Welcome back to the Wisconsin BHA Report!

Alec & Paul highlight the Wisconsin chapter priorities for 2024, including: accessing landlocked public land, Sturgeon & the ESA, Sandhill crane hunting, doe harvest up north, and solar farm development in Wisconsin.

Have feedback or want to get involved? Email: [email protected]

May brings turkey hunting, fishing, and a little known conservation activity called woodcock banding. Woodcock banding involves federally inspected handlers and their dogs finding and safely netting woodcock hens and their chicks in order to band them and study their population.

This episode is all about the woodcock and how much we love them. Your hosts Kelly and Bill are joined by Kyle Daly of the Minnesota Woodcock banding program to talk all things timber doodle, dogs, and conservation.

To contact Kyle - [email protected]

What is a woodcock?

American Woodcock Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

What is bird banding?

Bird Banding: A Conservation Tool within the Migratory Bird Program (Ducks, Geese, Doves, and more) | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (fws.gov)

https://youtu.be/G9UZVbvebkc by Project Upland

We believe R3 is an important piece of conservation and we are excited to bring you the 2023 episode!

Hosts Bill and Kelly are joined by WI BHA R3 Coordinator Brock Rosencranz and hunters Elizabeth Baker and Erika Gonzalez to talk R3, learn to hunts, and the effect of social media on hunting culture.

WI DNR Learn to Hunt info -

We are excited to be back for the 2023 podcast season!

Your co-hosts for this episode are Kelly Vanbeek, Paul Schecklman, and Bill Koepke.

In this first episode of the year we chat with state wildlife biologist Alaina Gerrits about how hound hunting, species management with hounds, and public perception of hound hunting.

Join us at the upcoming trivia night 

March 08, 2023 at 6:00pm - 9pm

Iron Hop Taphouse

email [email protected]

Important links

National Forest Petition - https://www.wpr.org/groups-seek-bar-use-hounds-while-hunting-chequamegon-nicolet-national-forest

WI bear zones - https://widnr.widen.net/s/jc2m7mmnxr/bear-management-zone-boundaries

Artemis Ambassador Search - https://artemis.nwf.org/artemis-ambassadors/

Podcast hosts Kelly, Trevor, and Bill are joined by WI BHA policy board member Mike Amman. Mike is a forester in Northern Wisconsin for Bayfield County. Mike joins the group to talk with Rebekah Luedtke the Executive Director of the WCFA. 

Rebekah shares her early experiences outside and her love of the outdoors with us. We dive into the history of logging in Wisconsin to modern day, the history of the WCFA, how Knowles Nelson fits into county land, and how we can all support it by talking to our legislators in support of County Forest.

95% of County Forest in the USA is in Wisconsin and Minnesota for a total of 5.4 million acres.

Wisconsin logging on public and private land creates a yearly product total valued at $22.9 billion and 59,000 jobs.

Knowles Nelson Funding covers half the cost of County Forest land purchases.

Learn how Foresters like Mike are caring for the land and wildlife found in these areas. (Not just game species.)

Wisconsin County Forest Association

News | Wisconsin County Forest Association (wisconsincountyforests.com)

REGISTER FOR THE STATE RENDEZVOUS

2022 Wisconsin BHA Rendezvous - Backcountry Hunters and Anglers

WI BHA report hosts Kelly and Bill are joined by WI BHA board chairs and R3 leaders Joe and Brock to chat with Chris Kilgour of the Wisconsin organization Color in the Outdoors (CITO.) We talk about R3, what it means for each of us, our organizations, and how Chris started CITO.

More on Chris.

Founder of Color in the Outdoors (CITO), Christopher has spent his entire life exploring and enjoying the outdoors in one capacity or another. His main motivation for starting CITO was to be able to connect people with the outside world and with other like-minded individuals and organizations. The guiding principles behind CITO hold a strong space in advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion and it is with these concepts in mind that all of the activities, partnerships, links, and resources are developed and presented.

More on CITO

Exploring Diversity in Our World. Subscribe to their newsletter and get on their mailing list for more information.

https://www.colorintheoutdoors.com/

More on WI Tribal land, culture, and history.

https://wisconsinfirstnations.org/map/

Text your city or zip code here

(855) 917-5263

BOOK LIST

Black Faces, White Spaces

https://uncpress.org/book/9781469614489/black-faces-white-spaces/

Native People of Wisconsin

https://wisconsinfirstnations.org/native-people-wisconsin/

Braiding Sweetgrass

https://milkweed.org/book/braiding-sweetgrass

The Adventure Gap

https://joytripproject.com/the-adventure-gap/

SAVE THE DATE

WI RENDEZVOUS 2022 - July 30 Horicon Bowmans Club!!!

Kelly and Bill are joined by Kylie the BHA Collegiate coordinator to talk with Harrison, Adam, and Jeffrey of the UWSP BHA chapter about their upcoming pint night in Stevens Point.

Join the University of Wisconsin Stevens Backcountry Hunters & Anglers club for a night out for conservation at their inaugural Beer & Gear Bash, a banquet-inspired-Pint Night that's an event all of its own!

As the name implies, you can expect killer beer from District 1 and the chance to win TONS of amazing gear like an NRS inflatable kayak, Savage 22, Matthews Vertix bow, Traeger Ranger and more. Earn more raffle tickets and increase your odds of winning by trying your hand at Plinko, cornhole, or trivia. Food will be available for purchase from Kasun's Smokehouse.

Funds raised will support the UWSP BHA club, BHA Collegiate Program, and BHA's mission to be the voice for our wild public lands, waters, and wildlife. Wondering what the UWSP BHA club has been up to for your public lands?

https://www.backcountryhunters.org/gear_beer_bash?fbclid=IwAR2QUSFILRMOl1z-Z4VM3iSlTOaa8Bivogu6znRCau0L_6egWuMOt6uKF4c

We know the Wisconsin deer season is over so we had to get Dean Muthig on the podcast to get us fired up for next season. Dean joins us to talk all this big game recovery with dogs. We focus on primarily deer recovery. What questions hunters should be asking to find an experienced tracker, how deer react to different shot placements, how to get started with training your own recovery dog, and much more.

Special thank you to Dean for sharing his passion and knowledge on this episode of the podcast. Many deer would go missing if it was not for Dean and his team. Like he says in the podcast, a well trained dog is one of the best tools we can use for conservation.

Don't Forget to submit your WI deer CWD results to [email protected] to be entered to win a $1000 Fleet Farm gift card. (Winner is drawn February 14th 2022)

Muckdog Deer Recovery

Muckdog Youtube

WI BHA Landing Page

Co-Host and Wisconsin BHA Board Chair Joe Steffen and Bill talk with Trevor Hubbs about the Great Lakes Armed Forces Initiative What it is, why it exists, how it is helping veterans enjoy the outdoors through hunting, fishing, trapping, and community.

Find out more about Trevor

Find out more about AFI here 

Want to get more involved with Wisconsin BHA!?

Visit this link to complete the survey.

Subscribe, share, and enjoy our public lands.

Enjoy the episode. Good luck this gun season.