Unseasonably warm and pleasant weather continued over the last week but appears to be coming to the end with rain showers this week being followed by a cold front. Temperatures last weekend reached 80 degrees in many parts of the state, which made it very pleasant to be outdoors, but made for very warm conditions for the youth deer hunt, which had some youths out hunting in blaze orange T-shirts. Despite the warm weather, some youth hunters were successful, with several nice bucks taken in the north.
This weekend marks the opening of the pheasant season and additional seasons for upland and small game and furbearers. DNR wildlife biologists plan to release approximately 50,000 game farm pheasants on 71 public hunting grounds. In addition, pheasants raised by conservation clubs through the day-old chick program will also be released this fall on both designated public hunting grounds and private lands open to public pheasant hunting. Hunters can check the Pheasant Stocking on State Properties map or check the 2011 Pheasant Stocking Information Sheet (pdf), identifying public hunting grounds slated for pheasant stocking.
Deer hunting continues this week Thursday through Sunday in the chronic wasting disease management zone in southern Wisconsin, so pheasant and all other hunters except waterfowl hunters, must wear blaze orange clothing in this area, and anyone else out recreating in the outdoors is also urged to wear blaze orange or other brightly colored clothing. Hunters report the warm weather continued to hamper deer movement and pre-rut activity, though scrapes and rubs are still being found.
The southern duck and southern and Mississippi River zone goose seasons also reopen this weekend. The mild weather appears to have stalled the waterfowl migration, with wood ducks and teal still being seen in the state, but very few reports of northern ducks. Migratory geese numbers also have not been increasing significantly, but the cold front moving in could change that.
The warm weather and timely rains brought out large number of anglers for the fall salmon runs on Lake Michigan tributaries, with up to 100 anglers being seen on some rivers. Water levels have been dropping again, but fish are still being reported in most tributaries. More than thousand people turned out for the open house last weekend at the Root River Steelhead Facility.
Water temperatures increased significantly again on inland lakes, which in the north triggered a musky feeding frenzy, with some very good action reported. Walleye fishing continued to be more erratic. Panfishing has been good, with crappie action continuing to be excellent on some northern lakes last weekend. Water levels on the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers have continued to drop. Anglers were reporting some good bluegill fishing in the Mississippi River backwaters.
This week’s rain and wind brought down a lot of leaves across the state. Fall color is well past peak in the northern part of the state on th Wisconsin Department of Tourism’s Fall Color Report (exit DNR) and some areas are already reporting 90 percent leaf drop. Colors are now at peak through central and southern Wisconsin, with the Kettle Moraine State Forest reporting some excellent fall colors for the upcoming weekend.
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