WWA's Accessible Waterfowl and Deer Blinds Ready for Use

By Bruce Urben, WWA President and Dave Elwing, WWA Secretary

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s November, 2023 Newsletter edition.

Waterfowl blinds on the Abrams property are spacious and allow wheel chair access

Back in early 2000, the Green Bay Chapter of WWA began work to develop the 150+ acre Abrams Project property owned by WWA since the 1990’s. Through a number of grants and with local assistance, the Chapter developed three disabled accessible duck blinds on the property, followed by five additional disabled accessible deer blinds. There is almost one mile of disabled accessible trail that provides access to these blinds. The duck blinds have been brushed and cleaned and the deer blinds have been cleaned for another season of use. While this is private property, the blinds are available for public use and disabled parking is available in both parking lots. The duck blinds are located on ponds frequented by geese, wood ducks, mallards, mergansers and some migrating diver ducks each year. While disabled persons should be able to easily access the duck blinds, retrieval of game may take able bodied help. We encourage the use of a chaperone. A small aluminum boat is located on the shoreline to assist in harvest retrieval. PFDs are needed.

Volunteers from the Green Bay chapter worked to clean & brush the blinds at Abrams for this year’s seasons

The deer blinds are located in areas of high deer activity and deer are harvested every year. We ask that priority be given to disabled users, however, able bodied sportsmen and women are certainly free to use them. We thank all parties who worked out compromises in the past and ask that such unmatched sportsmanship and cooperation continue in the future should the situation arise.

Please pack out whatever you bring into the blinds. Reservations are not required.

The Abrams Project property is located in southern Oconto County, near the 41/141 split north of Green Bay and is accessible off of Hwy 141 on the north end and Oak Orchard Rd. on the eastern end.

The accessible blind at Jackson Marsh was built by WWA volunteers in 2022 and is available for public use

There is another disabled waterfowl hunting opportunity for those of you living a little farther south of the Abrams property. Entering its second year of existence, WWA teamed with WDNR and a number of like-minded partners to build a wheelchair accessible, multi-use hunting blind in Washington County’s Jackson Marsh State Wildlife Area. The blind sits beside an impoundment that offers good duck and goose opportunities during waterfowl season, while the backside of the blind features removable shooting ports capable of being used during deer and turkey seasons. A 90 foot boardwalk leads to the blind, which can easily accommodate two wheelchairs and a chaperone hunter. Reservations are NOT required. Handicap vehicle access is permitted after obtaining a power driven motor vehicle (PDMV) permit from the WDNR. Jackson marsh WMA offers hunters a total of four PDMV accessible opportunities. Interested parties can contact DNR’s Steffens Peterson at (262)-666-3157 for more information.