Category Archives: Waterfowlers Academy

Of Wetlands and First Hunts

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By Anna Rzchowski, Public Lands Ecologist – arzchowski@wisducks.org

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s November, 2024 Newsletter edition.

Anna in her blind on the morning of the hunt

The last Sunday in October, I paddled with my mentors across the silent marsh to set up in a little bay on the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge. As the sun rose, the marsh slowly came alive. A pair of eagles chattered in a nearby dead tree. Mallards, wood ducks, pelicans and more flew overhead. Seeing and hearing the marsh wake up that morning was an incredible experience that I can’t wait to repeat. I didn’t grow up in a hunting family and, thanks to a great team of mentors at WWA’s Waterfowlers Academy By Women For Women Learn to Hunt Waterfowl, getting out in the marsh again this fall feels totally doable.

As a wetland enthusiast, it was especially cool to have the opportunity to experience the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge through this hunt. The refuge is situated at the mouth of the Trempealeau River where it meets the Mississippi. A mosaic of sandy prairies, bottomland forests and marshes support astounding numbers of waterfowl and other wildlife. It’s staggering to consider the acres upon acres of wetlands and uplands within its watershed.

Thinking on a watershed level helps to understand what’s happening in the wetland. Are there nutrient inputs upstream? Where is the water coming from and where is it going? These answers will help or hinder restoration efforts and can guide goals for the site.

The sun sets on Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge

Not all wetland restorations will be great waterfowl habitat or result in a pristine native wetland. Some protect stream systems from activities in the surrounding uplands by capturing nutrients and improving the health of downstream wetlands. Some will create great hunting spots. Others provide a refuge for rare and imperiled plant and wildlife species.

WWA has a number of wetland restorations in the works with three out for bid this fall. These projects won’t look like the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge when all is said and done. Each project provides different benefits that reach far beyond the property boundaries. Ditch plugs at Meadow Valley Wildlife Area and Necedah National Wildlife Refuge will not only restore wetland acres and more productive waterfowl habitat, but also reduce impacts to downstream roads and infrastructure by increasing water storage capacity in these wetlands. A restoration in Waushara County will create a bit of habitat for wood ducks, support the native plant community, and restore sub-surface water flow from springs on the site, lowering the temperature of the water entering the stream and improving conditions for trout.

Thinking at a watershed level makes wetlands restoration and management feel a little less intimidating. Improving a part of the system improves the whole. By restoring wetland acres within the watershed, we’re improving the health of the many acres of wetlands and waterfowl habitat downstream, too. And that’s encouraging!

Green Bay Chapter Holds 16th Annual Waterfowlers Academy Learn to Hunt

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By Bruce Urben, President

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s November, 2024 Newsletter edition.

The students and their mentors

On the night of Friday, October 11th, WWA’s Green Bay Chapter began their 16th annual Learn to Hunt (LTH) waterfowl program ran through our Waterfowlers Academy. Eight students attended this year and each started their LTH experience with  several hours in the classroom at the Pittsfield trap club. Instruction included presentations by certified Hunter Safety instructor Jeremy VanSistine, hunter ethics and conservation laws by Conservation Warden Logan Woods, duck identification by WDNR Regional Biologist Steve Burns and duck and goose calling by VanSistine and Bryan Urben of the GB Chapter. The students enjoyed a pizza dinner with soft drinks and sampled duck sausage, hotsticks and good Wisconsin cheese.

After dinner the students were paired up with their mentor team for some time on the trap line, shooting clay pigeons in the positions they would encounter the next day at their mentored hunt. A number of our adult students had not previously fired a firearm!

A student and her mentor in the field

Saturday morning started early for the mentors and students, with some on the raod as early as 4:00 am to meet their mentors at the scouted hunting sites. The hunt concluded by late morning and all met back at the trap club for a picnic lunch, more demos and certificate presentation. According to the mentors, all of the students had some opportunities – some successful and some not. Nine ducks were harvested and the WWA GB Learn to Hunt team demonstrated cleaning their harvest and shared their favorite recipes.

A USDA tech sampled for Avian Influenza

A representative from United States Department of Agriculture was present to swab the throat and cloacal areas of each duck in their effort of monitoring Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). A short presentation was given and a discussion followed on the need for this continued monitoring.

All of the participants had a great time during our closure meeting, and several are planning future hunts this year! All students left with a goody bag that included a WWA Waterfowlers Academy hat and a duck or goose call to commemorate their attendance.

This year, students attended from all over Wisconsin, including Stevens Point and Madison.

A special thanks to all of our Learn to Hunt mentors, including Mike Keeler, Bryan Urben, Jeremy VanSistine, Logan Sincoular, Mark Wilcox, Ken McNamer, Jesse Nickels, Hank and Dave Voakes and Bruce Urben. We cannot hold this type of event without these experienced and avid waterfowlers who gave up a day of hunting for these students! Also thank you to Pittsfield Trap Club near Pulaski for the use of their facilities and all of our presenters and behind the scenes help, and of course, the donations of food and soft drinks from our valued sponsors.

Students and mentors show off their successful harvest

If you are interested in attending a Learn to Hunt waterfowl program in the future, please contact Todd Schaller, our WWA Education Chair at 920-379-1704 or email at tschalt@charter.net.

Midland Wings Chapter Hosts Inaugural Learn to Hunt Event

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By Dave Elwing, Secretary and Development Committee Chair

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s October, 2024 Newsletter edition.

