<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Patrick Durkin Outdoors]]></title><description><![CDATA[Patrick Durkin Outdoors]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2026 22:23:35 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Wisconsin Deer Enduring Record EHD Deaths in 3 Southeastern Counties]]></title><description><![CDATA[Deer in southeastern Wisconsin are suffering the state’s worst outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease since this viral disease first appeared in 2002, with nearly 900 whitetails likely dead as of early September.    Confirmed reports of EHD-killed whitetails as of Sept. 4 put the count at over 700 in Washington County, over 150 in Waukesha and over 30 in Ozaukee counties.    Disease specialists at the Department of Natural Resources list only firsthand reports of dead deer in the agency’s...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/wisconsin-deer-enduring-record-ehd-deaths-in-3-southeastern-counties</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa0803dff357ecb174d3df1</guid><pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2026 21:53:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_03ce2733762e4ea3b093d88878a6901a~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Crossbow Deer Kills Helped Wisconsin Set Third Highest Arrow Harvest]]></title><description><![CDATA[As Wisconsin bowhunters return to the woods Sept. 12 for the season opener, let’s review the 2025 hunts, which toppled 113,620 whitetails, the state’s third highest archery kill on record.    Crossbow hunters registered a record 71,387 (63%) of those deer, a 10.6% increase from 64,555 deer in 2024. The previous crossbow record was 65,731 in 2020. The 2025 harvest was also the first time crossbow hunters killed over 70,000 deer since “horizontal” bows were legalized for all bowhunters in 2014....]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/crossbow-deer-kills-helped-wisconsin-set-third-highest-arrow-harvest</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a99d138a6d208e9487077c6</guid><pubDate>Thu, 03 Sep 2026 20:23:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_7e067c64b276454e9451b1ab947b8629~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Wisc. Deputy Faces 4 Felony Charges in Youth Turkey-Season Shooting]]></title><description><![CDATA[A 35-year-old Racine County sheriff’s deputy faces four felony charges after letting his 3-year-old daughter trigger a shot that wounded a 40-year-old turkey-hunting mentor and the man’s 7-year-old son April 12 during Wisconsin’s two-day youth-only turkey season.    James D. Lehman of Union Grove was charged Aug. 17 in Racine County Circuit Court with two counts of second-degree reckless injury with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of injury by negligent use of a dangerous weapon. His...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/wisc-deputy-faces-4-felony-charges-in-youth-turkey-season-shooting</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a93153fd7745f9b05112c3f</guid><pubDate>Sat, 29 Aug 2026 17:43:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_1981836fd10b45d3ae56b0895acdbcb1~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Satellite-Linked Phones Summon Rescuers to Remote Lands, Waters]]></title><description><![CDATA[A family friend who loved spending weekends on his motorcycle insisted that safety rested mostly on himself, even though a bumper sticker on his car advised, “Watch for Motorcycles.”    As he often said, “You die when you quit fearing them.”    He didn’t mean you must be too terrified to ride motorcycles. He worried that complacency would kill you, while respectful caution kept you safe.    Such wariness applies to most outdoor recreation we love, whether it’s paddling rivers, hiking the...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/satellite-linked-phones-summon-rescuers-to-remote-lands-waters</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a887dd12e2bf8de1e278e9d</guid><pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:47:22 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_072b959de33c4963a5190258d0f8a5cc~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Assembly Candidate Says DNR Wardens Still Face Tough Work Culture]]></title><description><![CDATA[Assembly candidate Ben Gruber thinks the Department of Natural Resources has a detached, centralized command structure that ignores an often-toxic work environment for Wisconsin conservation wardens.    Since January, Gruber has been on leave from his DNR law-enforcement duties and his role as union president of Conservation Wardens Local 1215. That’s because he’s the Democratic candidate for the 51st Assembly district in southwestern Wisconsin, and will face Republican incumbent Todd Novak...