Hunt report 1/20-1/31 2024
Contributors to this thread:Wisconsin
From: WI Shedhead
20-Jan-24
Very sorry that ruger is not doing this any longer as I really liked this thread every week. Sooooo- For those of you that have metro hunts, or like me live in an extended archery hunt county (Winnebago) here we go!!!!
From: WI Shedhead
20-Jan-24
Pm hunt- Winnebago county 15 dgrees nw wind. Lots of sighn in the fresh 10” of snow. Sitting a transition between bedding and a thicket with winter browse. Nothing moving at this locale but saw 9 antlerless deer on they walk out feeding in another similar area. Absolutely beautiful night- I love the solitude of a cold, snowy winter woods
From: WI Shedhead
20-Jan-24
Walleyes in the morning- bowhunting at night- perfect January day!!!!!!
From: Groundhunter
20-Jan-24
This should be an astounding week. The weather will warm, but the days grow longer. I am heading back to MI, on Wed. Have lots of wood projects to attend to, plus trout fishing.... good luck to all. Got to squeeze in some traps, at a Wis lumber yard yet, them.foxes love to mouse them yards.
From: MjF
20-Jan-24
Very jealous, would love to be out there but season is done in the north.
From: xtroutx
20-Jan-24
Wi shed, nothing better than hunting and ice fishing the same day, Thats what dreams are made of. Good luck to those still at it. I am also done and missing it already.
From: Live2Hunt
20-Jan-24
Can’t beat that, nice eyes
From: Live2Hunt
20-Jan-24
Can’t beat that, nice eyes
From: Gileguy
21-Jan-24
Saturday I did some snowshoeing, hung a couple cameras while I searched for new spots to bowhunt next year. Local biologist was driving the roads looking for wildlife tracks in the fresh snow. They were very interested in where/when I had seen wolf tracks and same for trail camera pics. Sounds like they don't get to do much field work anymore and that decisions regarding wildlife in Wisconsin are mostly political. Didn't give me much hope for northern WI hunting. On a brighter note, my area seems to hold lots of grouse year after year!!
From: WI Shedhead
21-Jan-24
Rinse and repeat today!!!!! Have had a great January wisconsin weekend!!!! Caught a couple nice eater walleyes this mornin and had a pm hunt on a different property. 15degeees, sw wind, 12 sustained 20ft sets. Real feel below zero. Sat in travel corridor between bedding and a radish plot they’ve been digging up. Saw 19 total but they were half mile away on the neighboring property. Still lots of sighn here will give it a whirl next weekend
From: Ridge Runner
24-Jan-24
Some ice fishing with son and grandson in the morning and bowhunting in the afternoon Retirement is good lol
From: Ridge Runner
24-Jan-24
From: Ridge Runner
24-Jan-24
From: Ridge Runner
24-Jan-24
From: casekiska
25-Jan-24
Good to see this thread brought back to life. Although I may not contribute to it very often I do enjoy it; it's good to read about the outdoor happenings of other badger state bowmen. Thanks WI Shedhead.
From: grape
25-Jan-24
Yep. Bill is right!! Love this thread.
From: xtroutx
25-Jan-24
Great pics. I got out yesterday, need some cold for some better ice around me.
From: Live2Hunt
25-Jan-24
Ridge, that will be me in 3 years or less. Good looking mess of perch, grandson must have had a blast. I will be going this weekend.
From: Hoot
25-Jan-24
Ridge - Great to see you spending time with your g'son fishing. I did the same thing with my g'son when he was about that age and now he's fishing every opportunity he gets.
From: CaptMike
25-Jan-24
Out on a local lake yesterday in SE WI. About 8" of ice but lots of water on top. 11Keeper gills and 3 decent crappies in 2.5 hours. Was nice to get out for the first time, just not so sure how long our ice will last with the warmer temps that are being forecast.
From: Live2Hunt
25-Jan-24
I'm glad I am close to the northern lakes, hopefully they hold/gain with the below freezing overnight temps.
From: Groundhunter
25-Jan-24
From: Groundhunter
25-Jan-24
My buddy friends on the Mississippi, using an air boat.
From: xtroutx
25-Jan-24
Thats a nice pile of perch there GH
From: Hoot
25-Jan-24
Nice perch GH.
From: Live2Hunt
25-Jan-24
That looked like it was a blast GH. We will be doing a 4 day trip the end of Feb. My 2 sons and 2 friends of mine and there sons. Great trip, we have been doing it for a number of years now. Rent a cabin on a selected lake/area and fish/eat/cards/beer with fish fry. Great way to spend time with your older kids.
From: Ridge Runner
25-Jan-24
Wow !That is a nice pile of perch ,
From: WI Shedhead
28-Jan-24
Caught a meal of bags perch this mornin. Last hunt of the year for me in Winnebago county. Saw a bunch of deer, 2 shed bucks and a nice 120” class that will be nice this fall. Sorry to see it come to an end. 4 1/2 months of bowhunting is truly wonderful!!!
From: WI Shedhead
28-Jan-24
From: Live2Hunt
29-Jan-24
Hey, I had a bucket just like that Saturday and Sunday.
From: Ridge Runner
31-Jan-24
Out for one last sit Too nice out not to go , Wind is not quite right bur can gamble today Hoping something with no horns comes thru on the way to the fields Been lots of deer feeding out in fields with the snow melting
From: Ridge Runner
31-Jan-24
From: Groundhunter
31-Jan-24
Quiet night for me. Light winds. Was expecting more deer, but not within range.
Good season , but they are all good. Snow Storm screwed up my plans for SW Wis.