Based upon the successes of other chapters like Waukesha, Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, the Midland Wings Chapter made plans to help further WWA’s education mission this year. Four first-time goose hunters met through WWA’s newest Learn-to-Hunt session over the last weekend of this year’s early goose season.

Saturday’s “classroom” session

Planning got started early in April when WWA’s Waterfowlers Academy leader, Todd Schaller, met with the chapter’s planning committee to discuss the process of putting on a WDNR-sanctioned Learn-to-Hunt (LTH) program. Perspective mentors submitted volunteer mentor requests to the WDNR for a basic background check. The Ozaukee County Fish & Game Club and The Fowl Drake Guide Service of Kewaskum volunteered to sponsor the venture.

Once approved, the mentors did some recon on potential public and private hunt locations and quickly decided upon conducting an early goose season hunt on private lands, thus minimizing the chance of being crowded out and maximizing chances for success. Fortunately, three of the committee’s mentors are part of The Fowl Drake Team and they readily offered a historically productive early goose field for the hunt. Not only did they make the field available, but they ensured that it wasn’t hunted before the day of the hunt.

Setting up early Sunday morning

The chapter selected September 14th and 15th as dates for their two-day LTH session. Saturday would be “the classroom” day, while Sunday would be “hunt day.” Following Todd Schaller’s advice to “start small and then grow the event, two father-son teams were selected as the inaugural mentees. None had previous waterfowl experience, and really only one of the four had much experience bird hunting for pheasants. One father-son team only took up hunting during the 2023 season when they started archery hunting for deer and turkey. All were eager to experience how to hunt waterfowl. From an organizer’s perspective, they were perfect candidates as we introduced new hunters to waterfowling and, by having adult mentees, we could feel relatively well assured that the dads could enable the necessary post-LTH access to mobility and resources to continue their newfound addiction.

One of the father-son duos with their first geese

Saturday’s events included an introduction to the various ways and gear available to conduct a hunt, ranging from the simple to the extravagant (“Waterfowling 101”), “The Warden’s Talk,” followed by a Hunter Safety refresher period, range time, and lunch. Jacob Buck, The Fowl Drake’s owner and head guide, presented the introduction to waterfowling session, during which each of the four participants asked many great questions. Steve Swiertz, Washington and Ozaukee County’s designated game warden led an informative and engaging discussion that nicely tied in Wisconsin’s game laws with safety highlights that were reinforced by a WDNR-certified Hunter Safety Instructor, during the hunter safety refresher. Next came the fun part of the morning, when the participants got a chance to try their hand at breaking some clays. Ozaukee County Fish & Game’s Doug Klinski set up a trap field with two sporting clay throwers set to mimic the shots that everybody hoped for on Sunday. The first was a head-on bird dropping into the decoys and the second was a crossing shot. Each shooter had a mentor working with him to help understand proper shouldering, swing, and follow-through, while always emphasizing safe firearm handling. Each shooter’s abilities developed quickly and in short order hits were far more common than misses. In no time, dads and sons were shooting “hunt & cover” and really enjoying themselves. Saturday wrapped up with a crockpot of goose casserole being completely emptied, before everyone headed home to get ready for Sunday’s adventure.

The hunters and their first geese

Mentors met at the goose field at 4:00 AM the next morning and started strategizing where to set the decoys and A-frame blind based upon two weeks’ worth of observations versus the historical spots that the geese use (of course they were different). Hunters arrived on schedule at 5:00 AM to help put decoys together and set them. We wrestled with what time everybody should get there because we wanted the mentees to understand the difference between a mentored hunt where they participated and learned “why” things are done the way they are versus a guided hunt where they simply show up, but we also know that 12-year old boys enjoy their sleep.

“Showing up” was the responsibility of the geese, and they cooperated nicely. Shooting time was 6:01 that morning. A heavy lowland ground fog slowed the geese’s normal arrival, but the first birds broke through the haze at 6:40. We talked about “finding the X” throughout Saturday’s discussions and the first bird in missed the X… or we did… either way the bird landed about 200 yards away. As the morning progressed we learned that some birds read the same script that we did, while others followed the first bird’s route. Our mentees harvested their first goose at 7:10 when a small flight came in to take a look. A number of other flocks worked the field over the next several hours, but most of them looked but wouldn’t commit. The mentees harvested two more birds around 8:50 and then somebody turned the “goose switch” off. ENDEX was called at 10:00. Once decoys were picked up and moved to the edge of the field everyone came over to the trucks for a bird cleaning session and a chance to enjoy some marinated goose breast slices on Sheboygan hard rolls with good old Wisconsin cheese.

Mentors showed participants how to clean their waterfowl

Lessons learned on Saturday, like safe firearms handling, zones of fire, concealment, remaining stationary when birds are working, watching morning come to life, and just enjoying each other’s company while making new memories were the order of the day. Mentees and mentors alike enjoyed the morning, shared experiences, and talked about future hunts.

We all know that the number of hunters is dropping and is likely to continue to drop as Baby Boomers age out. We are extremely fortunate to live is a state with the wide variety and abundance of natural resources that we do. The Waterfowlers Academy was created to provide a structured introduction to waterfowl hunting. We encourage you, as readers and members, to consider doing something similar through your local WWA chapter. Contact the Waterfowlers Academy’s Todd Schaller at c217tazman@gmail.com.