Patrick Durkin
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...
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Patrick Durkin
- Nov 21
- 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...
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Patrick Durkin
- Nov 12
- 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...
410 views2 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Nov 7
- 5 min
Old Friend’s Cabin a Fitting Place for a Hunters’ Reunion
My compound bow’s 20-yard sight-pin wavered low on the 8-point buck’s chest as I held at full draw, my index finger hesitating over the...
434 views2 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Oct 28
- 5 min
DIY Science: Hunters Can Collect CWD Samples Themselves
Hunters who like DIY projects can expand their self-reliance by extracting the lymph nodes of deer they shoot and getting them tested for...
145 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Oct 24
- 6 min
Private Text Messages Dispel Prehn’s Claims for Staying on NRB
I thought of George Orwell in late September as three members of Wisconsin’s Natural Resources Board figuratively gang-tackled fellow...
834 views1 comment
Patrick Durkin
- Oct 14
- 5 min
Venerable Mitchell 300 Reels Take Anglers Back in Time
While leading a tour through his fishing-tackle manufacturing building in the mid-1990s, a sales/advertising representative snorted...
356 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Oct 11
- 3 min
A Lost Brother’s Words Still Echo in Southern Wisconsin's Deer Woods
Note: I wrote this column in January 2009 soon after my first hunt, and face-to-face meet-up, with my good friend Doug Duren. I'm sharing...
429 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Oct 10
- 4 min
Young Buck’s Ravaged Skull Defies Easy Explanations
Folks who spend much time outdoors eventually stumble into something that makes them question Mother Nature’s indifference to her...
567 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Oct 1
- 5 min
Explaining a Great Wisconsin Moose Hunt that Never Was
When pondering whether to post vintage hunting photos on the internet, heed this advice: Don’t make claims about the time, place, hunters...
319 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Sep 23
- 4 min
Instagram Cancels Renowned Wildlife Researcher’s Account
By all relevant standards, Horicon native Jim Heffelfinger is a smart, honest, peace-loving man you can trust with your wife, wallet and...
779 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Sep 16
- 5 min
Perch in Idaho’s Lake Cascade are a Western Phenomenon
CASCADE, Idaho — Wisconsin has long sent legions of ice-fishing anglers north or west to chase yellow perch at famous destinations like...
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Patrick Durkin
- Sep 12
- 4 min
Wisconsin Bowhunters Focus Increasingly on Bucks
Wisconsin was the first state in the U.S. to create a stand-alone bowhunting season in 1934. As the Badger state heads into its 89th...
425 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Sep 5
- 4 min
Yellow Perch, Not Elk, Spur a September Return to Idaho
When late August arrives and folks talk of autumn’s fast-approaching hunting seasons, friends often ask if I’m returning to Idaho to...
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Patrick Durkin
- Aug 28
- 4 min
Cooper’s Hawk is Faring Well in Urban and Rural Wisconsin
Since moving to Eau Claire about two years ago and setting up our backyard birdfeeders, my wife and I have made regulars out of...
240 views1 comment
Patrick Durkin
- Aug 22
- 4 min
‘Teacher of the Year’ Learned her Craft in Wisconsin's Outdoors
You’d never suspect that Lori Danz, Wisconsin’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, hated school as a youngster. Danz, 57, a biology teacher and...
354 views1 comment
Patrick Durkin
- Aug 13
- 5 min
Deer Czar Kroll Fails to Assess Impacts of His 2012 Report
When James Kroll addressed Wisconsin’s Natural Resources Board last week, he fired up a PowerPoint presentation titled “The 2012 Deer...
1,108 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Aug 7
- 4 min
Wood Turtles Don’t have it Easy in Wisconsin
If you feel persecuted because your boss says you’re slow, and drivers don’t yield when you step into crosswalks, be grateful you’re not...
345 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Jul 30
- 5 min
Deer Czar Kroll to Meet with Natural Resources Board
Wisconsin’s Natural Resources Board will welcome back Texas’ Jim Kroll to its meeting Aug. 10 to catch up on all things white-tailed...
1,184 views2 comments
Patrick Durkin
- Jul 23
- 4 min
Research: Biologists Spend Ample Time in Deer Woods
One baseless accusation heard again in June during our eternal deer debates is that this biologist or that forester is only “book smart,”...
443 views2 comments