Time to shoot squirrels.
From: MjF
02-Feb-24
I know this post has expired but I think it’s appropriate, I don’t want to start another one. I ended up scouting today, my intentions was to hit some areas with tons of acorns and shed hunt. My contact told me there was about 4 inches of snow so I left my snowshoes at home, big mistake, the snow was crusted over hard and I was burning way more energy than it was worth so I drove around in the Barrens unplowed fire roads, went near logging areas which had some deer sign, every place else was void of deer but plenty of predator tracks cruising the roads, was great to see that the coyote hound hunters are hitting it hard. I came across something interesting that I have never seen before, a logger loaded his logging truck with the last load, I do not know what was exposed when he was done but look at the tracks, deer were pawing up that whole area were the logs were. Anyone witness anything like this before? It was Norway pine.
From: RUGER1022
04-Feb-24
Geez , 51 degrees , only 5 inches of ice . The kids had a blast. Some nice Perch , Gills , Crappies, & a very nice 27 inch Walleye . The Eye was the biggest fish the young man has ever caught. So we let him take it home to show family & neighbors. A great day .
Oh , an Eagle stoled a 10 inch Perch .
From: Live2Hunt
05-Feb-24
Interesting MjF, not sure what they would be doing. I ice fished Sunday, there was 9-10" of ice where I was and wheelers were going out. I did not bring mine because I wanted to fish a place that would be hard to park with a trailer. Terrible fishing, lots of small fish on a lake that generally has big fish. They turned this into a 10 panfish limit a few years ago, kind of odd. Did get out to shoot my Wing Gull a bit. It is a light bow and can work on form with.
From: Hoot
05-Feb-24
Live - where you fishing, Birchwood area?
From: Hoot
05-Feb-24
Nice walleye Glenn. Mike I flipped your picture for ya. Reminds me of the logging roads when I was wolf trapping.
From: Live2Hunt
05-Feb-24
No, in the Balsam Lake area.
From: xtroutx
05-Feb-24
Real nice eye there Glen. Looking forward to the spring run.
From: RUGER1022
05-Feb-24
Rick , The boys took it home to clean it & discovered that the fish was a Male . WOW , a 27 1/2 inch male. Biggest Male Eye I ever saw . They stopped cleaning it & took it to a Taxidermist .
The serious Walleye fisherman Are telling me the Run will be several weeks early this year .
From: MjF
05-Feb-24
CWD found in B.C. Both deer a buck & doe were killed by vehicles and tested positive. This will be interesting
From: xtroutx
05-Feb-24
Glen, I was just talking to one of my boys today, wondering how early the run will be.
From: Live2Hunt
06-Feb-24
That is a nice male walleye. I caught a 30" male that I put on the wall. They are kind of funny looking when you get males that big, all head and not the body you would think of for a female walleye. They could spawn early, but generally it will be the same time because the eggs need to be ready.
MjF, didn't they find CWD in B.C. already?
From: Groundhunter
06-Feb-24
Ice fishing might be bad, but it's been a great winter for small game. It's a shame you don't see many people out, anymore.
From: MjF
06-Feb-24
Live2Hunt.... maybe but I was reading it yesterday as if it just showed up.
From: RUGER1022
06-Feb-24
Agree Live , but water temp can alter the spawn. Normal spawn in the Lincoln County part of the WI River is mid April. But I have seen the big females spawn in March, April , & May .
It's 51 & sunny . Caught a 17 in Walleye at 10:30 ( tonight's supper) . Just caught a 29 inch Northern . I keep all Northerns . They taste great once you learn how to cut them up . Plus the river has too many Northerns & Muskies . Ice is 3 to 5 inches . A bit scary .
From: Live2Hunt
06-Feb-24
Yes on the pike. Canada ice fishing one year we had Pike, Walleye and Perch. We kept some pike because they were eating all of our suckers. We cooked some of each one night and had a taste test. Pike hands down the best eating as long as you know how to clean those slime rocket SOB's.
From: Groundhunter
06-Feb-24
Not hard to bone out a northern. Just takes some practice. I always thought they were a great eating fish..... liberal limits allow you good practice on Y bone removal.
Wish I lived by that river.
From: xtroutx
06-Feb-24
Northern is one of my favorite eating fish.
From: Hoot
06-Feb-24
Rick - I agree wholeheartedly on the northern being great eating and pickled also.
From: RUGER1022
06-Feb-24
1971 4 of us went to the Mississippi River for the Walleye run . We invited Jon , our new iron worker from Austria . This was when the limit was ten & you caught 10 . At noon I walked down Rhee sandbar to pickup the guys . I asked John if he had 10 fish . He yes & showed 10 BIG CARP . HE insisted on keeping them .
Jon would gut them & cook them whole with skin & head . Then peel the meat off the bones . His wife would ad a tomato paste, onions , mushrooms, garlic , bread crumbs, & blueberries to sweeten the mix .
Make paddies & bake them . He brought a tub into work & 8 Iron workers were moaning and grouning about how awesome they were .
I have done it several times & used lake trout or Samon .
From: grape
07-Feb-24
Live. I grew up on Balsam Lake. How’d you end up there?
From: MjF
11-Feb-24
Always a fun time fishing for Rainbows
From: Bricklayer
11-Feb-24
Awesome Mjf
From: Live2Hunt
11-Feb-24
Nice rainbow, must have been a blast. We used to go lake trout ice fishing in Canada every year. Those things were a blast to hook and fight.
From: MjF
11-Feb-24
It’s always exciting going into an area you’ve never been to before and being successful.
