Wiscampsin Weekly brought to you by:

Mornin’ to the Lake Winnebago sturgeon that have been swimming around out there longer than Wisconsin’s been Wisconsin. This is the Wiscampsin Weekly, the email that gets you in the know on the Wisconsin outdoors in 5 minutes or less. New reader? Subscribe here.

This week’s weekly:

🐟 Lake sturgeon might live over 400 years

🚔 Deer shining case ends in jail time, license bans

🎣 Walleye keep slipping away from northern Wisconsin lakes

🐦 STORY OF THE WEEK: Green Bay's comeback kid

🐟 Lake sturgeon might live over 400 years LINK

• Turns out we've been lowballing sturgeon by a couple-two-tree centuries. A new study pegs female lake sturgeon at up to 427 years and males at 279. The old ceiling was 150.

• Growth rings get too thin to count on a fish that old, so the team leaned on 44 years of tag-and-release data from five populations, Lake Winnebago included. One researcher said she's handled fish older than she is, and they'll still be here when she's gone.

• The Wisconsin and Michigan DNR researchers say numbers like these argue for keeping harvest rules tight, since a fish that slow to mature can't bounce back fast. Which means some fish out there predate the state they swim in.

🚔 Deer shining case ends in jail time, license bans LINK

• A Green Lake County court convicted Timothy Tiedt, 55, of illegally shining and shooting multiple deer. He got 60 days in jail, lost his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for six years, and owes fines.

• The whole thing unraveled after a couple found a buck they figured a car hit. A deputy took one look and saw a crossbow bolt. That night Warden Brad Latza watched a vehicle creep the same road, light going, and found the shooter standing in the roadway with a crossbow.

• Four others in the group caught penalties too, from 20 days in jail down to civil forfeitures, plus three to six years without licenses. Night patrol pays off.

🎣 Walleye keep slipping away from northern Wisconsin lakes LINK

• DNR and GLIFWC biologists say the number of northern lakes with naturally reproducing walleye has slid from about 400, losing 30 to 40 of them since 2010. That's two or three lakes a year, and some worry it speeds up from here.

• No single culprit. Developed shorelines leach sediment and fertilizer onto spawning beds, warming water favors bass, bluegills and crappies over walleye, and young fish keep vanishing in July before they ever reach a hook or spear. Every lake stacks those stressors differently.

• Stocking and harvest cuts haven't fixed it alone. Most of these lakes sit behind private property, so GLIFWC's Mark Luehring says natural shorelines come down to the owners. Might be worth a call to your local biologist.

Please give our sponsors a click!

Get it while it’s hot! 50% off local coffee shops

Calling all caffeine addicts, coffee queens, or people who simply love to explore local coffee shops: The 2026 Coffee Passport is here, with 50% off a coffee at more than 200 shops!

How does it work? With every stop, enjoy 50% off two coffee or tea drinks. Use one discount today and one later (or treat a friend and use both in a single visit).

Road trip ready. Date-day approved. The perfect gift for the person who has everything.

Valid through December 31, 2026.

Grab your 2026 Coffee Passport and start exploring.

WISCAMPSIN WEEKLY POLL

Last Week's Trivia Check

We asked which native Wisconsin tree seals its cones shut and only lets go of its seeds after a fire scorches them. You folks nailed it, with 57% getting there.

The Correct Answer: Jack Pine.

The Takeaway: Jack pine cones are glued shut with resin that needs about 122°F to melt, and a cone can sit up there for years waiting on it. When fire finally sweeps through, the seeds drop onto ground that's just been cleared of competition and fertilized with ash. It's why fire suppression gets complicated up north, and why the Kirtland's warbler, which nests only in young jack pine, needs the burns every bit as much as the tree does.

This Week's Trivia

Piping plover chicks hatch out onto open sand with no cover to speak of, and a fox or a gull will happily take one. So when something gets too close to the nest, the parent pulls a trick that looks like a terrible idea right up until you understand it.

A review from the trail… Ope, that's a you call. But give this a look before you fill in the oval.