An Outdoorsman’s Journal: First Teal

After this past weekend and many decades of doing it, I have figured out that my favorite way to spend time is helping to introduce kids to new outdoor activities. I helped start KAMO in 2007, helped start NOAC in 2023 and though both overload my schedule, I do not seem to be backing off.

Carsyn Thiede, who is 14 and as of today, a freshmen at Mayville High School and Conner Thiede who is 12 and a 7th grader at Mayville are the children of Tyler and Patsy and are my KAMO Kids these days. In other words for about 3 years, I have been helping to introduce them to turkey, deer and now duck and goose hunting.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Rocky Mountain Adventure

This week’s column has good news and is loaded with adventure.  As you may know, my 23-year-old daughter Selina Walters has been hired by the USFWS as a biologist in Montana. Selina graduated from UW Stevens point last December and I helped her to move to Missoula in January.  Selina and I communicate almost daily, and she has become a very active hiker, fly fisher woman and she does a lot of camping and kayaking.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Mississippi Duck Hunt/The Best of Times

“Fifty-one opening days of duck hunting ago I was a very young boy in a very low income, single parent family, and my dad was raising my brothers Mike, Tom, myself, my sister Lynn and sometimes my brother Bob. We lived kind of like I do now, which is a very busy life that is often centered around the next outdoor experience. One of our annual ‘can’t miss’ trips was living on an island on the Mississippi River near Ferryville and hunting ducks. I am now 61, low income, running hard, and still on that ‘can’t miss trip’.”

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Success on the Bear Hunt

“This week’s column is about a successful conclusion to my 2022 bear hunting season that has absorbed large parts of my time, thoughts, and pocket book since I began running baits in northern Juneau County as well as southern Jackson on April 15th.”

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Ten Sunsets on a Bear Stand

“This week’s column is a short summary of the first ten days of my bear hunting situation in which I did not miss a day sitting in a tree.”

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Operation Musky 2022

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

This was at least the 20th year in a row that I was in what could be best described as a very fun weekend of musky fishing where several veterans and a whole bunch of guys — “The Red Brush Gang” and some other friends, a total of 32 — get together on the Eagle River chain of lakes. Back in the day most of us put in our time at Truax Field in Madison and worked on OA-37s, A-10s and F 16s. About 25 years ago some of the guys started this fun weekend and we have just as much fun socializing as we do fishing.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Independent Living 101

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

The column that I am about to write was supposed to be written on June 15 and it is my annual hobby-farming-getting-by-with-nature-as-much-as-possible story. Instead, the good Lord decided to have my beautiful woman pass away that night and so I had my 21-year-old daughter Selina write my column so I could meet my deadline.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Volunteers

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

This week’s column is going to be a bit different but is a very real type of story in the form of a very successful, annual, kids fisheree that is held by Jim and Deb Bires – owners of Bires Northside Mobile in Mauston, Wisconsin. The point of this story is to tell about volunteers and how without them, this world would be a very different place.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Florence County Trout Fishing Trip

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

This week’s column is all over the map. My plan was to trout fish in Florence County and sleep in the bed of my truck at night, simple, inexpensive, and adventuresome. I had obtained some information from some very good friends of mine and my plan was to fish Woods Creek and either the Pine or Popple River.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: First Turkey

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

This past week I spent a lot of time in the turkey blind with Michelle Chiaro who was hoping to harvest her first turkey and with my 20-year old daughter Selina who has was hoping to harvest her ninth.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Six days in the Great Outdoors!

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

This past week I spent six days either turkey hunting at my food plot in northern Juneau County or crappie fishing on backwaters of the Wisconsin River in Columbia County.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Swamped on the Petenwell

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

Back in 1982 I fractured my lower spine in three places and spent two weeks in Madison’s University Hospital with some serious questions about my ability to walk again. I do not know if I have ever written about this subject but long story short, I had an incredible recovery and the one thing that I remember my doctors repeatedly telling me is, “stay active or arthritis will set into your spine and life will not be pleasant.”

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Paddling the Wisconsin River/Petenwell Flowage

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

The last time that I canoed on the stretch of the Wisconsin River that I am about to write about was back in 1991. That was a big year in my life as I spent the winter camping and training to hike the Appalachian Trail with my golden retriever Ben in the Meadow Valley Wildlife Area. With Ben carrying 12-pounds and me a whole bunch more we hiked 1244 miles of the AT. When I got home I purchased “Star” who was 6-weeks old and would be Ben’s future mate. The three of us jumped in a canoe and I paddled down the Wisconsin River and when I got home in the early fall, I returned to Meadow Valley.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Deep South Fishing Trip

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

I am writing to you once again this week about a very unique trip that I took to my brother Tom Walters lake home on Lake Washington which is in west central Mississippi and one of the nation’s top ten crappie lakes. I have written in the past about my love for hunting and fishing in both Louisiana and Mississippi and this adventure once again reaffirmed that belief.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Crappie on the Delta

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

This week and next I will be writing to you about a very interesting fishing trip that I just took with my brother Mike Walters to my brother Tom Walters lake home on Lake Washington in west central Mississippi.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Walleye at DePere

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

When I hit send on this column I will be getting in my truck and heading to the state of Mississippi with my brothers Tom and Mike for a week of fun and crappie fishing. First, I have to tell you about a real cool experience that I had while fishing on the Fox River at DePere for walleye out of my canoe.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Mississippi River Perch Challenge

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

The last two years in the month of March I have headed down to Buffalo City which is located on the Mississippi River about 40-miles north of Lacrosse and used my ATV to go three miles where I fish some of the backwaters of the Mississippi for perch and walleye These backwaters are very close to the dam that controls pool number 5 and I have had excellent success shore fishing for perch and walleye that temporarily migrate to it for the spawning season. In all honesty I have been very excited for this trip for at least a month.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: A Great Trip to Chequamegon Bay

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

This week’s column has way more to write about than I have space, so here it goes. Ashland, Lake Superior, Chequamegon Bay and ice fishing/winter camping along with two buddies that are all pushing 60 that have known each other since the early 70’s.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Return to Little Bay de Noc

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

This week I am writing to you about an ice fishing trip that I took with my good friend Doug Cibulka and my golden retriever Ruby. Back in 1997 I fished Upper Michigan’s Little Bay de Noc for the first time. On that trip I was driving and sleeping in a Jeep Eagle and I did not catch a fish.
The following year I arrived with my Chevy pickup camped in a tent and caught a couple of walleyes in the six-pound range. The following year many of the guys from my deer camp came up with permanent shacks and we would spend three weekends each year catching big walleye and laughing a lot.

An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Devil’s Lake, Hard Fishing, Hard Playing!

Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

This past week I stayed in a 17-foot Ice Castle fishing shack on Stump and Devil’s Lake near Devil’s Lake, North Dakota. Dakota Jeffords, Ross Moll, Joey Weber, and Weston Sexton all grew up near Niagara, Wisconsin and graduated in 2012. Dakota is stationed at Grand Forks, Air Force Base and is the man responsible for hooking us up with the Ice Castle. This week’s column will literally be all over the map as there is a ton to write about.