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DNR: fewer hunters harvest more deer this season

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Fewer hunters were in the woods harvesting more deer during this year’s gun deer season. That report from the DNR on Tuesday.

Ecologist Kevin Wallenfang says the decline in hunting sales for the gun hunt doesn’t concern them so much, because totals from the other seasons make up for it.” As crossbows and as the archery season and some of the added seasons out there such as holiday hunt and the antlerless hunt have been added on, we see more of the harvest getting taken outside of the regular gun deer seasons.”

The total deer harvest was up about 7 percent. Wallenfang says this is a rebound after poor weather last year snarled the deer hunt. 

“It’s kind of a typical season really, in that some areas increased and some areas went down a bit, so there’s really not anything surprising about the season at this point.”

More hunters are also taking advantage of CWD testing this year. “We’ve got crews working out at our C W D testing labs, pretty much all hours of the day trying to get animals processed as quickly as we so that we can get results back to hunters as quickly as we can,” says Wallenfang.

The hunt is also one of the safest on record, with no gun fatalities and only three injuries during the whole nine days.

Deer season was safest ever in Wisconsin

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This year’s gun deer season is the safest on record for Wisconsin. That’s despite three hunters getting shot. Jon King with the Department of Natural Resources said those three hunters were treated for non-fatal gunshots wounds, but there have been no fatalities.

King said six hunters were shot last year. None of them died. The last time a Wisconsin hunter died in the field was 2015. The DNR doesn’t have a final count of deer permits for this year, but as many as 570,000 hunters in the state could have taken to the field during the 2018 deer season.

Wisconsin nine day gun deer season opens on Saturday

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The Wisconsin gun deer season opens Saturday, and hunters are getting ready to take to the fields and forests to bag a buck or doe.

As you head out to your favorite hunting spot, it’s a good idea to give your tree stand or deer blind a once over.

State hunter education administrator John King says you want to make sure that your stand can still support you on your hunt, before you head out on opening day.

“Obviously on a metal stand we’re going to have some rust, so we want to just make sure that things are still good structurally for that tree stand if we leave it out there from year to year.”

Also check to make sure all the bolts and straps holding your stand to your tree are in good working order and give the ladder you use to get in and out a check as well.

If you’re using a heater in your deer blind, King says you want to make sure it’s working properly ,and to keep combustible materials away from it.

“Through the years we’ve had some people suffer injury and even death because of carbon monoxide poison, and then also we’ve had a few shacks catch on fire and burn to the ground.”

Be sure to sweep out the blind or shack as well, and make sure that there’s no extra critters sharing the space with you inside while you’re out hunting. You should also make sure your windows are clean and ready to open, and that your shooting lanes are clear.

If you find you’ve got an extra deer you can’t fit in your freezer or don’t need this season, consider donating it to charity. The Wisconsin deer donation program is back in action, and local butcher shops and meat processors are ready to handle your extra venison.

Stevens Point based People’s Meat Market co-owner Lee Falkavage says the process is very simple.

“There’s a paper you have to fill out. They want to know kinda where you shot it so if it does turn positive they can track that deer. So all you do is sign it off and drop it off and on your way you go.”

Hunters have donated over 90-thousand deer since the program started in 2000, which has put 3.6 million pounds of meat into food pantries.

You can find a list of donation locations online at https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/deer.html

Madison Ironman to run on Sunday, despite flooding

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The Madison Ironman will go on this Sunday, despite historic flooding in the city. 

Organizers say flooded sidewalks and trails will force minor changes to the race’s 112 mile bike course, but everything else is good to go.

The annual race is known as one of the best in the world. It combines a 2.4 mile swim through flooded Lake Monona, and then a full Marathon that will finish downtown.

Organizers say participants should be aware that there could be debris floating in the water and to be alert.

More than 24-hundred participants are expected to take part.

Police marchers disinvited from Madison LGBT pride parade

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Organizers of Madison’s pride parade are not going to allow police to participate. The board of directors of the OutReach LGBT Community Center are withdrawing applications from the Madison Police Department, the UW-Madison Police Department, and Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney to march in the parade.

The action is in response to concerns among the LGBTQ community regarding police presence in the parade. Police will still be on hand for security. The parade is August 19.

WIBA

Marcus Theatres not showing ‘Slender Man’ movie at some Wisconsin locations

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Marcus Theatres locations in Madison and Sun Prairie do not plan to show the upcoming “Slender Man” movie, according to movie listings on its website.

Earlier this week a company spokesperson confirmed that the movie would not be shown at Marcus Theatres in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.

The movie is about girls driven to kill on behalf of the online ghoul and is set to open in select theaters this weekend.

Two girls from Waukesha, Anissa Weir, and Morgan Geyser, said the fictional character was behind their May 2014 attack of classmate Payton Leutner. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier urged her on, according to investigators. A passing bicyclist found Leutner, who barely survived her wounds.

“Like many people across the United States, Marcus Theatres was deeply concerned and saddened when the Slender Man phenomenon touched Southeastern Wisconsin in such a profound way, changing the lives of many families forever,” a statement said. “After careful consideration, and out of respect for those who were impacted, we have decided not to play the upcoming Slender Man movie in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties. We will show the film at select other Marcus Theatres locations.”

