Spring 2011

T HE
L ONGSPUR C HRONICLES
N EWS & M USINGS
OF THE
F OX R IVER V ALLEY P HEASANTS F OREVER C HAPTER , #585
Spring Edition, 2011
President’s Perceptions
A G RAND E VENT
The Chapters annual Membership Banquet, Pheasant
Palooza was held on March 11, and once again was
a huge success. Attendance was up nearly 15% over
last year which we hope is a sign that we are putting
on the kind of banquet you want to see. Thank you
all so much for supporting the PF mission; thanks to
you, we will be able to continue and even increase
the habitat projects, youth activities, educational efforts and conservation
stewardship you have come to expect.
While the evening was filled with fun and prizes, we also announced a few
awards that I want to mention in this column. The Chapter presented its
annual Outstanding Member of the Year award to longtime PF volunteer Al
Youngbauer. Al was plenty surprised by his award but he certainly has
earned it. Keep up the good work Al.
We also annually award the Pheasants Forever Conservationist of the Year
award to the person we feel has gone above and beyond the call of duty in
terms of stewardship of the natural environment in our area. This year
that award to George Curtis who has, for decades, espoused the land ethic
outlined by the great Aldo Leopold.
Once again, our Ringneck members (under 18 years) were put front and
center with each going home with a great prize package. Besides the gift
package that all Ringnecks received, half of the kids won a pheasant hunt
and one lucky young lady, Kyra Eierman, won a beautiful Browning Citori
heirloom shotgun.
The evening started with a potential catastrophe as our great Master of
Ceremonies, Mark Lewis, came down with a bug and was bedridden.
Without skipping a beat, Chapter Secretary, Ryan Seeley, stepped up and
took over. Ryan did a great job keeping things moving and entertaining
the crowd. Thanks Ryan.
Inside this issue:
F OX V ALLEY C HAPTER
2
C ONSERVATIONIST OF THE
Y EAR
4
O UTSTANDING M EMBER OF
THE Y EAR
5
P HEASANT P ALOOZA IN
P HOTOS
6
W ISCONSIN PF
8
Y OUTH C ORNER
9
S PONSORS
9
E ARTH D AY C LEAN -U P
10
S PRING C ROWING C OUNT
10
RE -MARK- ABLE
11
Continued on page 3...
V ISIT T HE F OX R IVER V ALLEY C HAPTER W EBSITE : WWW . FOXVALLEYPHEASANTS . COM
P OWERED B Y T HUNDERA M ULTIMEDIA P RODUCTIONS
DATES
P AGE
P AGE
2 2
T HE L ONGSPUR C HRONICLES
Pheasants Forever Fox River Valley Chapter
O FFICERS
P RESIDENT
L EO KOLASZEWSKI
D IRECTORS
C HAIRMAN
OF THE
B OARD
S TEVE H ARNITZ
V ICE P RESIDENT
R ACHEL F OSTER
A L H EIDL
A LEX H OEL
T OM M ANGIN
J ERRY M ATHUSEK
B RIAN T REBIATOWSKI
B RIAN W ILKE
M ARK L EWIS
S ECRETARY
R YAN S EELEY
T EASURER
J OHN M ANION
L IFE M EMBERS
P AUL F OWLER
J ERRY M ATHUSEK
B ILL M ILLER
T OM P UPETER
T OM R USCH
M IKE S KOGLIND
T ERRY Z AWACKI
B ILL Z IMAR
N EWSLETTER
K RISSY S EELEY , E DITOR
L EO K OLASZEWSKI , M ANAGING E DITOR
C OMMITTEE S TRUCTURE
C OMMITTEE :
B ANQUET
F INANCE
F UNDRAISING
H ABITAT
L AND A CQUISITION
M EMBERSHIP
N EWSLETTER
P UBLIC R ELATIONS
W EBSITE
V OLUNTEER C OORDINATOR
Y OUTH P ROGRAMS
B ANQUET Attend planning meetings before next year’s banquet and assist
with banquet activities.
