Mornin' to the deer that charged through Noodles & Company in Beloit. 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.

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This week’s weekly:

• Rhinelander’s famous monster 👹 

• Sturgeon spearing 🐠 

• Head of DNR quits 🌲 

Rhinelander’s Famous Hodag

When most folks think of Rhinelander, they think of one thing - Hodags. *If you misread the headline and thought we were talking HOT DOGS, 1) we're terribly sorry and 2) you should be eating brats anyway.

The mysterious, mythical creature that roams old growth forests up nort' is embedded throughout Rhinelander's culture, from its public schools to its restaurants to literal statues throughout town.

But how did this legend come to be? And what the heck is a Hodag, anyway?

It all started in the late 1800's, when a lumberjack stumbled upon something lurking in the northwoods, changing the fate of the town of Rhinelander forever...

Discovering the Hodag

Anyone who read the October edition of the Near North newspaper in 1893 couldn't help but become entranced by Eugene Shepard's story.

While out exploring the woods north of the town of Rhinelander, the lumberjack stumbled upon a dark, creepy lair, surrounded with some pretty frightening evidence:

Great tuffs of fur. Claw marks seven feet high on pine trees. A smell of "skunk perfume and buzzard meat." Wait, this sounds a lot like our old roommate in college...

Thinking he'd need backup to face whatever beast dwelled within, Eugene rounded up a posse of lumberjacks, each armed with rifles and squirt guns of poison water.

When the monster finally emerged, they saw the Hodag's terrible features: long claws, grinning fangs, horns of a bull, spikes, green fur, and a long, speared tail.

A scuffle ensued with the dragon-like Hodag, and Eugene claimed to have killed it with dynamite - but not before it gobbled up one of the men's white bulldogs named Buddy.

Though rumors of this cunning creature had been circling the lumber camps for years, Eugene's story in the paper soon had everyone talking, and he began to see an even deeper purpose to his Hodag legend.

A dying industry

Eugene may have been one of the toughest lumberjacks around, but he also was a bit of a showman.

Around the same time his Hodag story circled town, nearly 23,000 men worked in 450 lumberjack camps in the northwoods.

Knowing that Rhinelander's lumber trade was running out faster than a keg at a Badger's tailgate, Eugene saw the Hodag as a potential solution for the dying northwoods' economy.

Thanks to modern tech and a growing network of national media, he would spin tails of the Hodag so grandiose that tourists would come from far and wide to see this too-good-to-be-true tale. Indeed, he was right.

Three years after his initial newspaper story, he wrote again - this time claiming to have caught a wild Hodag, which he took on tour throughout the state.

Amazed onlookers gazed upon Eugene's Hodag in the darkness of a tent, completely unaware that his son's were operating the fabricated Hodag of wood and leather.

News spread across the country and it seemed everything was going according to Eugene's plan - until the Smithsonian Institute in D.C. announced scientists would investigate, thus forcing him to admit the farce.

Today's Hodag

Though everyone is now "in" on Eugene's great machination, the Hodag still lives on in Rhinelander today.

The official Mascot of Rhinelander and its high school, Hodags also have ties to numerous businesses and organizations, such as the annual music festival, Hodag Country Festival.

Statues can be found all over town as well, like that of local artist Tracy Goberville, drawing in thousands of visitors each year.

The Wisconsin Speleological Society hosts an annual Hodag Hunt every year in the Cherney Maribel Caves.

But good luck finding a Hodag - these beasts are still just as cunning as Eugene claimed over 100 years ago. Local golfers attribute missing golf balls to Hodags, and anglers swear they've had fish stolen from lines by the beast. What a convenient excuse!

Other great Wiscampsin reads…

The Return of the Sandhill Crane

Wisconsin's State Bird

Wisconsin's apex predator returns: The revitalization of the gray wolf

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By golly! It was almost a tie between Pumpkin Pie and Apple Pie as the favorite fall treat, however… Apple Pie won by 1 vote! Time for some Elegant Farmer!

Nuts and Seeds 🌰 

🌲 DNR head steps down: After serving less than a year, Adam Payne will step down as the Head of the DNR to pursue his passion of cheddar sculptures (just kidding, he wants to spend more time with his grandchildren). In a letter, Payne cited his most pressing concern for ‘Scons is the quality of drinking water and getting PFAS out of the water system.

🍂 Rain + Cold = Colors: Wisconsin’s fall colors were saved by recent rainfall and cooler temps, which staved off a dull, less-than-spectacular autumn that some experts were predicting after our drought-filled summer. A longer term trend could be occurring as well. The University of Richmond found the timing of peak fall foliage is now occurring around two weeks later than it was in 1950 at Acadia National Park in Maine.

🐟 Sturgeon spearing: The DNR is reminding you to purchase your sturgeon spearing license for Lake Winnebago’s 2024 season by Oct 31. Only 500 permits will be issued to those 12 and older, so if you want to freeze your kiester off in an ice shanty make sure to check out this season’s regulations.

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