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The worst deer die-off on record
Plus: waterfowl openers, a hand-built Ice Age Trail reroute, and an Isle Royale rescue
Forrest Koslowski
September 17, 2026
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Mornin’ to the pheasant hunters. The DNR is stocking 65,000 birds this fall instead of 75,000, and the reason is the price tag. Raising one pheasant cost $6.91 in 2021 and $9.80 last year. The late-December stocking is off too, though the season still opens Oct. 17. Groceries, gas, and now pheasants.
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This week’s weekly:
🦆 Waterfowl seasons kick off: what you need to know
🥾 Volunteers hand-build Ice Age Trail reroute in Dane County
🚁 Kayakers find hiker lost 11 days on Isle Royale
🦌 STORY OF THE WEEK: The worst deer die-off on record
🦆 Waterfowl seasons kick off: what you need to know LINK
The regular Canada goose season opened Sept. 16 in the Northern and Southern Zones, with a three-bird daily limit. Ducks come next: Sept. 26 in the Northern Zone, Oct. 3 in the Southern Zone, and Oct. 17 on open water.
You can take six ducks a day, with caps like four mallards (two hens max) and three wood ducks. Grab your small game license, state waterfowl stamp, $25 federal duck stamp, and free HIP registration on Go Wild, plus a goose permit if you're after honkers.
Bird flu is still around, so wear gloves, keep the dog away from sick or dead birds, and cook your birds to 165°F. Zone maps and scaup limits are on the DNR's waterfowl page. Good hunting, folks.
🥾 Volunteers hand-build Ice Age Trail reroute in Dane County LINK
About 100 volunteers a day grabbed shovels to hand-dig a new 1.2-mile stretch of the 1,200-plus-mile Ice Age Trail through Indian Lake County Park in Cross Plains. They're aiming to finish Sunday, or by month's end if the weather won't play nice.
This one's a reroute. It gets hikers off the shoulder of Highway 19 and onto county land that's never been open to the public. The 36-inch tread leaves room to walk next to a buddy or the kids.
It's the first big Dane County build since 2023, and the Ice Age Trail Alliance takes volunteers of any skill level. About 700 miles are on the ground, with roughly 500 left. Just a couple-two-tree more weekends, then.
🚁 Kayakers find hiker lost 11 days on Isle Royale LINK
Two kayakers came across Craig Berg, a 70-year-old from Royal Oak, Mich., near Intermediate Lake in Isle Royale National Park after he'd been lost for 11 days. A Coast Guard helicopter hoisted him out, and he's recovering in Marquette.
Berg was on a multi-day hike when he fell into a marsh and lost his phone and wallet. Searchers had tried dogs, boats, aircraft, and drones with no luck, and he turned up more than a mile off trail.
His son says he's shaken but has "enough stories for you to fill a book." His wife has a message for the kayakers, both National Guard members: Berg wants to buy them a beer. Just say when.
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🦌 STORY OF THE WEEK: The worst deer die-off on record LINK
We first mentioned this back in August, when it was two sick deer in Washington County.
It's now the worst outbreak of its kind Wisconsin has ever recorded. So let's walk through it, one piece at a time.
What it is. It's a virus called EHD, short for epizootic hemorrhagic disease. Deer don't pass it to each other. They get it from midges, those tiny biting bugs most of us call no-see-ums.
What it does. It gives a deer a high fever and makes it bleed on the inside. Once a deer starts looking sick, it's often dead within a day and a half. The fever is why so many turn up in creeks and ponds. They're trying to cool off.
How bad it is. The DNR figures at least 1,100 deer have died. About 900 of those are in Washington County, about 200 in Waukesha, and a few dozen more across Ozaukee, Dodge and Milwaukee. That only counts deer somebody reported, so the real number is higher.
Why it's so bad here. Wisconsin has had EHD before. A 2012 outbreak killed several hundred deer. But down south, where it shows up regularly, deer have built up some protection, and most of the ones that catch it survive. Ours rarely run into it, so they have almost none. On top of that, a newer version of the virus has been moving through the Midwest, and surviving one version doesn't protect a deer from the other.
Does it wreck deer season? Probably not. Wisconsin finished last season with a record 1.89 million deer, and Washington County alone had a record 16,200. Ohio lost thousands to EHD last fall and still counted 47 deer per square mile in its hardest-hit counties this spring. The DNR isn't changing any hunting rules or tag numbers.
That said, if you hunt the southeast, don't be surprised if your spot is a lot quieter this year.
What you can do. The virus doesn't infect people. If you find a dead or sick deer, report it on the DNR's wildlife health page. That's how they're tracking the outbreak and deciding what to do next.
When it ends. The first hard frost. Cold knocks out the midges, and no midges means no new cases.
After two weeks of us telling you it might be a warm fall, this is the one time we're rooting for an early frost.
Get out 'der, and keep an eye out.
WISCAMPSIN WEEKLY POLL
Last Week's Trivia Check
We asked what gives Wisconsin cranberries their floating superpower. A sharp 43% of you knew the secret to their buoyancy, though nearly a third of the room got tripped up by the decoy seed cluster! As one reader commented: "Lucky guess... but clever wrong choices! 🤓"
The Correct Answer: Each individual berry contains four tiny, hollow air pockets inside.
The Takeaway: Mother Nature gave every cranberry its own built-in lifejacket! Each berry contains four hollow air chambers. When growers flood the marshes and knock the berries loose with water reels, those chambers pop them straight to the surface to be corralled. Bonus trivia: Those exact same air pockets are why fresh, high-quality cranberries bounce like rubber balls!
This Week's Trivia
Mid-to-late September brings a familiar, fuzzy sight to Wisconsin driveways, bike trails, and country roads: Banded Woolly Bear caterpillars booking it across the pavement. Practically every Midwesterner grew up hearing the classic folklore that the width of their rusty-orange middle band predicts how brutal the upcoming winter will be.
According to entomologists, what does the width of a woolly bear's rusty-orange band actually reveal?Give it a gut check and click a response below: |
A review from the trail… Another clean sweep. Somebody check whether Grandma figured out how to vote more than once.
Well, how'd we do this week? |
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