Ryan Seeley (920) 424-9979 or [email protected]
Al Heidl (920) 231-0860
C ROWING C OUNT Start 45 minutes before sunrise. Drive 10 mile routes, stopping
every 0.5 miles to listen and record location of crowing roosters
on plat book maps. Finish 1 to 1.5 hours after sunrise.
Rachel Foster (920) 420-5176 or [email protected]
F UNDRAISING Assist in raffles, fall social, banquet, and other fundraisers
throughout the year.
Rachel Foster (920) 420-5176 or [email protected]
H ABITAT /P REDATOR A planning committee to work on improving habitat and
controlling predation.
Rachel Foster (920) 420-5176 or [email protected]
H UNTING G ROUND C LEAN -U P Clean up of specific Winnebago County public hunting areas 4-5
times a year.
Rachel Foster (920) 420-5176 or [email protected]
C HAIRMAN /D IRECTOR :
R YAN S EELEY /A L H EIDL
J OHN M ANION
R ACHEL F OSTER
R ACHEL F OSTER
J ACK D OEMEL
R YAN S EELEY
K RISSY S EELEY
M ARK L EWIS
M ARK L EWIS
R YAN S EELEY
A LEX H OEL
L AND A CQUISITION A planning/work committee for our chapter to initiate land
acquisition programs. These programs are funded and executed
using federal and state grants, Pheasants Forever national and
local funds, easements and land trust cooperation.
Jack Doemel (920) 379-6843 or [email protected]
L EOPOLD E DUCATION P ROJECT (L.E.P.)The L.E.P. is designed to teach the public about humanity’s ties to
the natural world and to provide leadership in the effort to
conserve and protect the earth’s natural resources.
Alex Hoel (920) 410-2317 or [email protected]
M EMBERSHIP To recruit the avid pheasant hunters who are not members to join
and participate. Committee would meet occasionally to discuss
and act on ways to increase membership in our chapter.
Ryan Seeley (920) 424-9979 or [email protected]
N EWSLETTER Contribute articles, photos, or ideas to the newsletter.
Krissy Seeley (920) 424-9979 or [email protected]
V OLUNTEER O PPROTUNITIES Get on the e-mail or call list to be contacted about upcoming
events throughout the year.
Ryan Seeley (920) 424-9979 or [email protected]
N EWS & M USINGS
OF THE
F OX R IVER V ALLEY
P AGE 3
...continued from page 1
Along with a boatload of top end guns going to many happy winners, this year we changed direction with our Mystery Prize. This year’s prize was a Pheasants Forever/Royal Caribbean six day, five
night cruise for two including airfare. Winner Mike Eierman and his guest will depart Tampa, FL
traveling the seas for six days and five nights with stops in Costa Maya and Cozumel. They’ll be
traveling with a large contingent of PF members from around the country and mingling at two private Pheasants Forever events onboard. We’re throwing in some extra’s to make this a truly memorable prize. We gave away many, many more prizes that night, so many that there just isn’t room to
list them here.
Other major banquet night activities included the Jack Gudden Memorial Raffle sponsored by the
Mike Solomon Family. Kaye Solomon’s handmade pheasant quilt was an amazing sight to see. All
proceeds from that raffle go into the Mike Solomon/ PF Foundation. The Live Auction went over well
with some great big ticket items including an African Safari. The Silent Auction was bigger and better than ever an attracted a large crowd. One of the big gun raffles was the 5 gun raffle which featured five, extremely nice guns. 4imprint won this year’s Sponsor Raffle and an adorable English
Cocker puppy with great hunting bloodlines found a fantastic new home.
An event of this magnitude doesn’t go off successfully without a lot of volunteers. Along with our
board and their families and friends we also had many members volunteer to help. I’d like to thank
each and every one of them. And let’s not forget the great group of volunteers from Oshkosh West
High School Woods and Waters Club who once again helped out all night. And a special thank you
to all of our great Partners, Sponsors and Donors who provided so many of the prizes that made so
many people happy winners. In the end, we are all winners by helping to make our natural environment a better place for generations to come.
