October/November 2004 Now in our thirteenth year. www.Bdarn.com

Canada geese before the MVP migrants arrive in our state. For 2004, the early September season will offer a five-bird-per-day limit for the entire state, excluding the closed Burnett County subzone. Geese harvested during this early season are not included in the regular season harvest quota.
Wisconsin will again be offering a youth waterfowl hunt on Sept. 18-19, offering hunters an opportunity to introduce a young person to the waterfowl hunting experience.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Van Horn - (608) 266-8841
2004 upland wildlife fall hunting forecast
By Andrea Mezera, Assistant DNR Upland Wildlife Ecologist - (608) 261-8458
Ring-necked pheasant: wild populations stable; 19,000 pheasants to be released. Selected public hunting grounds around Wisconsin will be stocked with 19,000 pheasants raised at the Department of Natural Resources game farm to provide hunting opportunity. Hunters should check the pheasant hunting regulations and the general hunting regulations so they are aware of the counties in which a pheasant stamp is required and which public hunting grounds have a 2 p.m. closure and/or allow hen pheasant hunting.
Hen hunting properties were selected because they had no wild hens on or near them. It is illegal to shoot hen pheasants anywhere else in Wisconsin, except on licensed game farms. Such shooting would harm Wisconsin's wild pheasant population.
Preliminary pheasant crowing counts indicate stable wild pheasant populations statewide. Coupled with a series of mild winters, population estimates appear to be favorable. Although, cold temperatures and wet weather this spring and summer are expected to have a negative effect on productivity and brood survival.
Areas within the pheasant management counties that contain adequate winter cover (cattail and shrub-carr marshes and thick switch grass fields) and have more than 15 percent of the landscape in idle grassland will have the highest pheasant densities. In Wisconsin research has shown that wetlands are one of the most important year-round cover types for pheasants.
Over the long-term throughout the Midwest, pheasant populations have shown a decline, coinciding with changing agriculture and land use patterns. Pheasants once relied on small grain and hay fields for nesting and brood rearing. These areas are now being replaced with larger row crops of corn and soybeans. It will be important for hunters to identify areas with high quality habitat and concentrate hunting efforts in that area.
A pheasant stamp is required to hunt pheasants in pheasant management zones. Pheasant hunting opens statewide at noon Oct. 16 and closes on Dec. 31. From Oct. 16-17, the daily bag limit is one cock and possession limit is two. For the remainder of the season the daily bag limit is two cocks and the possession limit is four. Some public hunting grounds have both hen and cock pheasant hunting (requires free permits and tags) and /or 2 p.m. closure times. See the Special Pheasant pamphlet for details.
Ruffed grouse population continues to be at low end of cycle
The 2004 ruffed grouse spring drumming survey shows a 14 percent decrease statewide in the number of drumming grouse heard during roadside surveys compared to last spring. The statewide average was 0.67 drums per stop in 2004 vs. 0.78 in 2003. The largest decrease was in the northern region of the state where drumming activity was down 17 percent compared to last year. The southeast region was the only part of the state that showed an increase (20 percent) in drumming activity. Wisconsin is currently on the downward side of the population cycle and biologists expect numbers to begin climbing in about a year or two. Depending upon the hatching success this spring, grouse numbers may begin to slowly increase this year.
Results are in line with the 10-year ruffed grouse cycle that peaked back in 1999. Reduced grouse in the bag can be expected, but these are great years to scout new hunting areas. Hunters will not find uniformly high numbers of grouse across the landscape. They will need to seek good habitat for ruffed grouse hunting this year and may have to move around to find the pockets where good numbers of birds can be found. Ruffed grouse use a variety of habitat types, but young, early successional forest types are most important when trying to find a good grouse hunting location.
The ruffed grouse season opens on Sept. 18 in the northern and western zone and on Oct. 16 in the eastern zone. The season closes on Dec. 8 in the eastern zone, Dec. 31 in the northern zone, and Jan. 31 in the western zone. The bag and possession limits are five and 10, respectively, in the northern and western zones and two and four in the eastern zone.