are of the variety that hibernates. The rest are left to make do. They try to maintain body temperature by seeking the shelter of trees, brush and snowbanks. In the case of deer many are not making it. I spent this last weekend touring a wide area of west central Wisconsin, farm country, found 30 dead deer. There are probably more buried under the snow.

Due to the fall rut many bucks start winter weak with little fat reserves. They spent their time mating rather than eating. Now nature sees them as expendable and they are among the first to die during a severe winter like we are having now.

Fawns have a hard time in winter many of them will die as the adult does push them away from food in order to survive themselves. The 2 year old doe is best prepared deer to survive winter.

There is very little that can be done at this point in time to save winter stressed deer. It has been estimated during the winter of 1995 northern Wisconsin lost 126,000 deer to winter starvation. Some expect this winter to have a similar winter kill statistic. Or worse.

WDNR managers have been warning about another severe winter kill for years unless the herd was reduced. Many experts believed Wisconsin’s deer were pushing the land’s carrying capacity. From my observations I believe they were correct. Now nature is making the correction and nature always over corrects.

Next season some are going to blame the wolves but consider their situation. The snow this season is

Some remains are above the snow indicating death was within a few weeks.

unusually dry, fluffy and deep. There is no top crust for wolves to travel on, nor has there been any all season. The going has been hard even for a man on snowshoes. This means the wolves are floundering in deep snow most likely unable to catch prey. They too are likely starving. A reasonable person would expect, when fewer wolves are around next year the anti wolf hunters will blame the hunters and so that circle will go round and round. Like wolves and deer chasing their tails.

The time to save the deer from this fate has passed for now. I urge all hunters particularly those who manage land for deer to get out there and see what is going on. Note all the food plots of clover and other low growing greens are buried under some feet of snow. Acorns and other fall mast are buried and inaccessible. What the deer need now is woody browse and many well meaning food plotters remove all of that. Make plans to maintain some above snow browse for next winter. If there are trees that need to be or can be cut down you might want to consider dropping those this weekend. February is the tree pruning month.

Because Box Elder trees hold their seeds into late winter and early spring they are a valuable source of food for both turkeys and deer. Notice the seeds on the tree and scattered on the snow. These trees continue time releasing seeds thus keeping a steady supply of food for wildlife.

All areas will have shrubs and trees that given a chance will grow and provide winter time food. For example in my area box elder trees are targeted as a native invasive and the state foresters urge their removal/eradication. They are fast growing and if not managed will take over, however, they hold seeds through winter providing deer and turkeys with a valuable food source during times of starvation.

Wisconsin Winter 2014 Killing Northern Deer and Turkeys

January 28, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Severe winter of 2014 taking a toll on Wisconsin’s wildlife

Update: March 31,2014 – After covering a lot of Wisconsin turkey territory this spring including the Northern Wisconsin units my fears of a massive wild turkey winter kill were not realized. There are few birds that died but no huge flocks died or at least I could not find any evidence of any. A landowner in northern Polk county told me of a massive winter kill on his farm and invited me to come see. Vic the turkey dog and I covered this farm finding only 4 dead turkeys, some of the neighbors invited us to check their farms also. Still only the 4 dead turkeys were found. Individual birds die each winter for a variety of reasons. Had there been more dead turkeys Vic would have found and pointed them to us. These fellows like me, rightly became concerned about not seeing turkeys in their usual locations all winter and we assumed the worst. However, as we searched around these farms gobbles answered the yelps from my trumpet call all day long. In fact there is a solid turkey population there. I’m finding and hearing that is the case in many areas. So I wrote a 2014 turkey hunt forecast here, check it out. Also a post wondering if Turkeys Migrate?

Bad news regarding deer, as the snow melts we’ve been finding a lot of winter kill deer. Deer of course do not have wings so they can’t fly away to find food. They unfortunately are stuck when the snow gets deep.

