A segment from a Jan 1968 Newsletter is shown below. Are you interested in helping with archiving our history? Email Membership@DCCL.org or reach out to one of the DCCL Board Members.

The Pheasant Farm

The pheasant farm will be open at 8am until about 10 am starting Saturday, May 3 and each Saturday until early September. Members who put in 12 hours at the farm or any other League activity will earn an allotment of birds.

No Member Meeting in April 2025

April 2025

Highlights from the Annual Banquet
* Fun-draiser *

Thanks for all the effort everyone put in to helping with the success of the banquet. (The banquet committee along with Dan and Dwaine--many days/nights). Thanks, Tom, for stepping up as interim DCCL President and sharing what's been accomplished. Many DCCL members were pitching in and even at least one non-member (AAW table-Tracy) helping with ticket sales. Many thought it was much improved from last year. Faster food line, sound quality was better (still hard to compete with 150 voices talking at once) and great prizes. One improvement suggestion is to only buy .410 shotguns for more people to have a better chance of winning one! It was great to see our newest board member, Brad, and fiancée helping out.

2024 Highlights presented at the Annual Banquet

2024 DCCL Accomplishments and Activities.docx

Habitat Work Day

Saturday, May 31st from 1pm to 4pm will be a great opportunity for DCCL members to not only get outside, but you can also help improve plant diversity on DCCL land which helps support the Greater Prairie Chicken.

Local conservation groups will be participating including the PF Chapter in central Wisconsin, The Tomorrow River conservation club, and the Wisconsin DNR. It would be great to have some DCCL representation up there!

If interested, please RSVP to: Heather Doherty- ahintz@pheasantsforever.org or 920-765-3564. Please review the flyer for more information!

Shoutout and Thanks to
Bob & Linda Degnan!

AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR THE BLUEBIRDS

Long-time DCCL member, Bob Degnan recently repaired and rebuilt six bluebird houses for installation at the pheasant farm. They are all up and waiting for the first birds' arrival in April (hopefully).

Each spring Bob and his wife, Linda, maintain most of the bluebird and wood duck houses that the League has placed at various locations in Dane County. A big thank you to Bob and Linda.

Highway Cleanup

DCCL has been approved to adopt County Highway J (going past the farm) from County PD to Dairy Ridge Road.

** Thank you to the team that spent the morning cleaning up our new section. **

The Wisconsin DOT requested DCCL to discontinue cleaning our former segment of Hwy 18/151 due to safety concerns on that highway.The highway cleanup date was set for April 12 at the farm. Dane County was providing safety vests for each volunteer.

Prior to April 12, all volunteers were requested to watch and online video about general highway safety at: https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/doing-bus/real-estate/roadsides/adopt-hwy/safety.aspx

Thank you to our volunteers!

All are pictured except for Steve.

Wisconsin Prairie Chicken Festival

The Wisconsin DNR’s Greater Prairie-chicken observation survey is now available to use on your smartphone!

The Wisconsin DNR’s Greater Prairie-chicken observation survey is now available to use on your smartphone – just in time for booming season!

Observations are collected using the Survey123 app.

Step 1) Download and install Survey123 on your device. Go to Google Play (Android) or App Store (iphone)

Note: after installation, the app may open and ask you to log in. Close the app and go to step 2.

Step 2) Scan the QR code attached with the phone's camera and click on the link that appears, or open Survey123 and use the QR code reader in the Search bar. This will load and open the prairie-chicken observation survey.

Prairie-chicken Survey
QR Code

Spring is coming and more from DCCL Members

Finding an Antler Shed

Board Secretary, Chris Worley, his antler shed in February out at the Brooklyn Wildlife Area. He was out with his dog and came upon it along a game trail. It's the first shed both dog and Chris ever found.

Bobcat in Verona?

Learn to Turkey Hunt

Learn about calling, decoys, scouting and much more.

Do you have less than 2 years hunting experience?

Already have a tag for Zone 1, season A, B or D?

Access Ability Wisconsin (AAW) can help you! Contact AAW via text or phone at 608.886.9388 or email Nicky at Events@AccessAbilityWI.org.

Note: Females of all ages are welcomed to give it a go.

