Last week one night, I went to the District 5 meeting of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress in Alma. Ellen rode along to keep me company and to help keep the car shiny side up on the drive home. We stopped for supper at J & J Barbeque in Nelson. We ordered pulled pork sandwiches and had little time to look around as the food came out so fast. It may have been fast, but it is not fast food. The pork was excellent and the fries were seasoned and crispy, maybe the best I ever had. On another trip, I had their ribs and they are worth the trip too. Anyway, the place is filled with fun old time signs of all sorts, humorous prints, and colorful knick knacks so there is plenty to look at.
The Buffalo County Courthouse meeting room was already filling up with other county delegates from around District 5. We were pleasantly surprised when our friend Darrol Brathol of River Falls came in with the Pierce County contingent. Dave West and Jason Leis of Vernon County were also there. Anyway, the meeting covered many congress items including going over all the questions that will be voted on at the DNR and Conservation Congress spring meetings across the state next month. The questions can be read online at: http://dnr.wi.gov/about/wcc/springhearing.html.
The explanation of what’s happening with the new Go Wild licensing system was interesting. The change over to the new system started in mid February and the DNR hopes it will be up and running by mid-March. In the interim one can contact the DNR licensing bureau by toll-free phone call or by visiting a DNR Service Center to obtain licenses and such. While there will be pink camo, there won’t be any back tags for deer hunting in 2016. Licenses and permits will be printed on regular printer paper and/or can be stored on cell phones by individuals. Successful deer hunters will not have to physically “tag” their deer in the woods any longer; they just mark their paper tags with the usual time of kill and such info and keep the tag in possession while with the deer. I guess you have to devise a system of tagging if you plan to hang a deer and continue hunting. (We hang our deer in a walk-in cooler. On the way home, Ellen said we could just put a container outside the cooler for tags when we weren’t there.) As you can imagine, there were numerous comments on how much easier this will be to cheat. One good question was, “If I see a violation, how can I report their back tag number if they don’t have one?” If there was a response, I didn’t hear it. The law enforcement officer and wildlife people in attendance said that with the new call-in registrations last season, it was estimated that there was a 89 to 90 percent compliance with the registration rules and that was consistent with other years. “These laws are being changed to benefit the 95% of us who don’t cheat,” said Eau Claire warden Rick Rosen. if one has a driver’s license, a warden who wants to check your licenses and permits can enter that in his computer - and if he or she has service - they will know your DNR info. I don’t think our DNR customer numbers are changing, so I am just going to keep my last green patron’s license in my wallet for the time being. Warden Rosen also reported about the new car killed deer removal situation. Forestry is now funding removal and they will only be removing dead deer along federal and state highways. Townships and counties may be able to contract with one of those contractors, but forestry will not pay for it.
This last week, a lot of us lost a good friend. I have known Kevin Withey since long before I started writing this column. He always had a good word, a story, or a tip related to hunting and fishing, the Mississippi, trips to Canada, and walleye rivers in the states. To me, Kevin was a walleye whisperer; I know he would scoff at that title, but he was. I remember one morning south of Genoa when he was in his flat bottom and nephew Jason and I were in the Queen trolling for pike. We visited as we passed. He usually had one or two hits on each run upstream while Jason and I got the proverbial Charlie Brown rock. Kevin showed us his bait and we switched to that. He said it was his personal favorite: a lead head jig with a purple twister tail - no bait. He kept catching fish and we kept not catching fish. When you’re hot, you’re hot I guess. He was releasing all of his catch. I suggested he just release them in our boat and I got a big laugh out of that - but no fish. Anyway, my condolences to Marla and their family and to their many, many friends. Kevin will not soon be forgotten along the river.
Until next time, get out - remember that extra Turkey tags for Zone 1 will go on sale on March 21, your fishing licenses expire at the end of the month, and also remember to mark your calendar for April 11 and plan to attend the DNR and Conservation Congress Spring hearing at Viroqua High School at 7 PM. Enjoy.
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