I want folks of all age groups to enjoy my column, and I have no desire to become a “poster child” for the elderly. Still, on occasion, I have alluded to my age and the infirmities that go along with it – like needing a stepstool to climb on a horse, etc. Today, because of a recent experience, I’m going to deviate from avoiding an elderly point of view and talk about age limitations. We are an aging population.

On Sunday, January 23rd, Tom, my son-in-law, and I went ice fishing on the Mississippi River. It was zero degrees Fahrenheit, but we were dressed for it. No problem. We took Hwy 35 north out of Prairie du Chien and headed toward La Crosse. At Genoa we turned left (west) onto an elevated secondary road bordered on both sides by flooded timber. Just before we came to the quaint old bridge that crossed the Mississippi into Iowa, we saw a fisherman on the north side of the road and decided to try it.

I mentioned that the road was elevated – no doubt to deal with spring flooding. To access the fishing, we had to deal with a steep downward incline. Tom asked, “Do you think you can make it?” We didn’t come this far to avoid an opportunity that looked promising, so I answered in the affirmative. The slope, covered with fresh snow, was perhaps 20-25 feet in height with a 50-60 degree grade.

Just as we were about to make the plunge, two anglers in a pickup pulled up alongside us. Having had experience with this sort of thing, they tied a long rope to a tree and threw the rope over the bank. I would certainly be able to climb up the bank by pulling myself up with that rope. No problem! I dropped to my butt and tumbled down the embankment.

Although Tom’s Vexilars showed fish most everywhere, they weren’t biting. We did enjoy the beautiful setting while we snacked on Betsy’s sandwiches, homemade cookies, and Fritos. Eventually it was time to leave. Maybe we could catch the last half of the Green Bay – San Francisco game on the radio. I lumbered over to the bank and grabbed the rope.

It didn’t take more than a minute to realize that I lacked the upper-body strength to climb that rope. Had it been a life-death situation, I don’t know that an adrenaline rush would have been enough to get me up that rope. But this certainly wasn’t an emergency. Tom could have pulled me up with his truck. This old man had too much pride to be dragged up with the pickup, and I was eventually able to climb that bank with the assistance of some snow-covered boulders.

I didn’t realize that my upper-body strength was so diminished. Now I’ll think twice about climbing around in my boat - especially when I’m alone. If I fell out of my boat, I’d lack the strength to climb back in. I’m also falling apart mentally. In my 1/26/22 column, I referred to my friend Andy Williamson as Andy Williams. My apologies to both fisherman and vocalist.

The return trip through southern Wisconsin brought us through some beautiful country. While the Wisconsin cheese heads mourned their Packer’s demise, the deer and turkeys that punctuated hill and dale seemed oblivious to the Packer tragedy.

Chronic waste disease is an on-going always fatal deer disease. Recent research has shown that an increased harvest of adult bucks, especially during the rut, reduces CWD prevalence. Jim Heffelfinger, a noted wildlife research specialist said, “Management changes aren’t popular, but science isn’t a popularity contest….. In CWD-endemic areas, agencies must decide what they are going to do. Will it be status quo, or identify management units with CWD issues and try some harvest management changes?”

The above information was taken from the January 2022 American Hunter magazine. The article, “Research: Shooting More Bucks Reduces CWD” was written by Patrick Durkin. To their credit, the SD Game, Fish, & Parks people have identified CWD areas. Will they move forward with some management changes in spite of opposition by some hunters/land owners? Time will tell.

The SD Spring Turkey application deadline is February the 11th – this coming Friday. See you next week.