Ross Bielema 8 May 2025

Deer council approves holiday hunt, extended archery season

The overall theme of the Shawano County Deer Advisory Council meeting was more opportunities for deer hunters in an effort to get an ever-swelling deer herd under control. With a countywide herd of more than 53,000 animals and fewer does being shot, the council admitted efforts to rein in the growing herd are largely symbolic. During the April 29 meeting at Shawano Community Middle School, the six-member board approved an antlerless holiday hunt
Ross Bielema 28 April 2025
Vision quest: Fungeyes glasses make morels pop
I’ve hunted morel mushrooms for most of my 65 years, and I’ve heard all the advice. Look for dead elms. Look on the south side of hills first. Look in apple orchards. The hard part is actually seeing the sponge-shaped delicacies. They are a brownish yellow or sometimes gray that seems to blend in like a ghost on the forest floor. Tuck them under some May apples, ferns or other understory, and it’s like Mr.
Ross Bielema 22 April 2025
DNR spring hearing in Shawano re-elects CDAC delegates
There were few fireworks or discussions April 14 during the Shawano County spring hearing hosted by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and state Conservation Congress. A total of 13 people attended the annual hearing at Shawano Community Middle School, according to Duane Beyer of Shawano, who was re-elected to a two-year term as chairman of the county’s five-member Conservation Congress.
Ross Bielema 6 April 2025
Conservation Congress hearing panfish limit proposals
Springtime in Wisconsin means the first sightings of robins and sandhill cranes, emerging spring flowers — and statewide DNR/Conservation Congress public hearings. On April 14, the Department of Natural Resources and the grassroots Wisconsin Conservation Congress hearings in every county give sportsmen and other wildlife lovers the chance to weigh in on hunting, fishing and other conservation management questions. All meetings start at 6 p.m.
Ross Bielema 20 March 2025
Grab extra turkey tags now for more chances
As I’m writing this, spring is promising to arrive early, with the weather forecasters getting giddy about a weeklong warm spell that could see temperatures in the low 70s. By the time you read this, we will all know if they were right or somehow missed a surprise snowstorm that loves to crush our dreams in March or April. As president of the Winnebago Strutters (Neenah-Menasha) Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, I’m in the midst of
Ross Bielema 3 March 2025
Call of the wild: Predator hunter uses voice to create recorded calls
Predator hunting guide and hunter Matt McHugh has fooled up to 24 coyotes in one night to be toppled by clients.
Ross Bielema 19 February 2025
Love in low places
Love can appear in the most unlikely of places, but social media sensation Ed the Diver never expected that a waterlogged Barbie doll he pulled from the murky depths of the Shawano Dam would lead him to a real mermaid that captured his heart. Ed Bieber, a former Marinette farmer and electrician now known as Ed the Diver on multiple social media platforms, finds thousands of fishing lures and golf balls a year scrounging on the bottom of area rive
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