It's getting hot in here

Plus: bobcat encounter, turkey hunting accident, and tagged walleye

Author

Forrest Koslowski
April 23, 2026

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Mornin’ to everyone flabbergasted over the sturgeon spawning in this parking lot. 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:

😼 Bobcat crashes teen's turkey hunt on camera

⚠️ Turkey hunting incident injures two in Racine County

🎣 Catch a tagged walleye, win a hundred bucks

🚲 STORY OF THE WEEK: 250-mile section of Mississippi River Trail designated for cyclists

😼 Bobcat crashes teen's turkey hunt on camera LINK

  • 19-year-old Carson Bender was set up on private land near Nekoosa with decoys out and birds gobbling from multiple directions when he flipped on his phone camera to check behind him — and found a bobcat staring him down.

  • The roughly 25-pound cat studied him for nearly a minute before lunging and grabbing his arm. Bender shook it off, the bobcat bolted, and he missed a turkey at 35 yards three minutes later.

  • Wildlife experts say bobcats occasionally investigate turkey calls, but actual contact is extremely rare. Bender walked away with a few scratches on his shoulder, a trip to the doctor, and one heck of a story. Holy cry-yiy!

⚠️ Turkey hunting incident injures two in Racine County LINK

  • During Wisconsin's youth-only turkey season on April 12, a 34-year-old mentor helped a 3-year-old aim and fire a 12-gauge shotgun at what he thought was a turkey — actually another hunter and a 7-year-old child about 35 yards away on state forest land.

  • Pellets struck the 7-year-old in the head and the 40-year-old mentor in the hand, shoulder, and backside. The adult was released that evening, and the child's wounds were non-life-threatening.

  • The DNR says this is the youngest shooter and victim on record since 2007, and the Racine County district attorney will decide on charges once the investigation wraps. Wisconsin has no minimum hunting age — a 2017 law lets parents decide when kids can hunt with a mentor.

🎣 Catch a tagged walleye, win a hundred bucks LINK

  • The Wisconsin DNR and Walleyes for Tomorrow are continuing the walleye reward tag study in the Bay of Green Bay this spring, with up to 5,000 yellow floy tags and 400 red "$100 REWARD" tags going into five major spawning areas.

  • That covers Sturgeon Bay and the Fox, Menominee, Oconto, and Peshtigo rivers. You don't have to harvest a reward-tagged fish to claim the cash — a clear photo of the tag number plus you holding the walleye works for released fish.

  • The study helps biologists estimate exploitation rates — basically how much of the walleye population anglers are hauling out each year — and guide management of this world-class fishery. Keep an eye on dat stringer, hey.

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🚲 STORY OF THE WEEK: Wisconsin will experience warmer, wetter, more extreme weather LINK

According to the latest report from the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI), our state is undergoing a fundamental transformation.

We are officially 3 degrees warmer than when are grandparents were gettin’ out der, and while that might sound like a nice excuse to skip the heavy puffer coat, it’s wreaking havoc on the ecosystems we love.

Our winters are shrinking, leaving ice fishermen staring at thin sheets of gray slush instead of the sturdy "hard water" required for a weekend in the shanty.

But it’s not just the heat; it’s the "whiplash." One month, our farmers are praying for a single drop of rain as the soil cracks under a flash drought; the next, a "100-year storm" rolls through, turning suburban streets into rivers and sending the bluffs of the Driftless Area sliding toward the valley floor.

The weather is losing its predictability, and for a state that lives and breathes by the seasons, that’s a tough pill to swallow.

However, the heart of this story isn't just about the changing thermometer—it’s about the legendary Wisconsin grit.

From the shores of Lake Superior to the rolling hills of the south, people are digging in. Cities are planting "rain gardens" to soak up the overflow, and scientists are working around the clock to protect our cold-water trout streams.

We’re a state of innovators and outdoorsmen, and while the weather might be getting wilder, our resolve to protect the place we call home is only getting stronger.

Now get out 'der.

WISCAMPSIN WEEKLY POLL

Last Week's Trivia Check

We asked which specific type of dead or dying tree is the "holy grail" for Morel mushroom hunting. You guys are absolute foraging experts—61% of you correctly identified the ultimate mushroom magnet! It was great seeing the comments roll in validating this, with one reader perfectly summing it up: "Occasionally they can be found other spots... but Elms are the jackpot!"

The Correct Answer: American Elm.

The Takeaway: While morels can be found near ash, apple, and even sycamore trees, the ultimate find is a recently dead American Elm. When an elm tree dies (often from Dutch Elm Disease) and its bark is just beginning to slip and peel away from the trunk, the deteriorating root system creates a sudden burst of nutrients and ideal soil conditions for a massive flush of Morel mushrooms.

This Week's Trivia

Now that the ice has officially cleared from the northern lakes, one of the most iconic sounds of the Wisconsin wilderness has returned. The Common Loon is a master of the water, engineered perfectly for hunting deep below the surface. In fact, their biology is so specialized for diving that they lack a feature almost every other flying bird shares.

Unlike most flying birds (such as eagles or ducks) which have hollow bones to help them fly, the Common Loon possesses dense, solid bones. What is the primary biological advantage of this unique adaptation?

Give it a gut check and click a response below:

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A review from the trail… Reality is for chumps!

Well, how'd we do this week?

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