Thank you, Jacob Z.!
Guest speaker for the
March Membership Meeting.

March 2025

We are sold out! 2025 Annual Banquet

FYI ...

2025 DCCL Banquet online.pdf

2025 March Member Meeting

- Guest Speaker -

Jacob Zeuske

Jacob Z has been an active member of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) for many years. He has been the training director for the Wisconsin River Chapter (WRC) going on 10 years now. He is also a NAVHDA judge for the past 5 years. There are over 95 chapters across the states as well as over 10,000 active members. Jacob will provide an overview of NAVHDA’s function/goals, opportunities offered and testing/evaluation of your hunting companion. “The North American Versitile Hunting Dog Association defines the versatile dog as one that is bred and trained to dependably hunt and point game, to retrieve on both land and water, and to track wounded game on both land and water. NAVHDA currently recognizes 31 breeds of versatile hunting dogs.” (from NAVHDA website). Hope to you on March 25th !

Fun at the February Member Meeting

Thank you, Lesa!

Thank you to our generous volunteers who supported the Fishing Expo!

WI DNR - Greater Prairie-Chicken Management Update

DCCL_Update_feb2025.docx

2024 Greater Prairie-Chicken Survey in Central WI

PCSURVEYWI2024.pdf

Tim Eisele's discussion on two very important topics:

Meet Your Newest Board Members

- Steve Spaeni and Brad Sterling -

Least Weasel

This little guy (picture below) was discovered in January behind the pheasant farm shed. A few of our DCCL members identified it as a Least Weasel, the smallest of the weasel family. This is not a welcome sight at the farm. This little guy can become a serial killer when presented with an abundance of young birds. They mainly feed on rodents, but when easily accessible young birds are available, they can’t restrain themselves. DCCL had an encounter with this weasel species maybe 10 years ago. It killed hundreds of pheasants, leaving its signature clue of heads gone (they like brains) and birds piled up (cached). Traps were set but were never successful. As a proactive step this year, one of our members has set up a few traps out at the farm to hopefully keep this wily weasel species at bay. There are also a few brush-piles out at the farm which make great “houses” for weasels. We plan on burning them this spring.

- Submitted by Chris W., Board Secretary

The Hands on Habitat

A work day is scheduled on Buena Vista Wildlife Area has been scheduled for Saturday, May 31. It will be a native flower seeding on DCCL land. We will be looking for volunteers to help.....more details to follow or email Secretary@DCCL.org if you are interested in helping.

February 2025

2025 Annual Meeting

Food

Friends

Fun

Expired Terms

Multiple board members had terms which expired. Thank you to Richard Brye, Monica Spaeni, Jerry Sands (stepped down), Jeff Bloomer, Greg Dahl and Tom Klingbiel for your insights, suggestions and support of DCCL.

Elected Members

Membership elected the following board members: Monica Spaeni, Tom Klingbiel, Steve Spaeni and Jeff Bloomer. The 1 year remaining from Jerry Sands position will be appointed by the president soon. Officers elected are Tim Heindl (President), Sharon Schwab (Vice-President), Jeff Bloomer (Treasurer) and Chris Worley (Secretary).

We had a great turnout for our annual DCCL membership meeting on January 28th! Thank you to all attendees. We kicked it off with an ample supply of pizzas. Tim Heindl, DCCL President welcomed everyone.

DCCL’s 2024 Accomplishments

An overview of included:

purchase and installation of an ADA outhouse at the farm,
annual picnic (gave away bluebird houses),
annual banquet (largest number of attendees),
guest speakers for membership meetings,
ongoing efforts to maintain/protect the Greater Prairie-chicken (GPC) in the Buena Vista Wildlife Area,
updates to the DCCL website,
raised 1000 pheasant chicks to adults, highway pickup,
two DCCL scholarships provided to UW Stevens Point conservation students,
provided blaze orange caps to students graduating hunter safety classes,
signed on to a State of WI Wake Boat legislation and Grassland Conservation Act policy proposal;
participated in the Fishing Expo and Open Season Sportsman Expo in the Dells; and
provided grants to mission aligned organizations:
1. Access Ability Wisconsin (AAW),
2. Outdoor Heritage Education Center for their Midwest Outdoor Heritage Education Expo (MOHEE),
3. Prairie Enthusiasts, and
4. financial support to Wisconsin Wildlife Federation (WWF) to intervene the Vista Sands solar project from abutting directly to the Buena Vista Wildlife area to reduce the impact on the GPC.

