Assessing an old timer’s nut picking success tells a story, past and present. During a good year, as last, he amassed 25 gallons of hard shagbark hickory fruits. This year, about a gallon.
Wayne Whitemarsh, in Sauk City, says his friend was not happy with the spotty harvest this year, but there are some advantages to the hunter and hunted.
Squirrels are moving greater distances to find that one good tree but more likely to end up in a corn field, harvested or not. If it’s a fox squirrel, they eat the embryo of the kernel and leave the remainder; grays are thriftier and consume most of the yellow maize’s mass.
Fox squirrels are large enough to carry a full ear up to a mile before starting consumption or hoarding the kernels.
“Squirrels,” said Doug Williams, at D W Sports Center in Portage, “are all over the place, often in the open, so seeing them is not as difficult, even with leaves on the trees.”
Black walnuts are some better, but not as popular, as hickory nuts. Acorns, too, are spotty, both two-year red oaks and one year white oaks. If a deer, squirrel, or turkey hunter finds that special tree, that’s where hunters should set up and wait for the wildlife to show.
The non-hunting public need not be at a loss, though, because this is the week when fall colors began to peak in southern Wisconsin.
Leaves, fruits and even a few flowers are gorgeous about now. Getting a deer, turkey, squirrel or the last ginseng root are bonuses. For the quiet man or woman, a photograph or memory will do nicely.
Reasons to consider the forest this year, and beyond, continue to be food and automatic social spacing, but as psychologists (and naturalists) continue to point out, the woods can be a real therapy treatment, regardless of the gathering mission.
Gatherers of all types are being reintroduced to food from nature, the woods, gardens, and streams, as well as the relaxation.
Even though inland trout season closes Oct. 15, Bret Schultz, Black Earth, says there is still fishing to be done, keeping or releasing. “Things have really changed the last several weeks. Hoppers were good, but not so much now. Still, sometimes by mid-afternoon, when the water temperature comes up, the hoppers get a little active, and so do the fish feeding on them.”
There are some small windows, too, for little mayfly hatches; on a warm, sunny day. That’s usually after 4 p.m.; on a cloudy day they may hatch by noon, but not for long,” he tells. “Then it’s more football and a lot of fly-tying for next year.”
Don Martin, at Martin’s in Monroe, revealed that some guys have been going great guns on bluegills below the dam at Yellowstone Lake in Lafayette County. He also said the guys looking for walnuts should get in touch with folks in Green County who are complaining of having to pick nuts and threw them in a ditch.
Williams is not one to say “I told you so,” but hunting and fishing supplies are not getting any better, even shotgun shells are scarce.
Early ruffed grouse reports from some areas of Northern Wisconsin are better than expected after a couple down years and a West Nile Virus scare.
The archery and crossbow deer seasons were joined by the youth hunt (Oct. 10-11) and the gun deer hunt for hunters with disabilities (Oct. 3-11). Duck seasons are in full swing, and weather has been favorable.
The Wisconsin DNR deer registration spreadsheets continue to be updated, as the seasons roll through.
The last update shows the total deer at 16,086; 9,154 antlerless and 6,932 bucks. The youth and disabled hunts will show by Oct. 13.
A few examples tell crossbow and archery hunters in Green County used phones and computers to record 116 deer. Totals for Portage (370), La Crosse (131), Sauk (273), and Crawford (136) counties are impressive.
Witchhazel shrubs, one of the few October bloomers, are beginning to flower. Play around with the drying fruits from this plant, too, as it shoots four black seeds several yards when brought indoors. Few things are more exciting that to hear a hard, shiny, black seed hit a window or metal kitchen utensils.
Wisconsin Historical Society Press has just released “When the White Pine was King,” another book by prolific author, Jerry Apps, of Madison, and beyond. Some of the giant stumps of years past still poke up in northern Wisconsin forest floors and continue to act as nurseries for seedling of other species.
The DNR is again reminding deer and turkey hunters that these animals must be registered electronically by 5 p.m. the day after the animal is recovered. There are three easy methods to do so; online at GameReg, by phone at 1-844-426-3734, and electronically at participating in-person registration stations.
The season is beginning to slip past, with many counties’ color displays beginning to fade and fall. Take advantage for food, pleasant social spacing, and therapy, too.
— 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.
