Wisconsin: Time to plan this fall’s Learn to Hunt event

Have family and friends get in the game!

For many of us in Wisconsin, fall is the best time of year. The days are shorter, temperatures can be crisp, and the skies a brilliant blue. Geese are migrating, deer are beginning to get into the fall pre-rut patterns, and I know I’ll be making firewood for the winter.

It may be high summer now, but fall is a few short weeks away and now is the time to be thinking about how you will fit a Learn to Hunt opportunity into the busy fall. I’ll be hosting one in late September in the Madison area. A LTH can be the perfect way to for a novice to experience their first hunt. Maybe your neighbor down the block is interested. Or, what about your children’s friends? There are many ways to foster new hunting experiences, and now is the time to start planning.

Get to your club or chapter and start brainstorming about how you can build on what you did last year, or start something entirely new. Can you reach out beyond the regular hunting “choir” to introduce someone new? Someone who would not get the chance to hunt any other way? That will really go a long way to making a new hunter.

Last year the goal was 2,000 new learn-to-hunt participants. We made it! The final tally was 2,136 participants, a 23 percent increase. That is a solid, grass roots effort to pass along the hunting tradition. We’re still working toward a goal of one learn-to-hunt event in every county, but last year there were events in 60 counties -- a large increase over 2010. The challenge this year is to build numbers in each county. Let’s try to add another 5 percent this fall and next spring.

You can design your own unique learn to hunt. How about a family learn-to-hunt outing? Focus on bringing the whole family out to the field and sharing our tradition and knowledge with them.
Remember, if you’re hosting a LTH pheasant, sponsors can get free pheasants from the DNR game farm for the event.

For more information on all your LTH needs, go to the DNR home page and search keyword “LTH."
I know you’ll take pride and step up again. As you already know, the future of hunting is up to us – those of us who hunt. Let’s get in the game!

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Iowa Upcoming Reserved Hunt Opportunities

Beginning July 1, hunters can apply for the following reserved hunt opportunities: Dove, Military/Refuge Deer Firearm & Archery, State Park Deer Reduction, and Pheasant Draw hunts. Go towww.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/5834.htm to get specific details about each hunt. 

The Pheasant draw hunts are at Game Bird Habitat Areas in Benton, Newton and White counties. These areas were purchased or leased with funds from the Game Bird Habitat Stamp that is required when hunting pheasant, quail, dove, wild turkey, and ruffed grouse. The game bird habitat stamp is included in the resident youth hunt/trap license and the comprehensive lifetime hunting licenses.

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South Dakota: GFP Commission Sets Pheasant, Other Hunting Seasons

Image via Wikipedia

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission has established 2012 hunting season dates, including those for pheasants.

Pheasant Season will open Oct. 20 and run through Jan. 6. Shooting hours will be noon through sunset the first week of the season, and beginning Oct. 27 will be 10 a.m. to sunset. The bag limit will be three roosters daily, with a maximum possession limit of 15.

The Youth Pheasant season will run from Oct. 6-10. The Resident-Only Pheasant season will run from Oct. 13-15.

Other hunting season dates for 2012:

· Grouse – Sept. 15 through Jan. 6

· Doves – Sept. 1 through Nov. 9

· Partridge – Sept. 15 through Jan. 6

· Quail – Oct. 20 through Jan. 6

· Sandhill Crane – Sept. 22 through Nov. 18

· Snipe – Sept. 1 through Oct. 31

· Crow – Sept. 1 through Oct. 31; and Mar. 1 through Apr. 30, 2013

· Squirrel – Sept. 1 through Feb. 28

· Cottontail Rabbit – Sept. 1 through Feb. 28

· Fall Turkey – Oct. 1 through Jan. 31

· Archery Antelope – Aug. 18 through Sept. 28 and Oct. 15-31

· Firearms Antelope – Sept. 29 through Oct. 14

· Archery Deer – Sept. 22 through Jan. 15

· Muzzleloader Deer – Dec. 1 through Jan. 15

· Youth Deer – Sept. 8 through Jan. 15

· Black Hills Deer – Nov. 1-30

· West River Deer – Nov. 10-25

· East River Deer – Nov. 17 through Dec. 2

Season dates and rules will be published in the 2012 Hunting and Trapping Handbook that will be available in early September.

Related articles

• Minnesota deer harvest declines 7 percent in 2011 (midwestdeerhunting.blogspot.com)
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• North Dakota: 2012 Season Opening Dates, Calendar of Events (midwestdeerhunting.blogspot.com)
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SD GFP Offers Tips for a Safe and Successful Pheasant Season

Image via WikipediaPheasant season brings family and friends together to share old memories and create new ones. The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department offers the following basic guidelines encouraging hunters to be safe and legal:

1. A safe hunt is a successful hunt. Safety First -- Safety Always. Know where everyone is in your group. Shoot to the blue.
2. Remember your license.
3. Bring someone along, young or old, to experience the South Dakota autumn.
4. Leave your vehicle and cares behind. The best hunting experience comes when walking.
5. Daily limit for pheasants is three, and the possession limit is 15. Possession limit may not be met until the fifth day of hunting.
6. It is illegal to allow a firearm to protrude from a motor vehicle on a public highway. It is illegal to shoot from a motor vehicle, including an ATV, while hunting pheasants.
7. Nontoxic shot is required on most public lands.
8. Make sure your birds are property packaged for transporting.
9. Obey the 660-foot safety zones around occupied dwellings, livestock, churches and schools.
10. Respect landowners, the land, and the people in your hunting group.

More details are available in the 2011 Hunting Handbook of rules and regulations.

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Wisconsin: Summer is time to plan fall learn-to-hunt outings

Pheasants a good pick to introduce family, friends to hunting fun

MADISON -- Wisconsin is two months from the start of the archery gun season, and about the best time to share your hunting traditions with friends and family.

Between all the usual warm weather activities you enjoy, it is the time to consider planning for fall hunting.

The 2011 deer regulations book is available on the hunting and trapping regulations page of the Department of Natural Resources website. Put it on your summer reading list. The book will be translated into Spanish and Hmong. On-line versions of the translated booklets will be available by mid-August.

Next on your summer to-do list? Get out your calendar and slate a learn-to-hunt event for the fall.

Remember the challenge I tossed last month to all Wisconsin hunters: bring 2,000 new learn-to-hunt participants into one of the state’s greatest traditions this year. We are working toward a goal of one learn-to-hunt event in each county, hosted by one of you, or your rod and gun club or your conservation group to which you belong.

You can design your own unique learn to hunt. I believe the way to be most successful will be to focus on the family fun surrounding hunting. How about a family learn-to-hunt outing? Rather than kids, focus on bringing the whole family out to the field and sharing our tradition and knowledge with them. We all know hunting is an activity focused on family and friends. Learning to hunt together highlights building the complete family support network for hunting has a good chance to start a long lasting tradition.

Not sure which game to feature? How about pheasant hunting?

Pheasants are a great way to introduce new hunters to the fun of the outdoors. Learn to hunt pheasant events can be scheduled on public or private property. Another benefit of a learn-to-hunt pheasant event? Dogs. Hunting with dogs always adds to the experience and increases the fun factor for many.

Event sponsors are able to get free pheasants from the DNR game farm for the event.

As you already know, the future of hunting is up to us – those of us who hunt. We can work together through our clubs and organizations to find the next generation of hunters from new locations beyond hunter education classes.

I – along with your local DNR conservation warden and wildlife biologist – stand ready to help you with your planning. Please contact me with your questions.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Warnke, Hunting and Shooting Sport Coordinator, keith.warnke@wisconsin.gov; 608-576-5243.