Good News Update March 7, 2014 Turkey Turkeys Everywhere

Winter 2014 has been brutally cold. Not just for a few days of cold or record cold but a long sustained subzero cold. Coupled with deep snow in the northern sections of Wisconsin makes for tough times on our wildlife resources. Wisconsin’s wildlife managers are monitoring the winter severity index at many northern stations it is already pasted severe. There will likely be no antlerless permits issued in these areas for the 2014 deer season. Spring 2014 turkey population will likely be considerably lower than usual.

WDNR press release-

According to Wallenfang, the 2012-13 winter started out fairly mild, but late, significant snows and cold temperatures occurred well into May resulting in direct losses of deer and lower than average fawn production. These factors and others combined to keep deer numbers lower than desired during the hunting season in many areas across the north.

“For the 2013 hunting season, antlerless permit numbers were set as low as we’ve seen them since the 1990s,” Wallenfang said. “With deer numbers already low in some areas, this winter is going to slow the recovery of the northern herd.”

Mike Zeckmeister, district wildlife supervisor in Spooner, says that the first question people usually ask is whether they should start feeding deer.

“It’s always well-intended, but feeding can do more harm than good if done improperly,” Zeckmeister said. “It’s understandable that people want to try to help deer through a bad winter. So if you choose to feed, please talk to the local DNR wildlife biologist first for advice.”

Zeckmeister especially emphasized that straight corn and hay are not recommended as they can be harmful. Instead, a commercialized pellet or mixes containing small quantities of corn, plus alfalfa, oats, and soybeans, as well as various vitamins and minerals is preferable from a deer health concern. It should be spread out to reduce fighting, away from roads or snowmobile trails to avoid collisions, and near sheltered areas out of the wind.

Wallenfang also offered a reminder that deer feeding is strictly regulated, and is prohibited in any county affected by CWD. In all other counties, feeding is currently limited to a maximum of 2 gallons per site, must be placed within 50 yards of a dwelling or business building open to the public, and may not be placed within 100 yards of a roadway with a posted speed limit of 45 mph or more.

Zeckmeister urged potential feeders to contact the local wildlife manager to discuss various types of food and techniques that will not harm deer, and for a full explanation of additional regulations.

DNR biologists annually monitor the effects of winter weather on the deer herd using a Winter Severity Index, which uses a combination of cold temperatures and deep snows to gauge winter stress levels. In addition, they are also spending time in the woods monitoring both deer and winter habitat, as well as talking to loggers, foresters, trappers, and others who spend time in the winter woods.

The WSI measurements are recorded annually from December 1 through April 30 at 43 stations spread primarily across the northern third of the state as well as several east-central counties.

“Each day that the temperatures fall below zero degrees Fahrenheit and/or the snow depth is more than 18 inches, the conditions are noted for each station,” Wallenfang explained. “For example, a day with 20 inches of snow and a temperature of five-below-zero would receive two points for the day.”

Winter conditions are considered mild if the station accumulates less than 50 points, moderate if between 51 and 80 points, severe if between 81 and100, and very severe if over 100.

“The index is not a perfect measurement of winter severity, but it gives us a pretty good gauge of what to expect,” says Wallenfang.

Wallenfang says that several stations in the far northwestern counties have already surpassed the severe category. Farther south and east, many stations will likely hit the severe classifications later this winter.

As a result, Wallenfang anticipates either zero or extremely limited numbers of antlerless deer permits in many northern counties for the 2014 hunting season.

“Even if winter suddenly turned mild, we would still anticipate some buck only areas in 2014,” Wallenfang added. “Deer numbers have declined in general across much of the north, and in some areas significantly in recent years. Low or zero quotas are an obvious step to help herds recover.”

“We’ll be monitoring the situation across not just the north, but the entire state through spring green-up because we did lose deer in the south last year, as well. We are asking the public to assist with monitoring and would appreciate their help in reporting any winter deer mortality they see to their local wildlife biologist,” Wallenfang says.

For more information see- Wisconsin Baiting and Feeding Regulations

Our wild turkeys are also suffering especially along their northern habitat areas. Deep snow prevents them from foraging to ground foods. During these times turkeys must roost throughout the cold days to conserve body heat. When the temps moderate they will feed on buds and insects inside the tree bark. This type of feeding seems to be much more energy intensive than when they can scratch around on the ground. I’ve been the northern forest north of Highway 8 and in all the areas I walked the snow was waist deep. At that time it was fluffy which should bode for ruffed grouse and snowshoe hares. Most other wildlife is in real trouble.

