By Bruce Ross, Executive Director

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s April 2020 Newsletter edition.

If your inbox is anything like mine, it’s filled with all sorts of emails with concerning COVID subjects.  Since I’m also an elected county supervisor, I’m getting all the county activity reports, updates and warnings, as well the general emails making the circuit.  It’s nearly overwhelming.

This newsletter tries to take a break from all that, and it’s a little shorter than most, with our plan to bring you shorter notes, more frequently during this period.

Except for the banquets and other events we’ve postponed (I just postponed the Spring Golf outing – what a bummer!), WWA is moving forward, even as we hunker in place. All except Peter, who is still out there finding and improving wetlands around the state.

An example of our ongoing work, in Policy:  Last week we provided our survey results input to the Natural Resources Board as they considered the 2020 season details.  Their conclusions were consistent with our input, including expanding the mallard hen harvest to two/day, consistent with The Science. Check out the DNR’s posting that gives us all something to look forward to this fall!

For 2021 and beyond, the NRB also adopted the DNR’s proposal to establish a Lake Michgan-focused zone, now called the “Open Water Zone”, which coincides with the absorption of the Mississippi Zone into the South Zone.  And kept the break between North and South Zones as Highway 10.  These are substantive changes for next year – maybe the largest in the past decade.

You can also read on about wood duck happenings, decoy pantheons, and don’t miss Lt. Strelow’s article on what gets hunters into legal trouble when out in the marsh.

On a more somber note, I’ve recently lost some waterfowling companions to their Next Great Adventure, and it’s given me pause to remember that all of our days in the marsh are numbered.  You might find some time to reflect on what waterfowling has meant to you as you read the article on Randy McCoy of Oshkosh, written by his waterfowling buddy, Brian Rumlow.  It’s a touching snapshot of the duck hunting experiences of a man taken from the marsh too soon. It may remind us to cherish the time we have afield with each other.

Until the next newsletter (in another week or so):

Hang tough!

Bruce