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Weekly News
Published - September 19, 2006
Early fall colors arriving in Wisconsin
Conditions remain very dry, fire danger high, in northwestern part of state
MADISON - Trees in Wisconsin’s Northwoods have begun to change, but state forestry officials are urging people traveling to the northwestern portion of the state to view nature’s fall extravaganza of color to be extremely cautious with any potential source of fire.
Despite the rainfall in most of the state over the past several weeks, northwestern Wisconsin remains in an ongoing drought situation with the fire danger rating at the “high” level in Burnett, Washburn, Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland and Iron counties.
Color across the northern part of the state was at about 5 to 20 percent the second week of September, with peak color expected during the last week of September and first week of October. Peak color generally occurs in central Wisconsin during mid-October and in southern Wisconsin during the later half of October.
The primary trigger for trees to begin changing color is the shortened day length, according to Kirsten Held, Forestry Outreach Specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry,.
“It looks like it will be a spectacular year for fall color with brilliant reds and purples already beginning to show,” Held says.
“The intensity of the fall color season is really dependent on the weather that Wisconsin receives during September and October. To have the most brilliant and vibrant fall colors display, a series of fall days filled with bright sunshine and cool, but frost free, evenings are required. These weather conditions cause lots of sugars to be produced by the trees and trapped in the leaves, which ultimately leads to the intense red, orange and purple coloration in the leaves of certain species,” she says.
The duration of the fall color season is related to the wind intensity and rain occurring during late-September and October. High winds and driving rains during this time of the year cause significant numbers of the leaves to fall from the trees, which can prematurely shorten the fall color season.
For current information on the current best fall color viewing areas in Wisconsin contact the Department of Tourism's Fall Color Hotline at 1-800-432-TRIP or online at the Fall Color Report <www.travelwisconsin.com/search/FallColorReport.html> (exit DNR) on the <travelwisconsin.com> Web site (exit DNR).
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Kirsten Held, DNR Division of Forestry - (608) 264-6036
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Fall wild turkey hunting season opens Oct. 1
MADISON – Wisconsin’s 18th fall turkey hunting season runs Oct. 1 through Nov 9, and permits are still available in many of the units open this fall.
In contrast to Wisconsin’s spring turkey hunting season, the fall season generally has a more relaxed atmosphere, with fewer turkey hunters, different tactics and certainly different scenery. The fall season was created in 1989 in part due to the phenomenal success of the wild turkey since it was reintroduced to Wisconsin, a reintroduction made possible through hunter support and dollars.
“Fall turkey hunting produces only about half the spring success rate but can be very satisfying for dedicated turkey hunters nonetheless,” said Andrea Mezera, assistant DNR upland game ecologist. “It’s a longer, less hectic hunt as every hunter gets the full 40 day season to hunt and it’s a different style of turkey hunting with both toms, jakes and hens being fair game.”
Nearly 70,000 hunters applied for and received fall turkey hunting permits through the permit preference drawing process. Biologists have made 90,600 wild turkey permits available, leaving more than 23,600 permits available for over the counter sales that began on Sept. 7. As of Sept. 18, there were still more than 17,000 permits available.
Prospects for the 2006 fall hunt appear to be good says Mezera.
“Each summer field biologists record the number and size of broods they observe. Poult, or turkey-young-of-the-year, counts appear to be up. The 2006 count showed a 39 percent increase in the number of broods with an average brood size of 5.2 chicks.”
In contrast to the spring hunt where hunters try to call in a tom, fall turkey tactics generally involve locating a brood flock, which consists of a hen and the young she hatched earlier in the summer, scattering the flock, then setting up and attempting to call in members of the broken-up flock. Because of the difficulty of distinguishing between young males and females in the fall females, or hens, can be hunted.
Hunters registered 10,591 birds in the 2005 fall season, for a success rate of 12.4 percent compared to an average spring hunt success rate of 24 percent. Hunters registered more than 46,600 turkeys during Wisconsin’s 2006 spring wild turkey season.
Turkey hunters are reminded that there will be a statewide two-day youth gun deer hunt taking place on the weekend of Oct. 7-8. Turkey hunters, like most other hunters, must wear the required minimum of 50 percent blaze orange clothing above the waist while out hunting on these two days. Waterfowl hunters are the only hunters exempt from the blaze orange clothing requirement during the two-day youth gun deer hunt.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrea Mezera - (608) 261-8458
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Duck season opens Sept. 23 in northern zone
Southern zone opens Sept. 30
MADISON – Duck hunters will enjoy a full 60-day hunting season in Wisconsin and have expanded shooting hours on the Sept. 23 opening day, which this year begins at 9 a.m. instead of noon as in previous years.
The season outlook is very good, according to Kent Van Horn, waterfowl ecologist for the state Department of Natural Resources, who notes the total state breeding duck population estimate of 522,571 is 22 percent above the long-term mean.
“Many of the ducks harvested in Wisconsin come from birds that breed in Wisconsin,” Van Horn says. “The four most abundant ducks in Wisconsin’s fall hunting harvest are mallards, wood ducks, green-winged teal and blue-winged teal.”
The opener for the duck season in the Northern Zone is Sept. 23 and the season will run straight through to Nov. 21. The Southern Zone season will be Sept. 30 through Oct. 6 and then will close until it reopens on Oct. 14 and runs through Dec. 5.
