Grouse Hollow Journal for January 10, 2013

Grouse Hollow Journal for January 10, 2013 by Greg Koelker

“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”  Well Dorothy, in my neck of the woods perhaps, “Lions and coyotes and bears” might be more apropos.  While I have not seen any bears myself, I have seen – and shot at – plenty of coyotes over the years, last year there was a huge black bear seen in the pastures and woods over at the Flying Horse Stable along Highway 14, and Curt and I saw a lion (cougar) crossing the ice below Genoa a couple of years ago.  So in the words of the little girl in the film, Poltergeist, “they're heeerrreee.”  

The other day over near Chaseburg, I stopped to visit with a couple of young coyote hunters from Cashton who had two of the varmints strapped to the the back of their pickup.  They said they were hunting with a dozen other people who were standing in a loop around a large area while their dogs hunted coyotes, hopefully running a coyote past one of the shotgun toting nimrods.  “Love us or hate us,” said one of them, “we kill some coyotes, and nobody seems to be against that.”  They told me that they had taken 16 this winter so far.   They also said there are at least two big coyote hunting groups in the area.  They said they had taken the two on the truck near Stoddard the day before.  Good.  

Back in the 1800's when the first settlers came to what was to become Proksch Coulee, there were most likely wolves and cougars and bears and coyotes about, as well as bison, elk, moose, pine martens and maybe even a few woodland caribou.  It was probably home to millions of the now extinct passenger pigeon as well according to a DNR online pamphlet entitled, “Wisconsin Wildlife Primer.”  Anyway, the last bison in Wisconsin was reportedly shot in the early 1830s.  The moose population declined due to increased whitetail populations (whitetails carry a brain parisite that is deadly to moose) partly due to loggers clearing large tracts of land, creating great habitat for deer.  The moose were gone by the early 1900s.  With the disappearance of the large grazers, the wolf and cougar populations declined as well.  Of course those who stayed eventually turned from venison to beef and chicken and mutton, so in 1865 the state legislature put a $5 bounty on the head of each dead wolf and cougar.  Interestingly enough, it was as late as 1960 – okay, I don't think 1960 was that long ago – that the timber wolf was finally declared wiped out.  As every driver knows, the white tailed deer has made a huge comeback (I also remember when it was rare to see a deer), and stocking has been succesful for the wild turkey, trumpeter swan, American (pine) marten and fisher.  The elk transplant program started in 1995 near Clam Lake up north, is  currently being evaluated according to the pamphlet.  I understand there is a plan under consideration to plant elk in Jackson County.  Contrary to popular opinion, coyotes and wolf and cougars and moose were not reintroduced, but according to the DNR have found their way here from neighboring Minnesota, Michigan, and Canada. 

The Badger State wolf population continues to grow and spread, so much so that the first wolf hunting season bagged 117.  The original department goal was a sustainable population of 350, but in 2009, one UW estimate was already near 650 wolves in Wisconsin.  Wolves and coyotes don't attack humans, but they do kill dogs, cats, and livestock when they can't find deer or other prey.  They will spread out in search of new hunting territory when need be.  It is just how they make a living.  That is most likely why we are seeing and hearing about seeing wolves more these days, likewise with cougars and bears.  

Anyway, you can't blame a wolf for being a wolf or a coyote or a cougar or a bear for being what they are, but just like the poltergeist, I can do without them in my back yard.

Until next time, get out – you can't blame predators for my lack of ice fishing production this winter either.  Except for one meal-sized mess, fish through the ice have been spotty as far as my experience has been anyway.  On Saturday, I dropped my fish cam through the ice in a few holes in Goose Island and never saw a fish – not one.  Guys I talked to had 2 or 3.  There are no shortages of fishermen at Stoddard Bay either, but the report isn't usually good.  One theory I heard was that because the water is so low, the fish are staying out near the channels in the deeper water.  I wonder.  Still, I haven't been out that much, and you can't catch them if you don't go.  I wonder what the fishing was like in Oz.  Enjoy.