Saturday, January 10, 2004

Constantine, Doughty score big! I spent this afternoon at the Wisconsin NWTF Convention, where hundreds of Wisconsin NWTF members gathered to learn about the latest NWTF efforts here and around the country and to bid on the hundreds of turkey calls entered in this year's Midwest Turkey Call Carving Competition. You'll have to wait to get the complete results of this year's competition, but here's a scoop on the big winner: Once again, Dave Constantine of Durand won First Best of Show with his First Place entry in the Decorative Box Call division. Dave's winning call was magnificent. I'll try to post a photo and description of it somewhere here and if manage to do that, I'll come back and link to it right from here. Another scoop from today's conference: Terry Doughty, a wildlife artist from Brookfield who has won every Wisconsin wildlife stamp competition at least once, won the 2005 Wisconsin Turkey Stamp competition. By the time I got to the convention, all the prints had been taken off display, so I did not get a photo. Bummer! I'm sure you'll see a photo of it in Wisconsin Outdoor News and other media outlets soon enough, but if I had been on the stick and got to the conference earlier in the morning, I'd have had a photo to show you right here and now. I did meet some interesting folks, including Howard Wohlgefahrt, of Union Grove, Wis., who carves some of the sweetest-sounding box calls I've ever run, of nice woods, too.  He doesn't have a web presence yet, but you can reach him at 262-878-3158.  Keep an eye on Dan's Mall, as we may be offering some of Howard's calls there soon! Also ran into Al and Anne Brown, of Sling-it TM The Sling-it TM is a nifty gadget you can use to carry a turkey, or goose, or 25-pound chinook, hands-free, without getting blood or fish slime all over your clothes. I'll be offering the Sling-it TM for sale on Dan's Mall, just as soon as I can get details posted there (Webmaster: hint, hint!). Come back in a few days and check it out! I'll have some for sale at events where I'll be appearing this winter, so check my calendar for details. I also met Richard McNutt, who has written a very handy book, Hunter's Choices. I'll be offering that on Dan's Mall, too, so stay tuned. Wisconsin DNR secretary Scott Hassett had some good things to say about Wisconsin's turkey program, including this news tidbit: Wisconsin will soon release wild turkeys in Ashland, Bayfield and Douglas counties, if you can believe that! Wild turkeys on the South Shore of Lake Superior. Yowsa! In a couple years, the entire state will be open to turkey hunting. Look for more news from Hassett's talk coming soon on this blog. Right now, I gotta rest up for the big game tomorrow. Go Pack! Later... 10:13:54 PM    comment []