Roger's Outdoor Notes

ATTENTION ALL SPORTSMEN AND WOMEN:  The 2016 Wisconsin Conservation Congress Annual Convention will be held here in Manitowoc, at the Holiday Inn, 4601 Calumet Ave. The dates are May 12^th WCC Executive Council will be meeting at 2pm, then on Friday the 13^th starting at 6:30AM till 5:00PM there are meetings and Raffles and Exhibits, and on Saturday the 14^th, everything starts at 8:30AM till 11AM when the convention ends. The Public is welcome to attend all three days and it gives you a chance to see how laws are made by the sportsmen across the state. The Manitowoc Gun Club is opening up their trap shooting from 4:30 to 7:00PM on Thursday night for all delegates.

Also for everyone to see, the Manitowoc Gun Club will be hosting a trap Shoot for over 500 youths from around the State of Wisconsin starting on May 19 until May 22. What a wonderful thing the Gun Club is doing to promote the sport of shooting to the youth. I only wish we can have more individuals to help out for that event and to join the gun club. We (meaning us older members) only wish more youths would please get involved in the Outdoors and in the shooting sports. We need younger people to help take out what we older members have worked so hard for, and your help is needed to introduce younger people to the outdoors and a sportsman club of your choosing.

The Viking Bow & Gun Club has the following events set up for the month of May.  May 7^th from 11am to 11pm there will be a Poultry Shoot/ Gun Raffle and PIG ROAST.  It’s open to the public.  Also on May 15^th the club is holding a “TAKE A SHOT AT CANCER BENEFIT ARCHERY SHOOT” to benefit the American Cancer Society, and that is also open to the public. It’s an ALL DAY event.

Roger's Outdoor Notes

Mishicot Sportsman Club will be meeting on May 4^th at 8 pm at their Jambo Creek Clubhouse on Jambo Creek Road which is off of Hwy 147 West of Mishicot. The Public is invited to attend and a lunch and refreshments are served.

The May meeting of the Manitowoc Unit of the Fish & Game will be held on Thursday May 5^th, 2016 at Lincoln Park, Cabin #1 in Manitowoc. This is the regular monthly meeting of the membership and is open to the public. The meeting will start at 7pm promptly. Guest Speaker for the May meeting will be James Downing with CP Feeds. He will be doing a Power Point Presentation on Nutrients for Animals. A lunch and refreshments follow this.

Roger's Outdoor Notes

Hunter Education Class:  Manitowoc Rifle and Pistol Club will be holding a Hunter Education classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays for two weeks and then on Saturday April 30^th, from 9am to Noon time. The classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays will start at 6 pm each day. To register for the classes contact Don Backus at 920-973-5590 or email him at don.backus@backuselectric.com.  Sign up now. Good luck and parents, you are also welcome to re-new your knowledge in the outdoors and the safe handling of a firearms. What a great time to do something with your children.

Roger's Outdoor Notes

Millions of acres of crucial habitat for Monarchs and other wildlife have been lost in just the [past few years alone. Why? Prairie grasslands- where milkweed that monarch caterpillars depend on naturally grows- have been plowed under t make way for row crop agriculture.  Please speak out to protect and restore native prairie grasslands for monarchs by sending a message to your members of Congress today.  Prairie grasslands in the Midwest are abundant with milkweed- the one and only host plant for monarch caterpillars. Yet Native Grasslands are disappearing faster than any other ecosystem in North America-a trend fueled by the expansion of row crop agriculture into undisturbed wildlife habitat. The Farm Bill includes programs to protect and restore monarch’s prairie grasslands from destruction. But these vital habitat protection programs are at risk RIGHT NOW, and wildlife like monarchs are hanging in the balance as a result. Monarchs need millions of acres of milkweed, not less. Locally we have an expert on Monarchs, so please contact Ann Shebesta at 920-755-2695 to get your hands on some milkweed seed to plant for the Monarchs. There are two different types of milkweed available to the public. Also, look on Facebook under the title of “The Beautiful Monarchs” to see more about them. Right now there is a program available to farmers to be paid to plant the common milkweed seed on their property. So if you like watching and seeing these wonderful Monarchs locally, please help plant the milkweed seed so they have something to live on. 

Roger's Outdoor Notes

ATTENTION ALL FIRST TIME SHOOTERS:  On Sunday April 24, 2016, starting at 9 am to 3 pm, the Manitowoc Gun Club will be hosting a learn to shoot day at their club house in Clover, which is south of Manitowoc on Clover Road. The club is offering one FREE round of Trap shooting or Skeet shooting. The club will provide the targets. The shooter must bring shells or they are available at the club to be purchased. There will be shooting coaches on hand to help first time shooters. If you have any questions, call Tom Schulz at 920-973-4905. What a wonderful time to see if you want to experience the sport of shooting with individuals who will help you. If you do not own a shotgun, the club has shotguns available for the public to use, and some of the guns I believe are youth models, made for young people or even for the woman who are of a smaller size. What a great time for all families to see if they might like to learn how to shoot and have fun doing it. So come on out and see what the Manitowoc Gun Club has to offer, and spend a few hours learning something new without the cost of buying a shotgun or investing in something you find out you don’t like. Once hooked on shooting, it’s better than TV or video games, trust me. Have a great time shooting. 

Roger's Outdoor Notes

FISHING NEWS:    Saturday morning I checked both the West and East Twin rivers and found the following. The West Twin at Shoto was running really fast and had a few strikes by steelheads, but none I saw were caught in the time I was there. Water is muddy and it’s really hard to control your lines. As for the East Twin at Mishicot the water is not as muddy and it is still running really fast. Some of the fishermen had some strikes and I listened to one fly fisherman’s line snap and it sounded like a .22 casing going off. The fishermen were from Milwaukee and Eau Claire and I wished them the very best of luck in catching something. It’s really good to see people who are still enjoying the sport of fly fishing for steelhead and coming across the state to do something they enjoy doing.

Brown trout and walleye continued to be caught on the Menominee River in the northeast. There has been lots of fishing pressure on the Wolf and Fox Rivers, but not many reports of success so far. Anglers on the Fox River reporting water temperatures of 38 degrees below the De Pere Dam. Anglers have been out casting for walleyes below the dam with little success being reported so far.

NEW PANFISH REGULATIONS have taken effect on 92 Wisconsin lakes on April 1^st.  Three different experimental bag limits are being applied to 93 lakes to determine which is the most efficient at improving panfish size.  The new rules will be evaluated to determine whether they are improving panfish size as well as whether anglers continue to support the changes.