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/assembly-candidate-says-dnr-wardens-still-face-tough-work-culture</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a7f8b76a7a7d1a936d2b08a</guid><pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 21:54:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_acbb45dba32d4cf4b909946883c2a03a~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Angler/Sonar Expert Rick Krueger Solved a Mystery from My Childhood]]></title><description><![CDATA[My dad’s oldest brother, Donnie, worked at Kellogg’s cereals in Battle Creek, Michigan.    Each summer, he pulled his boat and its twin 50-horsepower Mercury engines 320 miles to a cabin he and Aunt Jeanie rented for two weeks on Madison’s Lake Monona.    That was the early 1960s, when rental cabins bordered the beach at Esther Park. Our family didn’t own a boat until 1968, so Uncle Donnie’s vacations offered us rare treats to waterski and fish from a boat. He especially liked fishing a...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/angler-sonar-expert-rick-krueger-solved-a-mystery-from-my-childhood</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a7798ee2dc76a37da41fd0b</guid><pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2026 21:18:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_5ce3a09929e949aca0e21ea24de2a699~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Longtime Friend Follows His Father Home to the Duck Marsh]]></title><description><![CDATA[Bob Harris of Oshkosh is my only longtime friend I met through a father.    I pause for a sad edit to the past tense: Bob Harris was my only longtime friend I met through a father.    He died Saturday, July 25, at age 75.    When I read Bob’s obituary, still numb with grief, I recalled meeting him in late fall 1988 when he interrupted my interview with his father, Richard F. Harris, in Dick’s big white house on Oregon Street on Oshkosh’s south side. Dick was a widower, and dying of inoperable...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/longtime-friend-follows-his-father-home-to-the-duck-marsh</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a6f39ae2aa0dd3fa167d060</guid><pubDate>Sun, 02 Aug 2026 13:07:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_d60f0a11d5d049cfa8a4202a2d81dd74~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Wisconsin’s Elusive River Otters Spawn Endless Puns and Fun]]></title><description><![CDATA[You’ll always find more otter puns than actual otters if you go looking for either.    Just google “otter puns” and you’ll find lists of 37, 40 or even 200-plus otter puns, jokes and one-liners. Some of them aren’t bad:    -- What do you tell an otter with a toothache? “You otter see the dentist.”    -- Why don’t otters need swimming lessons? It comes to them otter-matically.    -- What do you call an otter’s life story? Their otter-biography.    -- How do otters rise above conflict? They...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/wisconsin-s-elusive-river-otters-spawn-endless-puns-and-fun</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a6518e010a4941c0727ce30</guid><pubDate>Sat, 25 Jul 2026 20:35:56 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_36bd39959ce04d2cb969bf2cb07b03bc~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Unsightly Fish Diseases Don’t Always Make Fillets Unfit to Eat]]></title><description><![CDATA[Few conversations are more futile than trying to persuade someone to eat a fish that’s scarred by a virus, parasite, bacteria or other nasties.    The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources recognizes that challenge, which is why it includes this explanation on its “Fish Diseases” (https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Fishing/fishhealth) web page: “Even though we are reporting on fish disease in Wisconsin, we encourage you to continue to enjoy your fishing experience. … You can enjoy catching...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/unsightly-fish-diseases-don-t-always-make-fillets-unfit-to-eat</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5a924c0d39a4adf2812bb9</guid><pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:00:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_738c9579c25e441db7ada1a1afeccb9c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bluegill’s Intriguing Scar Inspires Anglers to Question its Cause]]></title><description><![CDATA[When my grandsons catch a bluegill 7 inches or longer, it seldom swims another day.     Catch and release? Save your breath.    The boys haven’t yet read stories by the immortal humorist Patrick F. McManus, but their thinking aligns with his comment in “Kerplunk,” one of his 2007 stories: “I remember only one fellow who practiced catch-and-release. He was eventually nabbed, I think, and placed in an institution.”    Therefore, I paused July 4 when my grandson Connor Switzer, 8, agreed without...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/bluegill-s-intriguing-scar-inspires-anglers-to-question-its-cause</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5018be5c421b8202180605</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 22:09:19 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_51331b27dc0145b5b9b4c43c2abc46e9~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Northwoods River Surrenders Smallmouths as Clouds Move In]]></title><description><![CDATA[What sounds better?    