By Bruce Ross, Executive Director bruceross@wi.rr.com
This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s October, 2021 Newsletter edition.
I just returned from the east coast and my annual Cape Cod fly-fishing trip with good friend, Bob Palombo. While Bob and I were serving together in the Coast Guard 37 years ago, he introduced me to both fly fishing and duck hunting. That introduction created a debt I seem unlikely to be able to repay. Those first few experiences changed the trajectory of my life – in a good way (unless you ask my wife). You too can have that sort of positive impact on a life just by taking someone new into the marsh this year – give it a try!
And now, with my bags barely unpacked, I have one day and a wake-up before I’m in the marsh with new pup, Tack, for the southern opener.
Tack still needs some tune-ups despite being at training camp this summer. He’s steady, quiet, loves to retrieve, responds to my commands and whistle, and marks extremely well. But he’s a little sloppy when delivering a bird or bumper to hand, and as I learned during teal season, his attention wanders a bit between shots. Maybe there’s too long between shots!
With the season now upon us, there are several timely reminders in this column on some things new and some things old. I hope you find a couple of them useful in staying on the right side of the law, or the ride side of the waterline.
With staggered openings across all three zones this year, you’ll have to pay attention more than in recent years. If you hunt the North Zone, you experienced the opener last weekend. And new this year is the Open Water Zone – more than 500 feet from the mainland on the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan – which opens mid-October.
If you’re thinking of trying this new “Open Water” zone for the first time, be sure to check out the special open water edition newsletter we put out last year when the Natural Resources Board approved the new structure. It contains info about how-to, species, safety considerations, and the history of how it came about (biologically and politically) – lots of good stuff.
And if you are going out into those “Big Waters”, especially on Green Bay, it seems there may be a little confusion associated with this first-ever zone, especially since it butts two different zones up against each other that have different start dates and no physically visible boundaries. Check out WDNR Migratory Game Bird Ecologist Taylor Finger’s explanation of where you can or can’t hunt there. If you are a regular user of Longtail Point (or similar location), it’s worth checking out. I suspect, with the confusion, wardens will be in the education mode initially.
Speaking of wardens, you don’t want to have two scaup in your possession during the early parts of the season in any zone. Make sure you are aware of when the new rules effecting bluebill harvest are in effect in the zone you are hunting.
Of course that means bird identification would be important, as with any species you may be targeting. With many birds just coming out of eclipse plumage, it’s easy to be mistaken in your on-the-wing identification. Check out this article we wrote for Badger Sportsman Magazine a year ago that may help you stay out of an over-harvest situation during this tricky time of the season.
Continuing with the theme of keeping out of trouble, there’s some good advice from new state Boating Law Administrator Darren Kuhn about staying safe –and legal—on the water. Boats = life jackets, of course, especially if wearing waders, but he also provides some thoughtful perspective on those high-power lights so commonly found on new duck boats. I have a new duck rig, but shied away from those built-in headlight lights since my Coastie background told me I might find myself crosswise with boating cops. Administrator Darren Kuhn explains why. I also learned today that Wisconsin has already had more boating deaths this year – 22 – than all of last year. Yikes – stay safe out there!
And let’s keep our waters free of invasive plant species that reduce the important diversity of our marshes, lakes and rivers too. Here’s a short video reminder of the steps each waterfowler should be taking to do their part to protect our “second home” during the waterfowl season.
I’m excited for all of us that while we’re on the water, whether Lake Michigan, a local marsh, a flooded field, or The Big Muddy, we’ll be recharging our personal batteries. It’s that time of year – finally – so enjoy it. And take someone new!
See you in the marsh, Bruce