July 2019 Newsletter
July - A month to support WWA and show off your golf, shooting and carving skills!
By Bruce Ross, Executive Director
Of course, as a WWA newbie, every month in my first year brings a new perspective on WWA activities… but this month looks particularly neat. We have several WWA events: golf, sporting clay shoots, decoy carving - something for nearly everyone. The Fox Valley Scramble golf event is like an outdoor WWA banquet - food, games, great prizes. If you're like me, a hacker, join us for the fun, but bring a ringer in your foursome! We expect hundreds of neat decoys at our decoy carving contest; and, of course you shoot, so join us for the Abrams or Ozaukee shoots, even if you haven't done sporting clays before.

This newsletter also offers something for nearly everyone, and I personally have a potpourri of topics to share with you. Read on...
Winning decoys from the 2018 Decoy Carving Contest
3rd Annual WWA Decoy Carving Contest July 26-27th!
By Bruce Urben, President
Three years ago, WWA began a tradition of sponsoring the Wisconsin Decoy Carving Contest & Exhibition to celebrate both Wisconsin and the nation’s carving traditions. July 26-27th will bring the 3rd annual event to Cabela's in Richfield, WI where hundreds of carvers from the Midwest and nationwide will bring their decoys to be judged by some of the most talented and experienced carvers in the nation . Learn more...
Adopt A Wildlife Area Updates
By Mike Alaimo, Lead AWA Volunteer
Summer? Yup, it arrived with a roar and no transition. Nature has made up for lost time based on the gains seen in our   host purple loosestrife plants   in the last few weeks. Even with the seemingly endless Seattle-style weather we were having and now the heat and humidity, hours continue to be clocked by our volunteers! Read on...
A ditch WWA will restore this year to reestablish hydrology to a 10-acre site.
Habitat Program Updates
By Peter Ziegler, Project Director
Progress continues, although a bit slower than normal. Ditches continue to remain high and the shallow ground water table is high as well, impacting the landscape. This is delaying many things, including wetland restoration work . Read on.. .
Sponsor Spotlight: Russell Moccasin Co.
By Bruce Ross, Executive Director
In the fall when I’m not not duck hunting, I’m frequently found wandering the north woods flushing (and usually missing) grouse. Or pushing through North Dakota CRP fields, trying to keep my dogs close so that rooster they’re trailing flushes in range. These hours afield equate to many miles on my feet. I’ve gone through a lot of boots and spent many hundreds - probably thousands -of dollars to replace them after they’ve worn out in 3 to 5 years.

But last year I started hearing about Russell Moccasin hunting boots. Custom made boots - what a crazy idea in today’s age of mass production! Read on...
Tom's Event Corner
July is shooting month here at WWA, whether it be clay pigeons or birdies, as in golf. Check out our   Ozaukee Shoot , our  Abrams Shoot   and our   Fox Valley Golf Outing , a ll happening this month. It’s time to start sharpening up your shooting eyes for waterfowl season! Read on...
Grand Prize: Can Am HD 8XT Camo UTV with a Karavan Trailer!


