The leaf drop is rapidly improving conditions for archery deer, grouse, woodcock and turkey hunters in the north. In the south, a lot of standing corn is still providing refuge for deer and game birds, but the corn harvest is moving into high gear, and hunting conditions should begin to improve considerably. Wildlife staff are releasing pheasants at State Wildlife Areas. Pheasants will continue to be released on a weekly basis until early December.

White-tailed buck rubs and scrapes are now much more common across most of the state, and bucks in some parts of southern Wisconsin have reportedly entered the seeking and chasing phase, indicating the rut is beginning. During this time deer become very active and vehicle-deer crashes become more frequent, so motorists should slow down and watch for deer, especially around evening hours. The early antlerless season last weekend brought out many hunters eager to get an early start on deer hunting and to earn their buck harvest tags for the regular season. Some registration stations reported upwards of 100 antlerless deer registered.

Leaves are not the only things coming down. Northern ducks are starting to come through, making their way south. Flocks of mergansers, buffleheads and Canada geese have been seen on Green Bay. Waterfowl hunters along the lower Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers reported moderate success despite heavy fog on Saturday morning and were harvesting mallards, gadwall and teal.

The woodcock migration is at or just past peak in the north, with increasing numbers of woodcock now moving through central and southern Wisconsin.

Seasonably cool weather and the antlerless deer hunt combined to keep fishing pressure rather low this past week. In the north, water temperatures have continued to drop and are now in the low 50s on most lakes. Musky and walleye have been the two main species of interest and musky have once again been providing the most consistent action. Lake Winnebago was producing some smallmouth bass and walleye action. Some good walleye fishing was also reported in the Winneconne area. Walleye action has been good on the Fox River at Green Bay, and musky were also starting to enter the river, with several very large musky caught. Anglers have been having good success catching catfish on the Rock River and a few crappie and walleye on the Crawfish River.

Lake Michigan tributary anglers continue to catch good numbers of chinook salmon, the fall run is definitely on the downhill side.

The Mississippi River was steady this week holding at or around 7.2 feet at Prairie du Chien. Fishing has improved below lock and dam #11 with several limits of sauger and walleye mostly in the 16-18 inch range.

Quite a few snow geese have been seen migrating and staging with their Canada goose cousins. The first tundra swans arrived over the last two weeks in the La Crosse area. Large numbers will probably not show up for a couple weeks. Snow Buntings have recently made their appearance from their tundra breeding grounds.

There have been several reports of moose sightings in the state recently. This is not that uncommon this time of year as the bulls from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan travel the country side looking for mates.

With leaves on the ground or falling rapidly, homeowners will be busy cleaning up their yards this week. Composted yard materials can keep soil healthy and provide nutrients for plants in lawns and gardens, saving homeowners money on fertilizers, and composting saves municipalities money on leaf collection. Composting is far better for the environment than burning and state air quality and fire control rules restrict the burning of yard materials in Wisconsin.