Autumn is eventually about flamboyant leaves, but first there are multihued fruits, colorful fungal fruiting bodies and vivid sunsets.
Already, cardinal ginseng fruits, blush wild plums, rouge prickly ash berries and enflamed highbush cranberries compliment rosy wild apples, and mauve wild grapes.
Nuts and other fruits continue to lose their holds on trees and shrubs, giving young deer, squirrels, and turkeys convenient locations to begin fattening for fall and helping hunters and viewers zero in on game.
Not all autumn mushrooms are edible, but pigments of brilliant sulphur polypores, add to ghostly puffballs, ruddy russulas, while lavender, gray, yellow, and tawny mushrooms embrace autumn, too.
Numerous gathering seasons in early September begin a long list of wildlife, plant and fish hunting, digging, catching and trapping seasons. As is often the case, these seasons come in clumps leaving collectors only partially prepared to take to the forests, waters and fields before a series of mid-September openers.
Wisconsin’s ginseng digging season opens Sept. 1; licenses required before digging and selling fresh root. There continues to be concern with some diggers disregarding rules and regulations to the demise of plant populations. If a state’s ginseng population cannot be maintained, the season could be closed due to federal requirement for a healthy population. Current root sales are about 1/3 of what they were several decades ago.
The first waterfowl season, teal, also opens for a week Sept. 1. Daily possession is six teal in total, blue and green-winged birds.
Mourning doves, another migratory bird, begins its three-month season Sept. 1, with a daily bag of 15 birds.
An early Canada goose season opens Sept. 1 for fifteen days with a five-bird daily bag.
Anglers are not left out of the early opportunities with the lake sturgeon hook and line season for one fish, 60 inches minimum. Fish must be registered in person.
The first of several types of black bear hunting seasons begin Sept. 5. This first portion of bear hunting is with the aid of bait, not dogs.
Ruffed grouse season opens Sept. 15, with the season closure undecided at the moment. Test kits for collection of blood and hearts to culture for West Nile Virus are available through DNR county wildlife biologists, regardless of where the hunter lives. It is assumed most will be hunting in northern Wisconsin and those are the birds most desired for testing.
Grouse brood count data will be published soon, as will the DNR’s autumn outlook for all hunting seasons. This information will be available online.
Looking way ahead to April 2009, hunters and other gatherers can note diseased and dying elm tree locations if they plan to continue searching for morels when other spring options are limited.
The DNR has posted its new Wisconsin Deer Metrics System on its website. The charts, graphs and data include registration figures, deer population trends, impacts of deer on agriculture and forests, deer health and deer hunter surveys by county. As with regulations, this system allows hunters to concentrate on their deer management unit, or the entire state.
The Wisconsin Hickory Association was awarded the Best of Show (Grand Champion Eats and Treats) at the recent Wisconsin State Fair for their Wisconsin Hickory Fudge. Mike Starshak, spokesperson, describes this wild edible as a unique, creamy white hickory fudge, make from wild hickory nuts. Most hickory nut-laden products made this fall will likely be made using last year’s nuts or slim findings this October.
Autumn is upon us, tempting us with tantalizing treats coming first in bits and pieces.
— 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.