Get your tickets securely online now!
Like What We're Doing?
Consider volunteering to help one of our Chapters make a difference by improving the wetlands, waterfowl, and wildlife in Wisconsin. Thanks for all your past and future support. I want to help!
Class A "Need Not be Present to Win" Raffles
Throughout the year most of our chapters hold Class A raffles , many featuring multiple prizes and some extremely desirable guns (that you probably wouldn’t buy for yourself, but sure would like to own). If you can’t attend every event, and who can, you can still get in on a chance to win the chapter’s showcase prizes, most with great odds to win.  Check them all out here !
This month's featured Class A is for our Midland Wings Chapter which will be drawn at their August 22nd banquet in West Bend. Tickets are 1 for $10 or 3 for $20, only 600 will be sold & you could win a Weatherby Orion 12ga O/U Shotgun, a Beretta A-300 12ga Semi-Auto Shotgun, a Taurus Spectrum Dark Earth 380 cal Semi-Auto Pistol or a Savage Axis 30-06 Bolt Rifle! Get your tickets here.
An aerial photo done by WDNR shows above average wetland conditions statewide.
Update from the WDNR Migratory Game Bird Program
By Taylor Finger, WDNR Migratory Game Bird Ecologist
The 2019 Wisconsin Waterfowl Breeding Survey has wrapped up and the results will be available on the WDNR waterfowl webpage on July 2 nd . Bird numbers across the state are stable to increasing, with our largest increases occurring in Blue-winged Teal and Canada Geese. Additionally, we saw above average wetland conditions in every region of the state, so we are expecting excellent brood rearing conditions this summer. Learn more...
Have an idea you want the wardens to answer in the new year? Let us know!
Wardens on summer patrols: Turtles, sturgeons and fishing
By Joanne M. Haas/Public Information Officer, DNR Bureau of Law Enforcement
The beauty of summer, like the other seasons, is the variety of the calls for service the DNR conservation wardens get. Here is just a sampling of what a warden comes across in a day in Wisconsin’s great outdoors.

TURTLE TAXI: Lt. Tyler Strelow was on patrol in early June when he got a call from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office   Read on...
Tick-borne Disease and Your Dog
By K.C. Brooks, an avid waterfowler, dog lover and practicing veterinarian at Lodi Veterinary Care    
Keeping your hunting dog healthy and injury free is of major importance. One of the most significant threats to your dog’s health in Wisconsin is the variety of diseases carried by the ever increasing population of ticks in our area. Read on...
Lem & Steve Ward. Photo courtesy wardmuseum.org
The Decoy Corner: Lem & Steve Ward, Wildfowl Counterfeiters in Wood
By Bruce Urben, President
While I have tried to focus on Wisconsin decoy carvers and factory decoys produced and used in the Midwest in my past articles, it has occurred to me that it would be inappropriate not to highlight two of the most recognized and talented carvers ever known - the Ward Brothers of Crisfield, Maryland. Learn more...
Mark your calendars for the next WWA event near you and visit our Events Calendar for everything happening in 2019:
Thank You to Our 2019 Sponsors & Donors
Silver Level Sponsors
Bronze Level Sponsors
State Level Sponsors
State Level Donors
Thanks to all those that have cherished the memory of a loved one by donating in memoriam to the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association. Those recently memorialized were:
 
  • Mr. Glenn Zachow - Donors: Greg Rausch, Tony LaMacchia, Jim Freck, Mike Depies
  • Mr. David E. Hughes - Donors: Mr. & Mrs. Jim Tavares, Mr. & Mrs. Fred Welch
  • Mr. Joseph Porten- Donors: WWA 2018 Board of Directors and Staff
  • Attorney Dan Fay - Donor: Dale W. Arenz
  • Mr. Robert J. Kuehl - Donor: Ms. Penny D. Kuehl
  • Mr. John Held - Donor: Ms. Kathy Shurts
  • Mr. John Holmes - Donors: Dale W. Arenz, Jon Bergquist
  • Mr. Jay Reed - Donor: Bob & Cookie Olson 
  • Mr. Norman J. Brady - Donor: Dale W. Arenz
  • Mr. Robert E. Strous - Donor: Bruce Urben

If you'd like to consider a lasting and meaningful memorial fund contribution for that friend, hunting partner, co-worker or relative with WWA, please contact us . Each contribution will offer:
  • A personalized letter to the family of the deceased,
  • A letter from WWA sent to the donor confirming contribution for tax purposes (address & individual donation amount must be supplied),
  • The option for the donor to designate which WWA program they wish their contributions be put towards, and a listing in this section for the duration of one year
The Wisconsin Waterfowl Association is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission focuses on wetland and upland habitat restoration, youth and adult environmental education and environmental- and hunter-based legislation.  
 
To contact us call (800) 524-8460 or (262) 968-1722, email wwainfo@centurytel.net or visit our website at  www.wisducks.org