Wisconsin's Hunting Heritage

This week Noah talks with Hank Shaw of honest-food.net. If you haven't heard of Hank, you really need to do it. His books NEED to be in every hunter's kitchen. If you can legally hunt it in the United States, odds are good that Hank has a recipe for you.

Subjects discussed: coming to hunting as an adult; the difference between game and domestic meats; the power of nostalgia when it comes to how we cook wild game; WWHD?; who to call if you have an excess of ruffed grouse on your property, and more...

This week Noah speaks with Jeffrey Guerard of Wisconsin's Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. Subjects discussed: BHA's coming to Wisconsin, the group's focus here, Green Decoys and the people who use that term, representing hunters on social media, walking the fine line of politics as a modern hunter.

In the second part of our Spring Hearing Special, Noah speaks with Josh Greil of Ten Point Crossbows about the question regarding creating a separate crossbow season. He then speaks with Justin Vandehey, a fisheries biologist from UW-Stevens Point about some of the fishing questions that are on the ballot including changing the bag limit on the Winnebago System.

The annual Conservation Congress Spring Hearings are being held April 9th at 7 p.m. in counties across the state. This week Noah Talks to Larry Bonde the Chair of the Conservation Congress about the organization and how it works. He then speaks with all around outdoors woman Skye Goode about some of the trapping questions that are on the ballot. Then he talks to TJ Hauge of the Wisconsin Backcountry Hunters and Anglers about a proposal to impose a fee on users of public lands across the state.

Dylan Jennings of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission

Topics discussed: a tortured telling of the history of the treaties and their effect on hunting and fishing; Walleye spearing; modern techniques; the quota system; Night hunting;; wardens coming out to check your night hunting spot in order to approve it; why it seems that some tribal members can shoot so many deer; the surprisingly low deer harvest by tribal hunters; the upcoming Elk Hunt and why the tribes get half of the tags.

"You can have your own opinion, but you can't have your own facts"

Paul Smith is the last full time outdoors writer employed by a daily newspaper in Wisconsin. Subjects discussed: changes in the newspaper industry, changes in the DNR, changes in us as a hunting community, why Noah should learn to avoid social media debates, and how much Paul is charging to be interviewed by amateurs...

Mike Foy is a retired wildlife biologist with the Wisconsin DNR. He made the news when he presented a plan to combat Chronic Wasting Disease at the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Milwaukee. His proposal is to pay hunters AND the landowners for each deer that tests positive for CWD. It may strike many hunters as absurd at first, but it may be our best shot to put this knock this disease out before it becomes unmanageable.

This week Noah talks with Robert Willging, author of On The Hunt, a book about the history of deer hunting in Wisconsin. Topics discussed: the genesis of modern deer hunting in the state, deer wars, and the cyclical nature of hunting controversies.

Subjects discussed: The status of Wisconsin's wildlife in the 1940's and early 50's; the Packers; That "damned cowboy" becoming president; TR and Gifford Pinchot thumbing their noses at congress and then hitting the road to save us all; Germany, Kyrgyzstan, and Iraq as examples of what we might have become; the beautiful story of the passage of the Pittman Robertson Act; and what we risk by not knowing what those who came before us sacrificed so that we could continue to enjoy this way of life

This week's guest, Scott Zimmerman is the President of the Wisconsin Trappers' Association. Subjects discussed include a brief overview of trapping, how to get into trapping, current legislation that affects trappers, trapping and social media.