Black Bear

The black bear population is very stable in Wisconsin. The season is from early September to early October. Dog hunting is allowed in our area. The opening week of bear season rotates each year with dog hunters starting first one year and bait hunters the following year. Hunters putting out bear bait in the Butternut area will have black bear visiting their bait stations.

Ruffed Grouse

Northern Wisconsin provides some of the best ruffed grouse hunting in the lake states. The grouse were at the high of the cycle in 1999 and are now on the downward trend of the ten-year cycle. Ruffed grouse populations should be increasing within next couple of years. Ruffed grouse prefer the Aspen timber types with some mix of balsam and spruce. They are frequently found in low lands and heavy cover along streams during the dry hunting seasons. 

 Woodcock

The area has limited number of woodcock. The best woodcock hunting is during the fall migration during mid-October.

 Waterfowl

The area is on the edge of the Mississippi flyway, but provides fair waterfowl hunting opportunities. 

 Land Open to Public Hunting

The area has thousands of acres of land open to public hunting. The lands open to hunting are the national forests, DNR lands, county forest lands, industrial forest, and some privately owned managed forest land. Contact the property manager for closed areas or restrictions on any of these properties before hunting on them. Do not hunt on private land without prior landowner permission. Contact a Wisconsin DNR office for regulations, where public hunting grounds are located, and season framework for each year.