You guys sure know how to make me feel bad for screwing up that resolution on colony traps last year. I dusted it off and will be submitting it.

On a side note, I remember reading that the WTA was looking at rules and possible reductions. Wonder what they found?

Oh yeah Beav. I forgot that you are one of those areas ROW trappers.

And you don't drive the ditch banks when trapping rats? You go where the rats are and there are great spots where you can't legally use a colony trap.

I hear you. That’s why the culvert rule sucks for me. All the crossovers on tiled farms that I trap. Those crossovers are the only spots where I can get to the water safely.

Spot on.

I looked through to me it looks like

17, 18 are a NO

19, 20 , 45, 48 I have questions about

33, 49-52 I have mixed feelings on.

17. Do you favor eliminating the group deer hunting law so that the only
person who can fill a tag is the hunter that had been issued the deer
harvest authorization?

17 , we still do deer drives , it really is team deer hunting , I also have more over 60 than under 60 this last season our oldest was 83 youngest 14 in my family so I spend opening weekend doing drives I did not take a deer this year but we took enough deer still a tiny fraction of our total tags. letting others shoot my deer or me to shoot for others in the group I even have some in the group who don't carry a gun but they make drives they are a part of the team. my great Aunt is 83 she loves doing drives as long as her legs will go , she uses ski poles to aid in her walking and no gun between her eyes , arthritis in her hands and need for the ski poles to safety walk carrying a gun is to much for her , but she loves venison.

for me 17 is a hard no and I would appreciate your consideration of this.


18. Do you support the DNR adjusting the length of the crossbow season, for
those that are not disabled or elderly, to better reflect harvest success
rates of bucks similar to the gun season and archery season?

18 gosh first we weren't taking enough deer now the xbowers are taking to many sorry I see the xbow being so good for so many of my relatives who gave up on vertical bow because of messed up shoulders and the cost of getting a disabled permit was not worth it for them I also see it bringing young girls into hunting with a much better chance of success it also reduces the risk of injured deer from a 35 pound vertical bow that was very marginal but was decided on so that younger hunters can participate. sorry vertical bow folks you already get longer season than everyone else archery is archery.



19. Would you support the WCC take a position and encourage legislators
and DNR to support science and market based legislation and rules to
reduce the risk of global warming and increase the use of renewable
energy resources?

20. Would you support water basin management plans to reduce and control
run off as partial mitigation for damage that has already or will occur?

19, 20 What does supporting it mean? the devil is in the details. I can recognize that things have and are changing but what would it mean in changes to support these.



33 Do you support the Conservation Congress working with the legislature
to require all students under the age of 16 to have a minimum of one
field day of hands-on experience in hunter, bowhunter, ATV and boater
safety classes in order to become certified?

33 I found in a little research that hunters education still requires everyone even if they took the online course to have a field day so I am going to say NO on the grounds that they very poorly worded the question , they can reword it addressing only what currently does not need a field day and also if they are requiring it of under 16 I think they should require it of over 16 also , I took boaters safety and snowmobile safety , but I would sure like to see a few of the out of state boaters required to take it before bringing their boat to WI waters.

45. Should the Conservation Congress work with the DNR, NRB and
Wisconsin Legislature to take up the “Saving Wisconsin Pollinators
Act,” and include specific language to ban the use of neonicotinoid
insecticides (dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam)
regardless of application method on all state owned agricultural and
forest lands, and establish limited use guidelines for continued use on
commercial and private agricultural lands?

45 what exactly would this mean for products I might use?

46 make guides show proof of insurance. Insurance for what it is one thing if it is a charter service and your getting on their boat but if you hire a guy to come in your boat and put you on fish 46 is a NO as I see it.


47 make guides show proof of first aid and cpr training , while I think everyone should get trained , they are not there to be your nanny they are there to put you on fish or game. 47 is a NO for me
for a guide who gets in your boat and take you to fish that would be like asking the lady who stands at the front of the bus and tells you about all the sights to each side being required to show proof of first aid and cpr training.

if it was a charter where they were taking you out on their boat then maybe but not until every captain , cab driver , bus diver and uber driver has to also show proof of firstaid and cpr training

lets say I hired Beav to take me out and show me some coyote trapping and cable restraints , should he have to have a guide license , proof of insurance (and for what) , and firstaid + cpr training


48 do I really think someone is making such great money guiding hunting or fishing in WIS that they should pay 84% more for their license to guide. I see this hurting a lot more small part time guides who do it for a little side cash here and there providing a service to people than some full time guide service and how is the way they use resources significantly different than the ways other industries do or pollute causing a equal or greater net loss of resources.now if you had said a 1 dollar an hour tax on guide services or a 5 dollar a day tax on guide services where you would collect money in direct proportion to the services rendered I would be in but this seems like it will not hurt big guides or guide services at all but drive a lot of little guys out. NO

49-52
QUESTIONS 49-52: Permit fees for non-motorized watercraft (080117, 330117) (requires legislation)
In the last ten years, on average, non-motorized watercraft accounted for 33% of boating deaths. Boating
enforcement and investigations are funded by the boating program which does not received funding from
non-motorized watercraft. Registration could help to identify non-motorized watercraft owners when a boat is
found, whether from an accident or at other times. It is believed that 335,000 non-motorized watercraft use
our resource. This is a possible revenue source that should be considered. Many hunters, trappers and
fisherman own a skiff or canoe and may feel this will just be an additional fee. There are also organizations
and individuals that own multiple non-motorized watercraft and feel this could be a financial burden.
Do you support the Legislature and DNR working together to create a registration fee for non-motorized
watercraft, while considering the following options:
49. All non-motorized watercraft should be registered? 49. YES____ NO_____

