“Like most, I’m looking for it all,” says Doug Williams, at D W Sports Center in Portage. “I keep my eyes open all the time, particularly for wild flowers. The younger folks may focus more on what they’re hunting. I particularly like looking for new things and this doesn’t distract from what I’m hunting.”
Wisconsin’s bloodroot flower is one such plant that catches the eyes of many, particularly midday when the blooms are wide open. They close at evening and then open again the next morning. The clumps, often called drifts, are usually clones of the same plant as noticed by leaf lobbing. Another drift will be slightly different, if you get the drift.
The “blood” is reddish latex and present in most plant parts and it even shows through as pink in some petals and stems. It may have been used as face paint by Native Americans and pioneer hunters.
Don Dodge, of Argyle, remembers to look for the first wild asparagus on his birthday, April 10, and usually finds a shoot or two. It’s now showing up in gardens and roadsides.
“I think the multitasking by outdoors men and women is somewhat of an age thing; when younger I was out to fill a bag and now that’s not such a big deal,” said Wayne Whitemarsh in Sauk City. “I’m more relaxed and into identifying birds, for example, and may even take a book along.”
There are phone apps that will record a bird song and identify the bird without seeing its characters.
Most who have been turkey hunting, looking for sheds or wild flowers are well aware of the ticks, deer and wood varieties.
Kelly Maguire called to say the first hatch of pheasant chicks are feeding and 11 more groups will follow, spreading the hatches, cutting down on food to hold the birds until autumn releases and leave more room for all along the way.
There’s less to see looking farther north where snow cover is still measured in feet and deer continue to congregate roadside and in deer yards. “I heard one grouse and have seen woodcock, too,” said Jill Schartner, a retired WDNR field warden in Bayfield County.
Right now, we’re two different states, north and south Wisconsin, it seems.
Wally Banfi, at Sauk City’s Wilderness Fish and Game, sometimes fishes by using phenology. “When the lilac flowers open along the driveway, the crappies are spawning and when the cottonwood drops its ‘cotton’ the bluegills will start their spawn,” Banfi, a fishing guide remarks. “Walleyes, too, have pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn periods. These fish are very sensitive to a degree change, while we react more to 10-degree changes.”
Before the cold temperatures set in again, early turkey hunters who were prepared by scouting and knowing the terrain found gobblers receptive. Jeff Fredrick, of Mindoro, hunted Minnesota successfully, while Matt Seguin, Jr., of Dodgeville, shot a gobbler during the young hunt, filling his fourth period authorization and saving the second period “tag” for April 26.
The cold snap will send most events into neutral, but should start again without too much damage.
The grand green curtain has begun to drop in most habitats.
— Jerry Davis is an Argyle native and a freelance writer who lives in Barneveld. He can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or at 608-924-1112.