Waterfowl North/South boundary zones changed for 2006 season
The boundary between the northern and southern zones (pdf 444kb) for the 2006 Wisconsin waterfowl season has been moved south and will extend from Highway 10 on the Minnesota border to U.S. 41 near Appleton and will follow U.S. 41 to the Michigan border at Marinette/Menominee. The shift will mean that hunters in parts or all of Eau Claire, Dunn, Pepin, Pierce, St. Croix, Chippewa, Rusk, Polk, Burnett, Washburn and Sawyer counties will for the first time in 10 years be in the Northern Zone.
In the past, some of the counties that had been in the Southern Zone were located far enough north so freeze up would cause most ducks to migrate south before the end of the season, Van Horn says. This year’s season structure should eliminate some of that missed hunting opportunity, he adds.
The daily bag limit is six ducks, not to include more than four mallards of which only one may be a hen, two wood ducks, one black duck, two redheads, two scaup, one pintail , one canvasback. In addition, five mergansers to include not more than two hooded mergansers. Coot daily bag increases from 10 to 15. The canvasback season also increased from 30 days to 60 days due to population increase.
More information is available on the waterfowl in Wisconsin pages of the DNR Web site.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Van Horn - (608) 266-8841 or Kimberlee Benton - (608) 261-6458
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Waterfowl hunters cautioned to watch for swans, whooping cranes
Population of trumpeter swans continues to increase in state
MADISON – Waterfowl hunters currently in the field hunting geese and heading out this month to hunt ducks need to be especially careful in identifying all birds before shooting. With close to 100 pairs of endangered trumpeter swans nesting in Wisconsin this year, state wildlife officials estimating the total population of free-flying swans in the state is more than 500, many of which are immature, so they have a not yet developed their signature white feathers and have a more grayish plumage.
In addition, 63 endangered whooping cranes are now in Wisconsin and both the swans and cranes will soon begin fall migrations.
The growing swan population is due to a successful restoration effort that began in 1987 that involved collecting swan eggs from Alaska, and then hatching and rearing the swans for release in Wisconsin. Nesting pairs occurred in northern, northwestern, central/northcentral, and southwestern Wisconsin, with one lone pair occurring in Waukesha County this year, according to Sumner Matteson, an avian ecologist with the Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Endangered Resources.
Trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl species in North America. Adults are all white and stand up to 4 feet tall, weighing between 20 and 30 pounds with up to a 7-foot wingspan. Younger swans, called cygnets, have grayish plumage and are smaller, but are still are significantly larger than Canada geese, with which they are sometimes confused.
The whooping cranes are members of a growing 64-bird flock that has primarily remained within the lower two-thirds of the state along major Wisconsin rivers and wetlands, and in the core reintroduction area of the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.
Whooping cranes also have snow white plumage with the exception of black wing tips and a black mustache. They can reach 5 feet in height with a 7 to 8 foot wing span, and weigh up to 17 pounds. Juveniles have a plumage that is heavily mottled with cinnamon-brown feathers.
Cranes are currently using wetlands along the lower Wisconsin River, more than 25 state wildlife areas, Horicon Marsh and numerous private wetlands as they prepare to migrate, according to Beth Goodman, DNR whooping crane coordinator. The crane reintroduction program is being carried out by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, which is working to reestablish an eastern migratory flock.
The unintentional shooting of a swan or crane can result in fines and restitution costs exceeding $2,000; the intentional shooting of a swan can exceed $5,000 in fines and restitution costs. Additionally, hunters found guilty of shooting a swan can loose their hunting privileges for up to three years.
Since the swan reintroduction program began, more than 30 Wisconsin swans have been shot accidentally or intentionally in the Midwest, Matteson says.
“Hunters have done a great job in learning the differences between swans and geese, but with the growing number of swans and now whooping cranes present in the state, we want to remind them to continue to be vigilant in identifying their game.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Sumner Matteson - (608) 266-1571
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Woodcock season opens on Sept 23
MADISON -- Woodcock populations in Wisconsin appear to have leveled off, state wildlife officials say, with no significant change over the last 10 years. That is good news, as a steady decline has been happening the last 30 years in Wisconsin, the Midwest and northeastern United States. Biologists believe this is primarily related to changes in forest habitat.
“With an apparent upswing in the ruffed grouse population this year, we expect there will also be more hunters in the woods pursuing woodcock,” says Kent Van Horn, migratory bird ecologist for the Department of Natural Resources. “Overall, hunters should expect to see woodcock numbers similar to the last few years, and depending on the weather, should enjoy a good fall.”
Wisconsin’s woodcock season runs from Sept. 23 to Nov. 6, with a daily bag of 3 birds. Grouse hunters need to note that while the ruffed grouse season opened Sept. 16 in the northern and western zones, where woodcock are also found, the woodcock season doesn’t open until a week later.
“Interest in pursuing the ‘timberdoodle’ as it is also known remains high in Wisconsin with more than 15,000 woodcock hunters spending 73,000 days in the field in 2005. Wisconsin ranks third in the nation for woodcock harvest at more than 37,000,” Van Horn says.
Woodcock hunters need to note that because woodcocks are a migratory bird species, hunters must be registered for the Harvest Information Program (HIP), a federal program that helps the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service monitor the harvest of migratory bird species by randomly selecting a sample of HIP registered hunters and asking them to participate in a harvest survey. Those selected will be asked to record daily hunting and harvest information in a small diary provided to them.
Becoming HIP registered is a simple process. When hunters apply for a license they area asked if they intend to hunt migratory game birds in Wisconsin this year. If they answer "yes," they are asked about the number of ducks and geese harvested last year and whether or not they hunted other migratory birds. Once those questions are answered, the hunter is HIP registered.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Van Horn – (608) 266-8841
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Last Revised: Tuesday, September 19, 2006
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