The up north thread

Tidbits and News related to northern Wisconsin. 

Ive gotten good service from Park Falls and from Ernst in Fifield.  When I built a deck and bought treated lumber at Park falls I noticed it had the same production stamp markings as the treated lumber at menards so same source.

I wrote that down shiner, thank you

I bought from Ron Ernst lumber in Fifield in the past.  I want to say they even did free delivery, but that was years ago.  I had no complaints, thought the prices weren't bad.  I had options to buy from Menards if I really wanted to, but went with them because it was reasonable enough and easier with the delivery.

One of the times I bought just 6 4x4s and they still delivered them for free.  Just waited for a day they had a truck going my way and threw them on.

Looking for quality lumber in the Butternut area. Can anyone chime in on which is better to deal with between park falls lumber or true value yard in glidden? Or perhaps anything between I suppose? 

Got out ice fishing today. In the U.P. My go-to lake was not safe. 
3 inches of ice. North side. South side would have likely bern  ok, but no way to get there safely.
Tried a new lake. Small lake- 8 inches of ice everywhere.
We didn’t get anything. Left.
Finally, got to a larger lake. 6 inches everywhere, but the fishing was poor. Gamefish open until March 15 in Michigan, so we had large shiners, but, just flags, no fish. One of those days! Good to get out though! 

Alright I will answer some of Steelheads comments. Picture was taken that day w/ cell phone , while I was scouting public lands in Oneida county. It was not a trail camera photo. Was there a bait pile present?- Not to my knowledge.
Was there people in the area? Probably during hunting season, and obviously me as I meandered through the woods.
On today’s walk far from where I was yesterday I stayed on logging roads and counted 10 piles of wolf scat.
I guess in the future I won’t share any of my findings w/ the few lake linkers left because I’m effing Clueless.

Yup, very well said Steel.  I lack your tact.

Well said, Steelhead. 

Deer camp last few days in gods country & as was said awesome weather for checking things out pre spring . Definitely our slice of heaven with 2000+ acres of untouched land to the south . Didn’t cast a line but checked some of the fishing holes & all looks ready for some filets with perch doing well in one area. . Tried to find my old beaver dam stand that I hunted for 20 years that I last hunted in 2020 shooting a dandy 9 with a double brow tine on the right . Since then health has declined some & the mile walk isn’t the same . Pup enjoyed the search for the stand  flushing many grouse in pairs - 0 ticks , lucky I guess .  Saw this group of deer in front of the cabin mid morning , with a total of 28 deer over 2 days with 8 on the road into the cabin all looking healthy as expected . There’s a group of 3 wolves in the area with that number fluctuating year to year I’m sure but deer & bear numbers are fine & should improve with no snow . A few comments about the previous posts of a possible wolf killed deer , looking at the pics looks like a lot of variables there , month , snow depth , camera location & duration in place , bait pile for deer? , people population in the area , etc . Few years ago there were several pics viewed by millions on a Facebook (people’s lifeline) page & truth be told it was a car killed deer laying in the ditch & someone saw wolves on it & posted it as wolves attacking a deer . Wolves , bears , coyotes & other predators kill & eat deer . Weak , injured  & young whitetails are the first to go & deep snow & length of winter can be unfair to deers survival , exceptional winter for them this year . First & foremost not a fan of wolves & nothing against anyone on this site , actually a few here I would invite to deer hunt with us or check out deer camp . Something I have noticed lately is that if hunters or fisherman don’t get the game they are after they blame the easiest reason & put it on social media where it blows up bigger than it truly is & the last 10 years or so the new people to the north buying land or weekenders with their goofy toys with them are way uneducated about the outdoors as a whole , example the wolf to deer ratio & use the Internet to learn rather than experience . 🦌  

Cool pics. The one by the Pier is great! 

Snake here’s a few more pics.

Good stuff Clueless! Thanks for sharing awesome pics of Bobcat. My favorite Mammal.

Thanks clueless for the details and cool photos.  Hibernation is why I didn't include bear in the list of potential causes, but this mild winter does leave the potential that one could have woke up.  Been reading reports of some limited bear activity.

Many critters feed and pilfer off kill sites and dead animals. From rodents to weasels to mink to fishers to bird scavengers to wolves, etc..  Bones quickly disappear due to their mineral content.  This this their free lunch.

 I also live and work and hunt in wolf country.

Gillespie you mentioned bobcat kill. I’ll share photos of one here behind my house last winter. Cats bury their prey and then come back ​a feed on them, bears do the same but this kill was in Feb when bears are hibernating.  My dogs found this ​kill so I set a trail camera on it. 

I go by the evidence left at the scene of a kill site. There was a skull cap and lower jaw. Wolfs eat most of the bones. At the site of coyote kill you will find the rib cage, spine and full skull of the animal. This site lacked bones leading me to believe wolf kill. I put in my first post probable wolf kill. I believe there has only been 2 deer in Oneida county w/ CWD. 
A wounded deer possible. 
Maybe I should start taking pictures of every pile of wolf crap I see on our walks and you might have a different opion.