Turkeys eat weed seeds that are above the snow line. In this case burdock.

In the central and southern areas I’ve visited the deer seem to be OK, not great, but just OK. Ag fields became ice covered prior to last heavy snows and here too there have been long extended periods of subzero cold. Turkeys cannot scratch through the ice layers so they’ve been feeding on seeds found above the snow lines.

I expect reduced turkey populations statewide for Wisconsin’s 2014 spring turkey hunt. Turkeys can survive without feeding for about 14 days before they become so weak they can’t eat. The weather is pushing their limits. Especially the birds of year.

Crossbows Are Legal in Wisconsin 2014

December 13, 2013 by Charlie 1 Comment

A hunter’s crossbow. Will it be legal for all hunters in 2014.

Update March 9, 2014 Wisconsin Cancels Disabled Hunter Permits

Starting the 2014 hunting season all Wisconsin hunters will be able to use a crossbow no matter their age or physical condition.

On December 10, 2013 Governor Walker signed AB194 now referred to as Act 61 into Wisconsin law. The State Senate approved AB 194 in September with an amendment and the Assembly passed it twice unanimously. These days it is very rare for our political leaders to agree on anything which indicates there is a lot of grassroots support for the legalization of crossbows in Wisconsin.

Starting in September 2014 bowhunters will have another option. The crossbow season will run concurrent with the traditional archery season. A separate license is required for each season. The cost of the crossbow license is $3 if purchased with an archer’s license, – $24.00 making the total license fee $27.00. This allows a bowhunter to use either crossbow or other archery equipment. Hunter’s choice.

If a hunter wants just an archer’s license or crossbow license the cost of each equal at $24.00. This hunter would then be limited to using only a crossbow or other bows such as compounds, recurve or longbow. etc.

This change has been a long time coming. Finally a new, different and challenging way to hunt is available to all Wisconsin hunters of all ages and abilities. Although, keep in mind the crossbow itself is not a new hunting tool. Its use dates back to 400 BC. The hunting crossbow predates compound bows by quite a few years. So here is your chance to try out a piece of ancient history. Enjoy and good hunting.

Will Wisconsin let everyone use a crossbow in 2013?

August 8, 2013 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Update March 10, 2014 Wisconsin Cancels Disabled Hunter Permits

Update 12/17/2013 Crossbows Now Legal In Wisconsin

After investigating many possible scenarios there appears to be a chance although a slim one that Wisconsin’s bowhunters will be allowed to use crossbows in the 2013 archery season. Well, technically during the soon to be established concurrent crossbow season, an important distinction to some.

A hunter’s crossbow. Will it be legal for all hunters in 2013 or 2014?

When the Wisconsin Assembly unanimously passed AB 194 many hunters were optimistic they would have the long denied opportunity to hunt deer with a crossbow in Wisconsin. In this age of extreme political partisanship where nothing gets a unanimous vote it sure seemed a slam dunk the WI Senate would quickly follow suit. Unfortunately that was not the case, SB 185 is stuck in the Senate Natural Resources Committee.

Senator Neal Kedzie is the chair and there are rumors he is not enthusiastic about legalizing crossbows. I have heard these from other Senator’s staff. This may be more finger pointing by others rather than being based in any fact. You can judge for yourself; Here is my email to Senator Kedzie and his response-

charlie wrote:

Honorable Senator Kedzie,

Many deer hunters were looking forward to hunting with crossbows during this fall’s archery season especially after the Assembly passed this bill unanimously. However it now appears SB185 is stuck in the Natural Resource committee with no action scheduled. Is this correct? Are there plans to get this to the floor of the Senate anytime soon?

Because of the current special crossbow permitting process many once proud bowhunters who became impaired are considered second class hunters due to their special treatment. Legalizing crossbows for everyone would do a lot to take away the current stigma associated with a hunter who uses a crossbow. Please do what you can to get SB 185 up for a vote an on to the Governor.