50. Anyone who purchases a hunting, trapping or fishing license would
receive one non-motorized watercraft permit at no charge? 50. YES____ NO_____

51. Individuals who carry an active hunting, trapping or fishing license
would not require a permit while using a non-motorized watercraft? 51. YES____ NO_____

52. Create a group rate for organizations with multiple non-motorized
watercraft? 52. YES____ NO_____

don't really care for their wording .

if they had approached this question differently as said how should we register and tax non motorized water craft of a for profit enterprise meaning boat rentals I would have been all in from what I could find a good portion of that 33% was rental boats.

but the guy who buys a used row boat to leave at a pond on a farm he hunts to go put out decoys a few times a year not so much.

should a boat be identifiable who owns it , sure I could live with that, put your DNR customer number , or name and address on it like a an Ice shanty perhaps require minimum of 1 inch lettering or offer a one time decal from the state for a minimal cost

do you include inflatable ? inner tubes ? wading boats ? how small do you go ?

they already offer you the option to register your canoe or other non motorized craft.

I guess I am 49 NO , 50 yes ,51 yes , 52 yes but I see organization as boy scouts or kids camps and not necessarily some rental company.

these are the ones I saw , if there are others I should be voting no on bring them up please

I would like to hear your opinions on these if you have one.

#17 - so WHO wants to get rid of deer drives? There's the question.

#33 - so WHO wants to phase out safety instructors? There's another question.

For those of us who have been deer hunting for 40+, 50+ years, these are very different times, aren't they? Why are we even asking if a kid under the age of 16 should show up somewhere and demonstrate if he/she knows how to handle a loaded firearm.

What the hey is going on . . . .

that is the interesting thing I checked even called the DNR today everyone adults included have to go to a field day for hunters ed, so it was like the person writing the question didn't know what they were talking about and lumped hunters ed in with boats and atv.

Gonna share the language, Justin?

I have absolutely no problem with group hunting. Of any species. Whether it would be deer or ducks. Or fishing for that matter.

I don't have it on my phone but I can probably throw it up later. Similar to the last one I typed up that asked that we eliminate the fencing and culvert restrictions on colony traps. A guy on the Wisconsin trappers Facebook page typed it up for me.

Please go there and VOTE!
It is one thing to debate things on T-man, but much more important to be present at the spring hearings and VOTE!!!
We just lost another election in WI, please let's not lose at the spring hearings against the Anti's!
Tell your relatives, bring your friends, have a pizza party, whatever it takes!

It's tonight at 7PM go vote

If you live in WI and are on this thread, April 9 from 7 till 10 PM and are not at the hearing looking at this on your phone, get there and vote !

Will be interesting to see the turnout in Winnebago County with all local questions on the ballot. If the walleye meetings are any clue, it might be standing room only.

Here is the resolution on Colony traps I think I will submit. Anyone that wants to try and submit it in your county, feel free to do so.

Current trapping regulations do not allow for placement of a colony trap within 3 ft. of any
culvert or use in conjunction with any fencing, netting or material placement designed to
channel animals into the trap.

The concern is that current restrictions overly limit the locations to efficiently capture
muskrats. Although muskrats are an important part of native ecosystems their burrowing
and foraging activities can damage agricultural crops, native marshes, waterway banks
and levees.

Furthermore, the neighboring states of Minnesota and Michigan that share similar habitat
do not have similar placement restrictions and have not shown a negative impact on
muskrat populations.

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Conservation Congress work with the Department of Natural
Resources and Natural Resources Board to remove colony trap placement and funneling
restrictions.

I found more data for non motorized craft

2016 and 2017 did see a spike in deaths

4 deaths in 2016 were 4 men 21/21/21/20 who decided to go out on Lake Beulah Mill Pond Walworth , January the 13th and if your wondering was alcohol a factor YES no PDF were worn

others included kayakers on northern lake Michigan in April

https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/boat/fatalitySummary/boat2015.html

https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/boat/fatalitySummary/boat2016.html

https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/boat/fatalitySummary/boatCurrent.html

something I noticed is that in 2015 , 2016 and 2017 none of the victims of any boat death was under 20 years old , alcohol was a factor in many of them and almost none of them were wearing PFD.
A significant number of them in non motorized craft were early enough or late enough that that hypothermia was a significant risk.

notice they got really vague in their reporting in 2017 how is that useful?

one of the things that is sometimes troublesome is that people think they have to check every box Yes or NO , if you don't have an opinion it is OK not to vote for a question

Remember Misleading , poorly worded questions or in some cases outright miss information is par for the Ballot. if you don't understand the question maybe think about not voting on that question.

if a question pertains to someone else's district that you know nothing about also consider you don't have to vote on every question.

my sister in law asked me to share this , a little background although from the language she uses you probably won't have any trouble telling she is a soil and water geek but also unlike many other soil and water geeks her focus is in Agriculture she specializes in the engineering of water and wastewater permitting and handling and helps farms large and small through the process.



or the short answer they just started to apply the findings to the south east they should really find out if it works or they need to make changes before trying to implement it state wide , the south east is much more vulnerable at this time and that is why they are working on it

I thought the question about wolf application deadlines was strange, considering we can't even apply for a wolf tag.

1 comment about my meeting: It used to be less than 10 people showed up at rhe meetings, now the crowd at the Conservation Congress meeting has been incredible the past few years..Keeps growing here.

Here in Marathon county the crowd came in on canes and walkers....PUN.... but not far from it, hardly any people under age of 30 in early stages of meeting. I had to leave early as another meeting scheduled. Now waiting for results... thanks to all who took time to vote...

I felt like the young guy at 40 at our meeting , our new warden offset the age in the room some he looks like he is 16 but probably closer to 25.

we had a few guys in their late 20s early 30s but Grey was certainly the most common hair color.