As I grow older, I find myself drawn to earlier and simpler times. Cell phones are everywhere, and we can now make calls anywhere, including our cars or even the bathroom. I remember the old Ma Bell phones that were built like anvils and almost as heavy. We paid high prices for long-distance calls, but local calls were almost free. You didn’t have a choice of carriers. It was AT&T or nothing. Are cell phones better?

The history of Wisconsin bowhunting is the history of American bowhunting, because ours was the first state to have a bow deer season. It would be hard to imagine a bowhunter who hasn’t heard the name Fred Bear, whether from discussions with fathers or grandfathers about the Bear bows and arrows they used, a look at the current Bear Archery catalog or website, or turning on the radio to hear Ted Nugent’s famed hunting tune, “Fred Bear.” Bear hims

The overall theme of the Shawano County Deer Advisory Council meeting was more opportunities for deer hunters in an effort to get an ever-swelling deer herd under control. With a countywide herd of more than 53,000 animals and fewer does being shot, the council admitted efforts to rein in the growing herd are largely symbolic. During the April 29 meeting at Shawano Community Middle School, the six-member board approved an antlerless holiday hunt

I’ve hunted morel mushrooms for most of my 65 years, and I’ve heard all the advice. Look for dead elms. Look on the south side of hills first. Look in apple orchards. The hard part is actually seeing the sponge-shaped delicacies. They are a brownish yellow or sometimes gray that seems to blend in like a ghost on the forest floor. Tuck them under some May apples, ferns or other understory, and it’s like Mr.

There were few fireworks or discussions April 14 during the Shawano County spring hearing hosted by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and state Conservation Congress. A total of 13 people attended the annual hearing at Shawano Community Middle School, according to Duane Beyer of Shawano, who was re-elected to a two-year term as chairman of the county’s five-member Conservation Congress.

Springtime in Wisconsin means the first sightings of robins and sandhill cranes, emerging spring flowers — and statewide DNR/Conservation Congress public hearings. On April 14, the Department of Natural Resources and the grassroots Wisconsin Conservation Congress hearings in every county give sportsmen and other wildlife lovers the chance to weigh in on hunting, fishing and other conservation management questions. All meetings start at 6 p.m.