Thank you,
Leo Kolaszewski
President
P AGE
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T HE L ONGSPUR C HRONICLES
Conservationist of the Year–
George Curtis
Each year Pheasants
Forever uses banquet night to
take the opportunity to honor
one special member of the
community as our Conservationist of the Year. This year’s
recipient has exemplified the
Pheasants Forever spirit and the
Land Ethic defined by Aldo
Leopold in a very big way.
George Curtis has created hundreds of acres of habitat in our area.
He has long taken part of the PF seed program, buying PF seed to create
more and better food and cover plots. He has even planted pheasants in
efforts to increase the population. In addition to working the land for the
benefit of all wildlife, George has invested his resources in producing a
weekly television show called ―It’s Your Environment‖ which has educated
citizens to the great work that has been done and that is still needed to be
done to insure that the abundant wildlife and outdoor beauty that we have
today continues for future generations.
George’s community activism has spanned over 50 years and his
involvement in PF has been going for well over a decade. When the
chapter was just trying to get re-established in the area, George offered up
his office building as a meeting place. George has a true love of the great
outdoors and has devoted a significant part of his life to improving it.
As the great Wisconsin environmentalist Aldo Leopold said,
―Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land.‖ George has
done much to strengthen this harmony and to teach others to do the
same. George, thanks for all your great work for the environment. We are
extremely pleased to extend this honor to you as a small token of
appreciation.
N EWS & M USINGS
OF THE
F OX R IVER V ALLEY
P AGE 5
Outstanding Member of the YearAl Youngbauer
This year’s choice for
Outstanding Member was a
pretty easy selection. Though
many PF volunteers were
worthy of the award, few have
been actively volunteering for so
many years as Al Youngbauer.
Al has participated in just about
every habitat project we have
taken on. That list includes
Earth Day projects, habitat
clean-up crews, crow counts,
controlled burns and more. In
addition to all that, Al has been
volunteering at every banquet
for as long as we can remember.
He’s been a big part of our Youth Mentor Hunts for years.
Al’s volunteer spirit has been an inspiration to all of us.
Whenever it’s time to get our hands dirty for any type of
project, Al has been of the first to sign on. We truly wish we
could have a hundred volunteers like Al; we can only
imagine how much habitat we could put in the ground.
Al, thanks for your service to the PF mission. You have
certainly earned this honor and we hope you’ll continue to
be a big part of the chapter for many years to come.
P AGE 6
T HE L ONGSPUR C HRONICLES
2011 Pheasant Palooza in Pictures
N EWS & M USINGS
OF THE
F OX R IVER V ALLEY
P AGE 7
T HE L ONGSPUR C HRONICLES
P AGE 8
Wisconsin Pheasants Forever Improves 9,700 Acres for Wildlife in '10
Local PF chapters and Farm Bill Biologists working Wisconsin landscape for wildlife
Middleton, Wis. – March 7, 2011 – The 30 Pheasants Forever chapters and 7,500 Pheasants
Forever members in Wisconsin contributed to nearly 400 wildlife habitat projects in 2010,
benefitting pheasants and other wildlife on 9,765 acres of public and private land.
The 30 Pheasants Forever chapters completed 378 wildlife habitat projects in 2010,
benefitting wildlife on 4,691 acres. The breakdown includes 38 nesting cover projects
benefitting 567 acres, 67 habitat maintenance projects benefitting 2,638 acres, 271 food and
cover plots totaling 1,419 acres, and one new land acquisition of 66 acres (all land
acquisitions are accomplished in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources and/or the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and other conservation partners, and
opened to the public for hunting and outdoor recreation). Since the first Pheasants Forever
chapter formed in Wisconsin more than two decades ago, chapters have completed 19,108
wildlife habitat projects, improving habitat conditions for wildlife on 128,568 acres.
