Columbia County Pheasants Forever

Upcoming Events

UPCOMING EVENTS
Let us know of outdoor youth activities for Columbia/Marquette counties and we will publish it here.

Our new web site is set up. You should of already received an email from me on the new site. If you did not receive it within 12 hours, please check your spam file. If you did not receive it please contact me and let me know and I will add you back in to our list.
bill@schallersenglishcocker.com
Bill Schaller

***4/9/13 We are moving to a new email list and you should be the lookout for a notice about being added to a Google Group for Columbia County Pheasants Forever. Please let me know if you are having problems or need something changed.
Bill Schaller bill@schallersenglishcocker.com

***3/28/13 Below you will find planned pheasant hatch dates and the approximate number of chicks we will be handling on a given day. Volunteers are welcome to help with the chick sexing effort. We will provide training. Good eyesight and a pleasant attitude are required. We start in the hatchery at 7 am and are typically done by noon. Bring a lunch and dress for 70 degrees or warmer. We like repeat volunteers, so we hope to see you again this year! Talk with your co-workers or friends and make it a group outing! Based on space limitations, I’ll limit it to 4-5 volunteers per hatch date…first come, first served. Try to sign up for the largest hatch dates first. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Bob Nack 608-635-8120


Hatch date # Chicks
Thursday, May 30, 2013 19,808
Thursday, May 16, 2013 19,785
Thursday, June 06, 2013 18,069
Monday, April 29, 2013 17,451
Thursday, April 25, 2013 16,926
Monday, May 20, 2013 16,466
Friday, May 24, 2013 16,412
Thursday, May 09, 2013 15,995
Monday, June 17, 2013 15,660
Friday, June 21, 2013 15,499
Thursday, June 13, 2013 12,205
Friday, July 05, 2013 12,044
Thursday, June 27, 2013 11,926
Thursday, April 18, 2013 11,746
Friday, May 03, 2013 10,647



***Attention Landowners!
Are you interested in learning how to manage your land for wildlife? Perhaps there are some specific wildlife species you would like to encourage on your property or maybe you are encountering a nuisance wildlife problem? Are you thinking about conducting a timber harvest but don’t know where to start? These are just a few of the topics covered during the annual Wisconsin Coverts Project workshops. If you are interested in wildlife management, land stewardship, and you are willing to share what you have learned with others, than the Wisconsin Coverts Project is for you!
The Wisconsin Coverts Project
The Wisconsin Coverts Project is a 3-day workshop for private landowners who are interested in enhancing their woodlands for wildlife. Note: you do not need to be a Wisconsin landowner to attend; we’ll consider any woodland owner in the Midwest region.
The workshop is organized by the Extension Wildlife staff in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at UW – Madison. The project name “Coverts” is a 14th century English word describing a dense thicket that provides shelter for wildlife. Over the course of the 3 days, attendees receive training from forestry and wildlife professionals in the classroom and in the field. Participants also receive a binder full of reference materials and contacts to use after the workshop.
2013 Wisconsin Covers Project Workshops
The 2013 Wisconsin Coverts Project workshop will be held August 22-25 at Kemp Natural Resources Station in Woodruff, WI. The workshop is sponsored by The Ruffed Grouse Society, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, University of Wisconsin – Extension, UW-Madison, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, Wisconsin Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI®) Implementation Committee, The Anne and Jason Spaeth Family, and Braun Woodlands.
At the completion of the Coverts workshop, participants agree to become Coverts Cooperators - implementing (or reviewing) their own written woodland management plan, reaching out to others in their communities, and encouraging sound land stewardship. Since the WI Coverts Project’s beginning in 1994, 553 Coverts Cooperators (representing 471 properties) have attended Wisconsin’s 22 workshops.
There are 25 spaces available for each of the workshops and applications are due June 15th, 2013.
For more information on the WI Coverts Project (brochure, typical agenda, slideshow) and how to, apply please visit the WI Coverts Project website http://fwe.wisc.edu/coverts or contact:
Jamie Nack WI Coverts Project Coordinator/Wildlife Outreach Specialist
UW – Madison, Dept. of Forest and Wildlife Ecology
211 Russell Labs, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706.
Phone: (608) 265-8264 E-mail: jlnack@wisc.edu
***

***2/2/13 Greetings Friends and Supporters of the Poynette Game Farm:

As many of you are aware, the WDNR and Poynette game farm staff has lead an effort to update facilities at the game farm through the construction of a new hatchery building. WDNR support for the hatchery project demonstrates the importance of the pheasant stocking program to the future of pheasant hunting in WI. WDNR staff has worked with hatchery consultants and an engineering firm to develop a pre-design construction estimate of $1.5 million for the building and equipment.

WDNR also updated cost comparison estimates for purchasing chicks from a private vendor to the current operation of pheasant production with a new hatchery. That analysis revealed a slightly higher cost per bird ($0.33) produced from the new hatchery in Poynette. The WDNR feels that is an acceptable difference to assure the future of upland bird hunting in WI and moved the project forward to the Dept. of Administration Building Commission meeting on February 19, 2013 for approval.

I’m writing you to request your support for this project by contacting Building Commission members and your local legislators. I included links below to Building Commission and local representative contact information. I also listed talking points that you may want to include in verbal and written correspondence. Please carbon copy DOA and DNR employees listed below in your written correspondence. If interested, you can express the desire to appear in person at the building commission meeting. Thank you for your support of this very important project and to the future of upland bird hunting in WI!

Building Commission contact info:
http://www.doa.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=883&locid=0

Find your local legislator:
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/Pages/waml.aspx

Carbon Copy:
DNR: Dan Olson, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 73707, Daniel.Olson@Wisconsin.gov
Bob Nack, N3344 Stebbins Rd., Poynette, WI 53955, robert.nack@wisconsin.govDOA: Summer Shannon-Bradley, 101 E. Wilson St.,Madison, WI 53703, summer.shannonbradley@wisconsin.gov
RJ Binau, 101 E. Wilson St.,Madison, WI 53703, RJ.Binau@wisconsin.gov

Talking Points:
· WI has been stocking pheasants to provide hunting opportunities for 85 years. The Cooperative Day-old Chick program has been in place since 1936 and currently involves 34 conservation clubs located across the State. The current hatchery has been in use since 1934 and the incubators are circa 1950.
· The WDNR stocking program provides most of the pheasant hunting opportunity in the State. If stocked pheasants were not available, the number of pheasant hunters would surely decline and the strong tradition of pheasant hunting in WI may be lost.
· Pheasant hunting in WI plays an important role in supporting local and community economies (gas, lodging, food, equipment, dogs, etc.).
· There are a limited number of hatcheries in the mid-west that could provide the number of chicks necessary to meet the needs of the WDNR stocking program. Purchasing chicks from a limited number of pheasant producers could result in increased expenses in the future due to lack of competition or loss of private pheasant producers.
· Without a WDNR hatchery, if disease impacts the private producer, then the State is reduced to securing birds from additional sources with potentially increased expenses or elimination of the pheasant stocking program.
· If WDNR purchases chicks from a private producer and that option does not work out, then it will be much more expensive and difficult to build a new hatchery in the future.· The slightly higher cost per bird is a good “insurance policy” to assure the pheasant stocking program and pheasant hunting tradition will continue in the future.


Vic Connors, President
Friends of Poynette Game Farm
PO Box 606
Poynette, WI 53955
email: friendsofpoynette@gmail.com

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