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| INSTANT SURVEY VOTE ON - POLL s638 Should rifles be legal for deer hunting statewide? |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Waupaca County deer hunters can use rifles beginning Nov 1The State Legislature recently approved a proposal to allow gun deer hunters in Waupaca County to use rifles beginning Nov. 1, 2011. The upcoming Oct. 8-9 Youth Gun Deer Hunt will still be restricted to shotgun and muzzleloader only in Waupaca County. At the Fish & Wildlife Rules Hearings in April, a Conservation Congress Big Game Study Committee advisory question asked: “Do you favor the use of rifles for hunting deer statewide?” Attendees approved that question by a statewide vote of 2,742 in favor and 1,973 against. In all, voters in 61 counties approved the question. Nine counties rejected the question, and in two counties the vote was a tie. Here is the text that accompanied that question:
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THE EVENTS CALENDAR HAS BEEN MOVED DANSMALLOUTDOORS.COM/EVENTS
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Additional walleye, musky and trout to be stocked in state waters
"The fingerling production at the warm-water hatcheries has been very good this year and that's going to translate into great news for anglers down the road," says Dave Giehtbrock, statewide fish production manager for the Department of Natural Resources. "We've produced large fingerling musky and walleye above our intended goals, and we're stocking nearly every site at full quota." Some stocking has already occurred and more is on tap. Tables showing how many fish were planned for stocking are now available online on DNR's fish stocking web page. Read on for short write-ups from hatchery supervisors describing where their facility is in the fall stocking process. Stocking tables from 1972-2010 are also available. Giehtbrock says that cool spring temperatures helped production of musky and walleye by keeping the water quality in the ponds at optimal levels, boosting survival. As a result, there were extra fish available to be stocked out at smaller sizes -- more than 3 million walleye were stocked out in late June -- and there are surplus fish available to be stocked at the larger size. Most of the fish stocked or soon to be stocked are known as "large fingerlings," and range in size from 5 to 9 inches, depending on the species. They were produced from eggs collected from the wild this spring or from hatchery stocks this fall by DNR fish crews, were hatched at DNR hatcheries, and raised at those facilities for the intervening months. How long before those fish are big enough to be legally kept by anglers depends again on the species and the regulations on the particular waterbody, Giehtbrock says. The splake being stocked in Lake Superior will likely only need a year or so to reach the 15-inch minimum length limit while it will likely be eight to 10 years before the musky reach the 40-inch minimum size limit set to go into effect in spring 2012 on most state waters. The extra musky and walleye are stocked in waters where biologists have requested stocking. A formula is used that distributes the fish equitably among water bodies and makes sure the carrying capacity of the water receiving the fish is not exceeded. The vast majority of Wisconsin's lakes and rivers support naturally reproducing populations. Research has shown that stocking in these waters can hurt native fish populations, but stocking remains an important management tool for some waters. DNR stocks fish to re-establish formerly self-sustaining populations, to provide research data on the effectiveness of stocking and other related practices, and to expand fishing opportunities for Wisconsin's anglers. "It was an excellent year with excellent conditions overall, and hatchery staff made the most of the situation to produce large numbers of healthy, high quality fish for stocking," Giehtbrock says. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
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