Also in 2010, Pheasants Forever's five Farm Bill Wildlife Biologists in Wisconsin worked in
partnership with 1,123 Wisconsin landowners and farmers to enroll 5,074 acres of habitat
into federal and stateside habitat conservation programs, including the Conservation Reserve
Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, Grasslands Reserve Program and the Emergency
Wetland Protection Program. These acres have helped the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources and partners meet wildlife and habitat goals in several landscape-scale habitat
initiatives, like the Western Prairie Restoration Area, Central Wisconsin Grassland
Conservation Area and Glacial Habitat Restoration Area. Since Pheasants Forever started its
Farm Bill Biologist program in Wisconsin in 2007, Biologists have worked with 3,583
landowners to enroll 18,119 acres in conservation programs.
"Pheasants Forever leaves a local footprint, whether that's a chapter helping to improve habitat at a local wildlife management area or one of our Farm Bill Biologists acting one-on-one
with a landowner regarding a conservation program," says Kevin Wallenfang, Pheasants Forever's Regional Wildlife Biologist in Wisconsin. Pheasants Forever empowers county and local
chapters with the responsibility to determine how 100 percent of their locally raised conservation funds will be spent - the only national conservation organization that operates
through this truly grassroots structure. As a result, chapter volunteers are able to see the
fruits of their efforts locally, while belonging to a larger national organization with a voice on
federal and state conservation policy.
For more information about Pheasants Forever in the state or to discuss their native seed
program, contact Kevin Wallenfang at (608) 798-2466 / Email Kevin at
[email protected]
N EWS & M USINGS
OF THE
F OX R IVER V ALLEY
P AGE 9
Youth Corner– Deer Story
By Tori Matz
Sunday morning of opening weekend I got
my 9 pointer. Around 9:00, I fell asleep. My
dad started elbowing me awake so I knew there
was a buck outside my stand. The deer was really spooky as it was walking towards us. I got
my gun up as quickly as I could without making
any noise. As soon as I got a clear shot, I took
it! The deer ran only 25-30 yards and dropped
on a logging road. This was nice, so I didn’t
have to drag it at all.
Our FRVC Sponsors
Thank you for your continued support!
CORPORATE PARTNERS
 Brian Wilke Construction
 Curtis Law Office
 Dennis Ball
 First National Bank—Fox Valley
 Fox Valley Dermatology
 Harnitz Law
 Klinger Painting
 Ohio Street Station
 Rooster Run Lodge
 Telcomm
 Van Ert Electric
SPONSORS
 4imprint
 Acee-Duecee Bar
 Ambassador Travel
 Anixter
 Arnie Malczewski
 Auto Authority - Alex Hoel
 Bill Zimar
 Bruce Bartel
 DC Stoneworks
 Doemel Landscape
 Dons Auto Body
 Expert Transmission & Towing
 Fox Valley Taxidermy
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Fratello's Waterfront Brewery & Restaurant
Fujin Martial Arts
Harvelle's LLC
Howard Hoel
Jack Doemel - Realtor
Kelly Green Lawn Care
Kossel’s TV & Appliance
Leo Kolaszewski
MAC AIR
Midstate Amusements
Nelson Sales Corporation
Patrick Flanigan
Pigs In Heat
Ridgeway Kennel
Rogers Printing Solutions
Rustling Meadows Hunt Club
See Spot Run on 21
Thomas Tyers—Wildfowl Carver
Thundera Multimedia
Tom & Jan Hetzer
Tom Tyers
Tom Hetzer
Vitale’s Italian Restaurant
Winnebago Conservation Club
Zuppas
P AGE1010
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T HE L ONGSPUR C HRONICLES
Annual Earth Day Clean-Up
Our annual Earth Day clean up project is fast approaching. This year, due to the fact that Earth Day
also falls on Good Friday, we moved our project up a few days. Volunteers are needed Monday,
April 18th to assist in clearing brush & trees at the Rat River Wildlife Area. Plan to meet in the public hunting grounds parking lot (County Road M, north of Winchester – first public hunting ground
parking lot south of the bridge & North Loop Road) at 8:00 AM. PF volunteers, the DNR & the Oshkosh Woods & Waters Club, and as many other volunteers as we can get, will assist in the removal
of brush & woody vegetation in an effort to open up the grassland for upland bird habitat. We also
visit four local public hunting ground parking lots in the area and clean up trash & litter.