These grant recipients provided brief overviews of their accomplishments utilizing DCCL grant money and then took questions from the DCCL membership.

FEBRUARY – FISHING EXPO

WI Fishing Expo - We have a lot of volunteer spots to fill. The Expo gives the DCCL a free booth for help to staff the event. We have been asked to provide two people for each hour the doors are open Friday February 21st through Sunday the 23rd. We also have the DCCL booth to staff. If you are available to help in any capacity please let me know.

Tom Klingbiel

575-0295

Tom.klingbiel@gmail.com

WI FISHING EXPO Hours

Friday Feb. 21 1:00pm - 8:00pm

Saturday Feb. 22 9:00am - 7:00pm

Sunday Feb. 23 9:00am - 4:00pm

Guest Speaker: Lesa Kardash (see bio)

Topic: Management of 17,000 acres of grassland habitat on the Buena Vista and Paul J. Olson Wildlife Areas.

When: 7:00 PM, February 25, 2025

Where: Schwoegler Park Towne Lanes

444 Grand Canyon Dr, Madison, WI 53719

Hope to see you there!

My husband and four children live next to the Buena Vista grasslands and spend as much time as we can outdoors together. We enjoy camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, biking, gardening, and simply exploring the natural world as a family.

I am a native Wisconsinite and grew up near here - in Verona. I received my Bachelor and Master of Science in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I am an active member of The Wisconsin Chapter of The Wildlife Society. For the past 18 years, I have been a Wildlife Biologist in Portage and Wood Counties with the Wisconsin DNR. During that time, I have been responsible for implementing the wildlife management program in Portage and Wood Counties. A significant portion of my work involves the management of 17,000 acres of grassland habitat on the Buena Vista and Paul J. Olson Wildlife Areas. In 2022, I took on the role of Greater Prairie-chicken staff specialist.

March 25, 2025– Membership Meeting

Guest Speaker: Jacob Zeuske

Jacob has been an active member of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) for many years. He has been the training director for the Wisconsin River Chapter (WRC) going on 10 years now. He is also a NAVHDA judge for the past 5 years. There are over 95 chapters across the states as well as over 10,000 active members. Jacob will provide an overview of NAVHDA’s function/goals, opportunities offered and testing/evaluation of your hunting companion. “The North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association defines the versatile dog as one that is bred and trained to dependably hunt and point game, to retrieve on both land and water, and to track wounded game on both land and water. NAVHDA currently recognizes 31 breeds of versatile hunting dogs.” (from NAVHDA website). Hope to you on March 25th !

'25 APRIL 17, 2025
DCCL BANQUET

The banquet invite will be going out probably sometime before the end of January and anyone interested in helping with the banquet can call Dwaine Rundle at 608-235-4576 to volunteer. The banquet will be held on April 17th at The Red Mouse in Pine Bluff. Volunteers can help with set only, banquet only or both. Mark your calendar so you are prepared for a fun night. More details of the banquet will be forthcoming.

January 2025

Membership - Renewal

2024 Renewal and New Membership Letter

Have you renewed your annual membership? You have some choices. We recommend renewing online and you have two choices on how to pay: 1) pay online or 2) send in a check. We encourage you to pay online. Click on the Annual Membership Form button below and follow the instructions.

Membership Form

Mark Your Calendar

The annual DCCL Meeting is January 28, 2025. Throw your name in the hat to join the DCCL board and if you have someone you think will be an active board member, ask them if you can throw their name in the hat.

Elections are that night with pizza, raffles, and a good time. Come on out! Get to know your fellow members and 2024 Board Members.

We want to hear from YOU!

If you would like to submit a story, conservation idea, or something related to DCCL's mission, please submit your story here -> "Submit Story"

Check out stories from members and updates from the community on our new Stories & More page.

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