Treestand Safety Tips For This Years Deer Hunt

It never fails that when you listen to the news after the first weekend of the Wisconsin Whitetail Gun Deer Season you about experienced deer hunters falling out of their tree stand. For something as easy as slipping on a harness, we sure do take for granted our ability to be safe when hunting for that trophy buck. This year, let’s all be safe and prevent all unnecessary falls and deaths when getting in and out of our tree stands. Next season is just as important as this whitetail season.

Here are some tips and helpful notes to staying safe this year in the deer stand.

• Use a well-designed and built, sturdy treestand. Treestands manufactured by the
• Treestand Manufacturers Association [TMA] that have been built since 2006, are commercially designed and tested to meet recognized industry standards.
• Read and understand the manufacturer’s instructions on the use of your treestand before using it. You should practice using the treestand in the morning and evening hours. As the saying goes; practice makes perfect.
• Carefully inspect your treestand for wear, rust, metal fatigue and cracks, loose or missing nuts or bolts, and rot and deterioration before and after each use. Tighten loose nuts and bolts and replace rusty or worn hardware. Check straps or chains or other attachment devices for wear, and replace if they are unsafe.
• Check with the Consumer Product Safety Commission at www.cpsc.gov to see if your stand has been recalled due to safety defects. In the search field type in the word “treestand”, then click on the link for your stand. Contact the manufacturer if it has been recalled.
• Let other hunters in your party know where your stand is located. Leave a map on the dashboard and also the time you will return.
• Put a whistle, horn, strobe, 2-way radio or a cell phone in your pack. Make sure it is properly charged or have fresh batteries.
• Don’t move seriously injured victims; treat for shock, stop the bleeding, and go for help.
• Wear a full-body safety harness and maintain three points of contact at all times.
• PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE using your treestand and harness.
• Inspect for damage to a stand before the season begins and before and after each use.
• Securely attach stand to a healthy tree.
• Read the instructions that came with the stand.
• Always use a haul line for gear.
• Tie a haul line to the belt or stand when climbing to keep hands free.
• Unload gun or bow before climbing or descending stand.
• Be especially careful using tree stands during rain, snow and ice conditions.
• Don’t use treestands if you’re tired, sick or on medications.
• And as always wear blaze orange in the stand when the season requires it.

Source: dgif.virginia.gov

The Rut is Not Over: November 6th, 2009

Some of you dedicated readers have asked me if I am starting to see rut activity slow down in the last week. I hunt in both northern Wisconsin and the Midwest area of Wisconsin so I will give reports for both.

I want to let you know that I hunt the northern part of Wisconsin, about 10 miles north of Rice Lake, and as of this morning, I received a report that there was a 10 point buck pushing does around in an open hay field.

I also hunt in the Midwest portion Wisconsin, 8 miles east of Eau Claire, and as of this morning, the stand that had new scent dropped on it Monday night now has two new rubs, and one new scrape.

With the upcoming weekend being in the 60 degree area, we may see a little slow down. That actually is good news if you can get out Sunday night or Monday. With a small resting period we should see a spike in traffic this coming week.

Good luck and let me know if you have any reports from your area you would like to include.

Wisconsin DNR Open for Nominees for 13th Annual Ethical Hunter Award

EAU CLAIRE - With Wisconsin’s new mentored hunting law, youngsters 10 and 11 years old will be joining the upcoming gun deer hunt, carrying firearms under the close supervision of their mentors.

Each of these mentors has a big responsibility, and in a critical way so does every other gun hunter in the field this year, said warden supervisor Steve Dewald with the state Department of Natural Resources.

“We obviously want these youth to have a positive experience in their meetings with other hunters,” Dewald said. “These kids are at an impressionable age and what they see this year they will long remember. Our fondest hope is that these young people will be made to feel welcome in the community of hunters.”

And so everyone who hunts becomes a mentor. It has always been this way. And while a few violators will attract attention, thousands of hunter conservationists will quietly pursue their passion for wildlife this fall, following not only the rules but strict, personal codes of safety and responsibility.

To celebrate and honor these hunter conservationists, the state Department of Natural Resources and the La Crosse Tribune proudly announce the opening of nominations for the 13th annual Ethical Hunter Award.

“We are asking hunters to acknowledge ethical behavior in other hunters when they see it,” Dewald said.

Dewald, outdoor writer Jerry Davis and La Crosse Tribune outdoor editor Bob Lamb created the award in 1997 in an effort to bring attention to the positive contributions made by Wisconsin’s safe and ethical hunters.

“This is a statewide award, and every year we get nominations from all across Wisconsin,” Dewald said. “That’s a good sign.”

The award signifies the qualities of “hunters helping others rather than pursuing personal gain” and “hunters engaged in behavior that positively reflects on the tradition of hunting.”
Dewald encourages people who have nominated hunters in the past to consider whether the person they nominated would still qualify and to consider nominating that person again. There have been persons nominated in the past who would have won the award if nominated in a different year.

These stories that come in the mail illustrate what wildlife and law enforcement professionals already know – that positive and often admirable behavior is common among the majority of hunters, Dewald said.

The following are requirements to be eligible to receive the Ethical Hunter Award:
The nominee must be a licensed Wisconsin hunter.

The ethical hunting act must have taken place in Wisconsin during the 2009 calendar year.
Written nominations should contain the name, address and telephone number of the witness or witnesses to the behavior that led to the nomination.

Written nominations should be sent to Warden Supervisor Steve Dewald at the Department of Natural Resources, 3550 Mormon Coulee Road, La Crosse, WI 54601 by Jan. 15, 2010.

An 18-year-old Rhinelander hunter received the award last year for helping a young woman hunter whom he met out in the field to trail, field dress and retrieve a 17-point buck that she had shot but was unable to find.

Other award recipients in previous years have been recognized for:

• assisting a conservation warden who was dealing with a dangerous subject
• restoring wildlife habitat
• making private lands available to new hunters
• providing opportunities for disabled hunters
• rendering aid to a citizen at a serious car accident
• Special youth awards are also given to youngsters who hunt ethically.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Dewald, warden supervisor – (608) 785-9970 or Ed Culhane, a DNR communications specialist, at (715) 839-3715

Source: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Lookup.asp?id=194#art1

Spanish and Hmong translations of hunting regulations available

MADISON – Wisconsin’s 2009 Deer Hunting Regulations are now available in Spanish [pdf; 2.7MB] Hmong [pdf; 2.6MB] languages on the hunting and trapping regulations page of the Department of Natural Resources Web site. The 2009 Small Game Hunting Regulations, including the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 Turkey Regulations, are also available online in Spanish [pdf; 1.1MB] and Hmong [pdf; 1MB] on the DNR Web site.

The regualtion pamphlets are available in hard copy at license sales locations and DNR Service Centers.

Spanish and Hmong speaking customer service representatives also are available to answer questions on the DNR Information Line 1-888-WDNR –INFo (936-7463).

“Extending information sources and availability to Wisconsin’s Hispanic and Hmong communities in a variety of convenient formats is an important goal for our customer service and licensing team,” said Vance Rayburn, DNR’s administrator of customer services, licensing and information services. “Our Spanish and Hmong speaking customers have told us they greatly appreciate having their questions answered in their native language.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurel Steffes - (608) 266-8109 or Bob Manwell - (608) 264-9248
Source: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Lookup.asp?id=194#art3