If you plan on cutting, we ask that you bring your own chainsaw, bow saw, chaps, helmet, ear &
eye protection. Other volunteers not operating equipment – we have plenty for you to do, but you
might get a little dirty, so be sure to have gloves & boots, as well as ear and eye protection.
Lunch will be provided by the Fox River Valley Chapter of Pheasants Forever, so please be sure to
let us know if you are coming so we can get an accurate head count ahead of time. Last year we
had over 50 volunteers and got an amazing amount of work done in just a few hours. Your help will
be greatly appreciated and you will make a difference joining in a very rewarding experience for our
habitat on Earth Day! If you are interested in helping out, please contact Jack Doemel at (920) 3796843 or Rachel Foster at (920) 420-5176. Hope to see you on Earth Day!
DNR Spring Pheasant Crowing Count Survey
Now that spring is upon us, there’s no better time to get out and hear the sounds of nature. Plans
are in the works for this year’s spring crow count. FRVC member and volunteers will be out in force
listening for and marking the locations of roosters calling for mates.
Generally, the crow count is conducted between April 15th and May 15th each year. Volunteers set
out in the pre-dawn hours on a predetermined route, stopping every half mile or so to get out and
listen for the vocalizations and visual sightings of ring necked pheasants. Each encounter is marked
on provided maps, which are turned over to our local DNR game biologist. The data collected helps
in determining bird densities in various locations, as well as give the researchers a better handle on
the overall health and year to year fluctuations in the pheasant population. It is also used a learning tool for determining which types of habitats the local birds prefer to thrive in. Besides being educational and beneficial, it’s a fun way to get out and know the area better, enjoy nature, and maybe even find a new hunting spot for next fall. A morning route generally takes one and a half to
two hours to complete. You can select the route as well as the day(s) you would like to run it.
If you are interested in participating in this spring’s crow count, please contact Randy Steeno at
(920) 725-0961 for more details.
N EWS & M USINGS
OF THE
F OX R IVER V ALLEY
P AGE 11
re-MARK-able DATES
2011
April
9-10
13-17
15
18
20-24
22
27-May 1
May
4-8
7
11-15
15
18-22
28
June
18
September
10
-Youth Turkey Hunt
-Turkey Spring Period A
-Crow Count Begins
-Earth Day Clean-Up Rat River Wildlife Area
-Turkey Spring Period B
-Earth Day
-Turkey Spring Period C
-Turkey Spring Period D
-General Inland Trout to Sept. 30
-Large and Smallmouth Bass Northern Zone Catch and Release to June 17
-Large and Smallmouth Bass Southern Zone to March 4, 2012
-Northern Pike to March 4, 2012
-Walleye to March 4, 2012
-Musky-Southern Zone to Dec. 31
-Turkey Spring Period E
-Crow Count Ends
-Turkey Spring Period F
-Musky-Northern Zone to Nov. 30
-Large and Smallmouth Bass Northern Zone Harvest to March 4, 2012
-FRVC Youth Hunt (tentatively scheduled)
We Need You!
This is your newsletter! You are PF. If it’s important to you, it’s important to us! We want to hear from you!
We would love to have the following:

Your outdoor photos

Your hunting and/or fishing stories

Recipes for wild game

Your feedback and/or ideas for the newsletter
Submit your photos, stories, recipes, ideas, gripes, likes, and/or dislikes about the newsletter to Krissy at
[email protected] Any other complaints can go to Leo!
PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
WINNECONNE, WI
PERMIT NO. 11
823 Eastman St.
Oshkosh, WI 54901
Feature Photo
This picture of migrating Blue Bills and Red Heads heading back up north was taken along
the Wolf River in Winneconne in mid-March.
-Photo submitted by Rachel Foster