Thank you.

Senator Kedzie responded:

Thank you for contacting the office of Senator Neal Kedzie regarding legislation relating to the use of crossbows for hunting.

As you know, an amended version of the bill recently passed the State Assembly; the Assembly version is now different than the Senate version, SB 185. The Assembly bill was referred to the Senate Natural Resources Committee on Friday, June 14^th. At this time, no hearings have been scheduled, as the full Senate has adjourned and will not meet in regular session until September 17^th, at the earliest. Thus, no other legislation will be taken up by the Senate prior to mid-September, and scheduling a hearing for the bill at this time would be somewhat moot, as the work of the committee is only one step of the Senate approval process.

Still, we appreciate reading your comments in support of the legislation.

Office of Senator Neal Kedzie

OK, I said the chance of legalizing crossbows in Wisconsin for the 2013 season was slim at best. The state senate is not back in session until September 17th three days after the opening of archery season. If the Senate Natural Resources Committee schedules the public hearing, votes SB 185 out committee, Senate Majority Leader Senator Fitzgerald schedules a full senate vote, SB 185 were to pass and then get the Governor’s signature; by mid October or so. WDNR already has the license issuing program written, tested and ready to go. It would then be possible to have a crossbow license available by third week of October just in time for hunting the rut and the rest of the archery season.

More likely, SB 185 will be passed early in 2014 and hopefully effective for the 2014 deer season. No matter what the people want politics move slowly and unfortunately, particularly on the Senate side of the equation politicians listen more to the special interests than voters.

Update: Hearing scheduled for more Wisconsin State Senate Schedules Crossbow Hearing

Your Secret Hunting Location and Metadata

June 21, 2013 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Metadata may lead another hunter to your most favored haunts.

So you thought you’d done a good job keeping your prime hunting spots top secret even from most of your closest buddies. Heck, season after season you’ve bagged a trophy so what’s there to worry about now? Except then on occasion, you see another truck parked around “your” area, then another and another. What’s going on? A random hunter invasion or something else?

Well if you took pictures near the kill site, texted or made a phone call. Oops, you’ve marked the location of your honey hole with metadata.

Metadata is information that includes GPS coordinates, information about communications you send and receive, the type of device used, email subject lines, search terms and the websites you visit. It exposes your reading and viewing habits. If you carry your cell phone to a gun range- Don’t worry about any of the firearm databases; you have just disclosed to anyone in the world who understands metadata that you are probably a gun owner. As a matter of fact, if someone cares to track you, metadata can construct a map of your daily movements.

Analyzing metadata requires specialized computer skills right?

Not really, all you need is a computer program with the right algorithms; Google has apps for that which are available for free. Digital pictures contain the GPS coordinates of where and when they were taken, so do text messages and emails. You won’t find GPS coordinates listed as such because they are contained in the code, so you need to run a program to sort them out. With this program you can check out all the vanity pictures posted online, sent by email or texted.

Very soon there will be a new easy to use deer scouting app advertised by some large hunting company that will search the trophy deer picture for its GPS coordinates. Someone somewhere is working on that app marketing right now. In the meantime with an understanding of metadata analyzing and the right Google app, anyone can find the GPS coordinates of a picture taken with smartphones and the new digital cameras including trail cameras.

Metadata is one of the reasons why charlie does not carry a smartphone hunting, and his camera is old with no GPS capabilities.

Ways to avoid having your hunting location metadata-ed

Do not take a smartphone hunting
Take your vanity pictures in locations where you do not care about disclosure
Do not use your phone as a GPS rather use a GPS that broadcasts no identifying information
Do not text or send emails from your hunting spots

Of course, the best-looking pictures are those taken in the field shortly after the game is killed.

How to “scrub” your photo for online use:

Open the photo in one program and open another new file, use a crop box tool to select the open photo displayed on your screen. Paste it into the other empty file then rename it and save. The only metadata it should have now is the file creation date, file type, and size.