Patrick Durkin
On Wisconsin! Conservation Funding Requires Leadership
For a state ranking fifth nationally in licensed hunters and sixth in licensed anglers while generating $8.7 billion and 89,000 jobs in...
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Patrick Durkin
- Mar 16
- 4 min
Wisconsin Bobcats Faring Well, Boosting License Sales
Wisconsin’s bobcat population has grown steadily this century, expanding its range and numbers while triggering explosive interest among...
209 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Mar 11
- 4 min
Impatience Pays: Hole Hoppers Put More Crappies on Ice
Someday I’ll prove that a patient man who plants himself atop an ice hole and persists will outfish those who forever hop one hole to the...
263 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Mar 4
- 4 min
Wisconsin Fish Advisories Offer Safe, Practical Eating Advice
Let’s compliment the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for the large, bold-faced “Choose Wisely” headline on the state’s...
177 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Feb 25
- 4 min
Ice-Spearing for Pike Offers Same Guarantee as Tip-Up Fishing: None
MENOMINEE, Mich. — If you’re strapping ice-creepers to your boots and heading out to catch a quick meal of northern pike from an Upper...
705 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Feb 19
- 4 min
Wisconsin Finds CWD in Record 31 Counties During 2022 Deer Hunts
Wisconsin found chronic wasting disease in a record 31 counties during 2022’s deer seasons — including newcomers Buffalo, Langlade and...
572 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Feb 11
- 4 min
Spain Researchers Document World’s Oldest ‘Trophy Room’
Researchers who studied a cave complex in Spain recently concluded that Neanderthal hunters likely turned one of the chambers into the...
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Patrick Durkin
- Feb 3
- 4 min
Icefishing in 1959 Had Many Charms and Challenges
An old, retired Northwoods bunny cop seldom disagrees when reading my columns about hunting, fishing and other conservation matters. But...
325 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Jan 28
- 5 min
Wisconsin’s New Wolf Plan Mirrors Other Plans Here and Near
One year after a federal judge in California put the Great Lakes’ gray wolves back on the endangered species list, many Wisconsin hunters...
613 views2 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Jan 22
- 4 min
Retired Wildlife Professor Ponders CWD’s Impact on Deer Hunting
Deer hunting in Wisconsin was simpler in 2000, when we mostly argued about baiters, antlerless quotas, buck-to-doe ratios, and whether...
975 views1 comment
Patrick Durkin
- Jan 14
- 4 min
Pelican River Forest Plan Deserves a Public Resolution
One wonders about the legitimacy of our Legislature when a lone senator or representative can conceal their identity while blocking...
475 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Jan 7
- 5 min
Bowhunter Crawls Over 600 Yards After Treestand Fall
As Mark Gutsmiedl checked his muskrat trapline in December and hauled out his daily catch, he felt blessed to be in constant pain and 1½...
822 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Dec 31, 2022
- 5 min
Cole Failed Wisconsin as DNR Secretary the Past 4 Years
When Preston Cole took command of the Department of Natural Resources in December 2018, Wisconsin’s conservation community hoped the new...
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Patrick Durkin
- Dec 23, 2022
- 4 min
Wisconsin Studies Show Snowmobiling Safety Improving
As counties across Wisconsin rushed to open their snowmobile trails before Christmas weekend, they warned snowmobilers to watch out for...
135 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Dec 16, 2022
- 4 min
Wisconsin Hunter Hurt After Falling onto Buck’s Antlers
Kris Bjerke lay bleeding and immobile in a deep gully in southwestern Wisconsin on Nov. 23, a tourniquet throttling his left leg above...
3,685 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Dec 10, 2022
- 5 min
Wisconsin Gun Season Endlessly Repeats 2009 Results
One gets a bit nostalgic when reflecting on Wisconsin’s just-completed nine-day gun-deer season and recalling the November 2009 hunt....
1,474 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Dec 4, 2022
- 5 min
Father’s Prized Rifle Lives on in Duren Family’s Lore
If you’ve read Larry Koller’s classic book “Shots at Whitetails,” you probably envy hunters who own sporterized bolt-action rifles with...
930 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Nov 26, 2022
- 5 min
Great Books, Clothes and Other Gear Fulfill Holiday Wishes
Whether you know a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or good neighbor who wants to get kids outdoors, give them the book “Outdoor Kids In...
335 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Nov 21, 2022
- 4 min
Daughter’s First Post-Navy Deer Inspires Enduring Pride
Frozen deer blood looks raspberry-red and clings in clumps to boot laces and pants cuffs, letting you brush most of it away before it...
431 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Nov 12, 2022
- 4 min
Older Hunters, Not Newbies, Cause Most Shootings in Wisconsin
Hunting in Wisconsin is 95% safer than in 1966, but if you still feel skittish, consider this: You can further reduce your odds of...
442 views2 comments
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