Wisconsin’s hunting seasons reached a peak with the nine-day gun deer season and have begun to slow but continue.
Small game, turkeys, and other types of deer hunting seasons are here for taking, under varied weather conditions, with varieties of meat as nature’s gifts.
Furbearer trapping is in full swing.
Ice fishing could pop up at any moment, or lag until New Year’s Day.
More passive outdoors activities of riding on snow, hunting for the perfect Christmas tree or card photograph, and attracting birds, watching them, and providing their basic “bread and water” can be all consuming or just a glance when walking out the door on the way to the day job.
COVID-19 was a boom to the bird feeding world because many employees were house-bound for a year or more.
Getting back into feeding birds, starting anew, or expanding feed stations are all possibilities with winter approaching.
Bob Ross, owner of Wild Birds Unlimited on Old Sauk Road in Middleton, Wisconsin has beat rising inflation by switching companies that supply bird baths. “People were not going to pay $200 for a birdbath so I found a company that makes one with a built-in thermometer for about $100. Birders started buying them in September just to be ready,” he said.
It isn’t always the least expensive that’s best when it comes to feeding birds. Ross cautions bird feeders to stay away from milo and sorghum seeds, which are used to fill a bag in some mixes, but most birds won’t eat those seeds he said.
If shrubbery and evergreens are lacking for bird cover, roosts and protection from hawks, a big brush pile might be a good winter substitute until a tree or shrub can grow larger.
White pine is a fast-growing, native evergreen.
If in doubt, consider visiting a specialty store to see what’s available in feed and feeders and get some questions answered, too. Then shop around or when in a pinch stop at the closest store and buy black oil sunflower fruits to get by for that week.
Bluebirds, both males and females, continue to cheer up a long winter by visiting water baths and feeders providing dried mealworms for lunch.
Ross and other businesses have dried mealworms in cylinder feeders and separates, too.
“Watch, too, where birds like to feed and then accommodate them with feeders that provide food how they want it,” Ross said. “Cardinals don’t like to eat from a perch peg but do fine on a platform feeder.”
Chickadees like fast food. The come, grab a seed, and then look for a place to perch in a shrub to remove a single seed from a black oil dried fruit and return for another nibble at the feeder.
An Iowa County couple had a pair of evening grosbeaks visit their feeders recently. You read that correctly, evening grosbeaks, which resemble a goldfinch but are robin-sized. Males are more colorful than females, but both have lots of yellow and as the name advertises, have a large bill. They love black oil sunflowers but be ready to fill the feeders often.
Another neighbor reported seeing a great gray owl and a Cooper’s hawk in Iowa County.
Preliminary deer season numbers will be available in a few days and then finalized numbers come during the next several weeks.
Deer registrations continued to climb now at 106,592 with 67,186 of those being bucks and 39,396 antlerless deer going into the nine-day season. Crossbowers alone have registered 60,544 deer; 38,776 were bucks and archers registered 37,026 deer with 23,773 being bucks.
Turkey registrations total 2,557 birds, including 651 birds in Zone 2.
Archery, crossbow, and the extended archery and crossbow seasons continue until January 4, 2026 and January 31, 2026, respectively but the extended season is only in select deer management units.
The metro sub-unit gun deer season is very limited, too.
The muzzleloader season follows the closing of the nine-day gun deer season and closes December 10, 2025. The four-day antlerless hunt begins where the muzzleloader season leaves off.
Just prior to Christmas, and only in select units, the antlerless-only holiday hunt begins December 24 and closes New Year’s Day, January 1, 2026.
Continue to watch the registrations climb on the DNR web page as total figures, and individual season totals are also broken down into deer management units.
The list of popular evergreen trees and boughs is relatively short. Balsam and Fraser firs make up the majority of tree sales. The needles are not sharp, stay attached to the tree well, and if cut fresh will last the season.
Evergreen boughs are best coming from white pine, white cedar, and balsam fir. Red cedar is OK but not the best.
— Jerry Davis is a freelance writer who lives in Barneveld. He can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or at 608-924-1112.