Option 1: The gurgling “plop, plop, plop” of a Whopper Plopper bait chugging across the surface of a Northwoods river.    Option 2: Your 8-year-old grandson trying to pronounce “Whopper Plopper” when explaining how and why it became his all-time favorite fishing lure during an eight-hour float trip July 2 for muskies and smallmouth bass.    I’ll go with the second option, especially after buying two Whopper Ploppers for my grandson Connor Switzer before we fished...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/northwoods-river-surrenders-smallmouths-as-clouds-move-in</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a4b04b2f7b480551f13e8c1</guid><pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2026 01:52:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_6ac86875f6db40459cb930b274b5cad1~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Northwoods Researchers Detail the Facts of Wisconsin's Fish, Fishing]]></title><description><![CDATA[You likely missed it, but the Northern Highland Fishery Research Area in Vilas County celebrated its 80thanniversary June 20, making it one of the world’s longest-running fisheries research projects.    So, let’s blow our kazoos, pop those champagne corks and twirl our kids’ noisemakers to show we support the Department of Natural Resources’ commitment to research and science-based policy-making. Sure, lawmakers often ignore it all in favor of voter-driven folklore and fossilized opinions,...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/northwoods-researchers-detail-the-facts-of-fish-fishing</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3fc13ad3770ea960ed73e5</guid><pubDate>Sat, 27 Jun 2026 12:37:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_1faed3c3fd6943cfa140364cc25ee9a5~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Salmon Strike Twice During Final Hours of Daily Fishing Trips in Sitka]]></title><description><![CDATA[Cool, crisp air creeping across the boat’s stern near Sitka, Alaska, raised goose bumps on my forearms.    I shivered and considered retrieving my hooded rain-jacket from the nearby cabin. Instead, I rolled down my sleeves.    Sarah Farber, the charter boat’s captain, looked up from a fishing knot she was tying and explained the sudden chill without being asked.    “The fog’s coming back in,” she said, nodding toward a far-off haze blurring the Pacific Ocean’s western horizon.    Soon after,...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/salmon-strike-twice-during-final-hours-of-daily-fishing-trips-in-sitka</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a34622dd7d30d96c9e4859c</guid><pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 21:58:02 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_24afd94456e24b238abbed9578b32a28~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hunters Tag Over 47,700 Turkeys During Wisconsin’s Spring Season]]></title><description><![CDATA[Wisconsin hunters registered 47,704 turkeys during the state’s six-week spring season, the seventh highest harvest in modern turkey hunting’s 44-year history.    Though this year’s kill fell short of the past two spring hunts — with harvests of 50,734 in 2024 and 50,287 in 2025 — it still exceeded the five-year average of 46,040 by 3.6%, surpassing 2022’s kill of 39,035; and 2023’s of 42,439.    The state’s most successful turkey seasons remain the three 2007-2009 hunts that averaged 52,630...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/hunters-tag-over-47-700-turkeys-during-wisconsin-s-spring-season</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a2d9ea228513bd3b38c246d</guid><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 18:45:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_85542d4a6f0043e69a704e2ec27db659~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Alaska’s Magnificence Reminds Us of Our Fragile Insignificance]]></title><description><![CDATA[Everyone who visits, passes through or lives in Alaska likes quoting a statistic about Mt. Denali, North America’s tallest mountain.    The oft-quoted stat isn’t Denali’s height — 20,310 feet, or 6,770 yards — above sea level.    No, the oft-repeated statistic folks love but few verify is that only 30% of visitors trying to see Denali actually do, given the persistent clouds often blocking their view. The region’s humidity is typically high, and Denali is so massive it creates its own...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/alaska-s-magnificence-reminds-us-of-our-fragile-insignificance</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a25f3ec1f44c606b37cbde8</guid><pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 23:02:22 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_7e5f3dfa28b84dcdbf6da50a307d0f1c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Pesky Squirrels Sabotage Homemade Decoys Stacked in Backyard Shed]]></title><description><![CDATA[Someday — no time soon, I hope — one of my grandkids will inspect the contents of our backyard shed and say to their grandmother, “I never knew the grumpy ol’ coot was such a serious waterfowler.”    “He wasn’t,” Penny will respond. “At least not for long. Maybe 18 months? He spent the summers of 1982 and ’83 making all these duck and goose decoys. He even built a duck skiff in the summer of ’83 and tied 32 feet of wire-grass blinds that fall. Through it all, he spent the 1982 and ’83...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/pesky-squirrels-sabotage-homemade-decoys-stacked-in-backyard-shed</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a19b992325ac88c49cef72c</guid><pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 16:23:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_753edc7f046e45ada3cc2bf1de990a5c~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Landscapes Endure Despite Their Varied Users and Abusers]]></title><description><![CDATA[While hunting turkeys on public lands not far from Eau Claire in mid-May, I noticed a unique property-boundary sign nailed to a red oak.    The old yellow sign read: “WILDLIFE SAFETY ZONE” in bold, black letters on the top two lines. The details followed: “NO HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, OR MOTORIZED VEHICLES. HIKING, PHOTOGRAPHY AND NATURE STUDY PERMITTED.”    The landowners’ names were at the bottom, but my onX Maps app listed a different name for the owner. Apparently, the property had been...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/landscapes-endure-despite-their-varied-users-and-abusers</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a138445d681fe01d1670120</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 May 2026 23:23:51 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_549cb05df2944c5a9692e4c18485e8ad~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[There's No Room for Guilt When Scoring Rare Double on Gobblers]]></title><description><![CDATA[If I didn't view wild turkeys as nature’s most fickle, frustrating and fascinating bird, I might have felt guilty for shooting a gobbler May 8 as it stood confused while its buddy flapped its last among my decoys.    I suspect that Emily Krumenauer, my hunting buddy and family-friend, frazzled my gobbler’s composure when she shot its running mate seconds earlier with her late father's Model 12 Winchester shotgun. The two big gobblers had spent the previous minute in a murderous rage,...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/there-s-no-room-for-guilt-when-scoring-rare-double-on-gobblers</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a07b4ba0b9e4f37fd2604e6</guid><pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2026 00:19:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_b6136782e0ca46aa9c1d656206966d40~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Outgoing Chairman Worries About Conservation Congress’s Relevance]]></title><description><![CDATA[Racine’s Rob Bohmann, longtime chairman of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, will preside over the group’s annual convention for the last time when it meets May 15-16 in Green Bay.    But unlike the first time Bohmann yielded that unpaid job a decade ago, he vows to never return to the group’s helm.    “It’s time,” Bohmann said in a telephone interview. “I won’t come back a third time.”    The WCC, a 92-year-old institution, serves as Wisconsin’s official adviser to the Natural Resources...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/outgoing-chairman-worries-about-conservation-congress-s-relevance</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69fd101e666cfccd94183d63</guid><pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2026 22:33:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_fdcb1191bc914d7ba4264abf848adb1c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Voters at Wisconsin Hearings Support Higher Hunting, Fishing, Trapping Fees]]></title><description><![CDATA[Wisconsin’s outdoors community supports paying more to operate the state’s fish and wildlife programs, but not necessarily at any price.    That’s one point to take from nearly 6,900 votes cast during mid-April’s annual conservation hearings, a statewide effort by the Department of Natural Resources and the citizen-based Wisconsin Conservation Congress. This year’s hearings consisted of in-person meetings April 13 in all 72 county seats, which drew 1,268 attendees; followed by three days of...]]></description><link>https://www.patrickdurkinoutdoors.com/post/voters-at-wisconsin-hearings-support-higher-hunting-fishing-trapping-fees</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f3ac8672dde517df291ef9</guid><pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 19:43:26 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6545f9_c65f13ab94ea4061accc9005b1dbb73d~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Patrick Durkin</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>