Slender Man is a fictional character created by a then-28-year-old Floridian named Eric Knudsen. Slender Man first appeared on an Internet forum called “Something Awful” in 2009.

WIBA

Highgrounds Memorial Bike Tour runs this weekend

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You might see them out on Wisconsin’s roadways this weekend!  It’s the 34th annual Highground Veterans Memorial Park bicycle tour, and it hits highways all around the state starting Friday and running through Sunday.

Executive director Jon Weiler, says the Highground’s biggest fundraiser of the year commemorates the bike ride that Tom Miller took more than 30 years ago to start The Highground.

“In 1984 Tom Miller was trying to raise awareness of the Vietnam veteran issues, so he decided to do a bicycle tour around the State of Wisconsin, 1,244 miles, which is the number of KIAs and ‘Missing in Action’ from Wisconsin in Vietnam,” Weiler explained.

“Last year we raised just over $50,000,” Weiler said, “but the most important thing is to raise awareness of all veterans and their struggles and their sacrifices.”

Bike routes start in all four corners of the state and riders range from young teenagers to Vietnam vets in their seventies, and they all have one thing in common…  arriving at The Highground on Sunday.

“They start on Friday, they stay somewhere Friday night, Saturday night, and then they roll into The Highground around Noon on Sunday afternoon,” Weiler explained.

“If people are interested in coming here to see that, we try to greet them. We stand in lines on both sides of the road, we hold flags, and we’ll greet them as they enter The Highround.”

Organizers say spectators, volunteers, and other motorists are a big part of the annual ride; helping to feed, house, and safely greet riders as they traverse the state.

If you still want to register for the event, go to https://www.thehighground.us/events/ for more information.

WSAU

EAA AirVenture draws big international crowd

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The international visitor’s tent at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture has been called the United Nations of Oshkosh by some.

Thousands of people from all over the world come to the convention.

But it’s more than just a tent.

Visitors and tent volunteers say it’s its own community…And it’s a community that keeps on growing.

”It’s a whole group of people; like-minded people who just want to camp and experience aviation in Oshkosh, which is nothing else like it in the world,” said Neil Bowden organizer for the South Africa AirVenture group.

For the past 22 years, Neil has organized the AirVenture travel packages from South Africa.

But this year, he tells FOX 11 his crew of South African aviation enthusiasts arrived in Oshkosh with the largest group ever.

Last year, they set a record of 163 people…this year, 237 people are filling the 162 tents at Camp Schoeller.

The South African group is also the first there to ever have a permanent small shed on their site.

“We’re part of the whole Camp Schoeller/Oshkosh camping area, and it’s great because people – our neighbors – camp next to us, they come and mix with us, they come and talk with us, and I just feel like part of the whole scene.”

“They make connections and friendships that, outside of Oshkosh, maybe wouldn’t be possible,” AirVenture International Visitors Tent chairwoman Michel Bryson said.

“Here, there’s not politics, there’s no religion, it’s just airplanes and friendships.”

The number of visitors checked-in at the tent is already up.

The international tent has seen 200 more guests than it did this time last year.

For another international visitor, it seems nothing will stop him from attending AirVenture, not age or even cancer.

Eighty-eight-year-old Australian Dave Thomas has been making the trip to Oshkosh since the 70s.

He tells FOX 11 his passion for aviation has done more than keep him coming back each year.

“The only love in life, the only thing keeping me alive is flying airplanes, and talking about airplanes to people – these lovely people here,” Thomas said.

Over 2,000 people are representing over 70 countries, all speaking the universal language of aviation.

WTAQ

Get out and see Wisconsin this summer with help from Travel Wisconsin

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The kids are out of school, the weather’s nice and it’s a good time to take a break and go for a trip.

Wisconsin tourism secretary Stephanie Klett says if you can’t find a place to go this summer, you’re not trying hard enough. “We have millions of acres of county, state and national forest. We’re the waterfall capital of the Midwest. We have thousands, and I mean literally thousands of summer events.”

The Northwoods is a great destination for summer travel, and she’s even got a suggestion for you. “Boulder Junction is great, because they have over 200 miles of trails, and they have over 200 lakes within a 20 mile radius of Boulder Junction, and really some of the clearest, cleanest lakes you’ll ever discover,” says Klett.

If all else fails, she says, find something to do close to home. “And a lot of things that people will come all over the country for, when you’re from that town or city, you might not go! Because it’s just something you’re used to.”

Klett says you can find suggestions, lists of events and more online at the state tourism website at www.travelwisconsin.com

Watch out for algae blooms on Wisconsin lakes this summer

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Hot temperatures and sunny days are great to get out on Wisconsin beaches, but it’s also a recipe for toxic lake scum.

That scum is ‘cyanobacteria’ commonly called blue-green algae. Gina LaLiberte with the DNR says the name ‘blue-green’ can be misleading, and that you should be careful with any brackish water. “People hear the word blue in blue-green algae, and they think it’s going to be blue. But active growing blue-green algae are most often green when they’re forming blooms in Wisconsin lakes.”

The algae forms any time there’s high temperatures, plenty of sunlight, and little wind. In Wisconsin blooms typically peak from July to September.

Swimming through them can cause rashes, gastrointestinal ailments and respiratory irritation. If you think you’ve been sickened, contact your doctor to get tested.