Patrick Durkin
Consider these Items as Christmas Gifts for Outdoors Folks
When you have hunters, trappers, anglers or campers on your holiday shopping list, you can’t claim they make gift-giving difficult...
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Patrick Durkin
Nov 214 min read
Deer Camp Connections Strengthen Hunting’s Legacies
Since my father persuaded his friend Charlie Merkle to take me deer hunting in Vilas County in November 1971, I’ve hunted only six other...
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Patrick Durkin
Nov 155 min read
Older, Experienced Hunters Cause Most Hunting-Related Shootings
At risk of annoying my fellow old-folk hunters, please remind your hunting partners to keep an eye on you – and you on them – when you’re...
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Patrick Durkin
Nov 104 min read
Hot Tip from Grave Doesn’t Mesh with Hunters’ Idaho Trip
BONNERS FERRY, Idaho — A death-bed confession of sorts inspired Logan Hyrkas to organize a hunt for mountain deer in Idaho’s Panhandle...
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Patrick Durkin
Nov 14 min read
Crossbow’s Impact on Wisconsin Bowhunting Loses Steam
The 89,480 deer that arrow-slingers registered during Wisconsin’s 2023 archery and crossbow seasons marked the third straight year of...
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Patrick Durkin
Oct 255 min read
Hunting Camp’s Legends, Memories Live in Stories, Photos
When walking around a dead man’s hunting camp, each glance and every step seems to stir up old stories, memories and unasked questions...
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Patrick Durkin
Oct 204 min read
Petty Politicians Bicker as DNR Secretary Job Sits Vacant
The captain’s chair at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources sits empty a year after former DNR secretary Adam Payne gave 10...
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Patrick Durkin
Oct 125 min read
Wolves Just Don’t Understand What’s Good for Them
It’s time Wisconsin’s wolf-haters and wolf-huggers lower their picket signs, lay down their smartphones and lock themselves into a padded...
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Patrick Durkin
Oct 55 min read
Wife Arrows Big Wisconsin Buck After Couple’s 6-Year Hunt
Jess and Matt Weber will never know if it was the squirrel dumplings, wild-turkey soup or a flurry of midafternoon trail-cam photos that...
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Patrick Durkin
Sep 284 min read
Fishing Guides Make You More Productive on the Water
When hunting or fishing new areas, I need about three years of scouting, studying and preying to learn enough to succeed consistently. ...
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Patrick Durkin
Sep 194 min read
Old Guys Often Choose their Own Company When Fishing
CASCADE, Idaho — A small fleet of fishing boats ranging from one-person kayaks to low-slung, rocket-propelled bass boats squeezed me from...
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Patrick Durkin
Sep 134 min read
Wisconsin DNR Still Ignores CWD’s Elephant in the Room
One can’t help but smirk each autumn when the Department of Natural Resources issues its reminders and suggestions to hunters preparing...
651 views1 comment
Patrick Durkin
Sep 84 min read
For Elk, this Bowhunter Takes First Good Shot Offered
The iPhone’s screen read “3:05” a.m. after I set the 12th bag of elk meat beside the others. Then I leaned backward, arms on hips,...
293 views1 comment
Patrick Durkin
Aug 304 min read
Fresh Fish Took a Direct Path to Mom’s Heart
I don’t know the secret to creating a hunter or angler, but a key to failing either goal is a mother who won’t drive her kids to the...
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Patrick Durkin
Aug 234 min read
Conservation Debts Grow as Wisconsin Clings to Discount Licenses
During her 2011-2017 stint as Wisconsin DNR secretary, Cathy Stepp often preached that the agency must operate more like a private-sector...
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Patrick Durkin
Aug 165 min read
Roy Case Launched Bowhunting’s ‘Shot Heard Round the World’
Bowhunting historian Bill McCrary says it’s accurate to call Racine’s Roy I. Case (1888-1986) the father of Wisconsin bowhunting and...
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Patrick Durkin
Aug 104 min read
Smallmouths Get More Doubt than Love on Anglers’ Menus
During summer fishing trips to Canada in the 1990s, my wife never assumed we would catch enough before noon to feed our three daughters...
248 views1 comment
Patrick Durkin
Aug 14 min read
Even a Departed Friend Can’t End Potent Fishing Jinx
Tom Heberlein’s ghost still lingers when guests enter the Old Tamarack Lodge, the professor’s aging shack in central Ashland County....
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Patrick Durkin
Jul 294 min read
Bluegills Rival Any Fish in Taste and Fighting Capacity
Few argue the bluegill would make a worthier state fish than the muskellunge, Wisconsin’s longtime holder of that title. Bluegills, after...
198 views0 comments
Patrick Durkin
Jul 204 min read
Quality Time in the Outdoors Can’t be Measured or Logged
For nearly 40 years I’ve tried to shower equal attention and affection on my three daughters, and for the past decade I’ve expanded those...
219 views2 comments
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