Welcome to Taylor County Sportsman’s Club online! Taylor County Sportsman’s Club supports outdoor traditions through quality wildlife management, youth education and development of recreational opportunities. Our group works out of Medford, Wisconsin and the surrounding Taylor County, but our members come from across the Midwest. Nearly every dollar is spent locally to help local youth and outdoors people benefit.

MONTHLY BOARD MEETINGS take place on the third Monday of every month in the Medford Cooperative board room above County Market. All members are encouraged to attend!!

TCSC sponsors fish crib Construction on area lakes each winter. Contact us if you have a lake suggestion.

Through numerous hands-on projects, TCSC is helping improve wildlife habitat to create more quality recreational opportunities for future sportsmen and women. Annual fish crib construction on area lakes is a popular annual wildlife project along with wood duck and blue bird house construction, fish stocking, lake improvement projects, Crane’s Foundation’s Operation Crane Migration and much more.

TCSC works side by side with our state wildlife managers, helping them make decisions that will influence wildlife habitat right here in Taylor County, Wisconsin. The list of recreational projects that TCSC has been involved in over the years is endless. This organization takes pride in maintaining our opportunities as outdoor enthusiasts. Our organization has supported every area sportsman’s group in their endeavors as well as taking on a few major projects of our own.

Taylor County Sportsman’s Club has played a role in public rifle range construction and maintenance, updating Chelsea Conservation Club, MRC Sportsman’s Club and Northwoods Archers facilities, mowing public hunter/walker trails, repairing the Hull’s Lake boat landing, maintaining Pershing Wildlife Area trails, roadside step construction on Miller Dam Flowage and much more.

Through education, more youth and adults become interested in continuing outdoor traditions like hunting and fishing. TCSC supports local ATV safety classes, boating safety courses, trapper education workshops, Esadore Area Lake Association youth fishing clinics, bow hunter safety course, Little Hills Youth Pheasant Hunt and the Taylor County Outdoor Youth Expo.

On Saturday, February 4th,  members of the Taylor County Sportsmans Club along with the help of others placed deer traps in the Chequamegon National Forest.

It was a great day to be outdoors and all went very well. This is the first citizen based deer study in the state . TCSC member Mike Riggle has been very involved in the deer study in the northern and eastern part of the state and now has brought his knowledge to the local area. The preliminary results of these studies are somewhat surprising and will aid in managing deer for years to come.  Tracy Swedlund’s Biology Class will be working very closely with this project and getting hands on experience for his students.

A big thank you goes out to Medford and Rib Lake Schools for building the deer traps, the traps were built very well and performed great, and to Julia Thums for taking these great pictures.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to this project ! It is up and running and will be a valuable tool in managing the deer herd.

This project will run through this winter and will resume again early next winter.  Anyone interested in helping with checking traps or helping in anyway, please call Mike @ 715-965-4121.

Click here to view this project photo gallery

Members: The Taylor County Sportsman’s Club Annual Member Banquet will be held on Saturday, March 24th at the Simek Center. As usual, the banquet is the perfect opportunity to reward our valued members with a wonderful meal, prizes and fun! And of course, the banquet is TCSC’s primary fundraising event. Please watch your mail for your banquet letter and let us know if you did not receive it.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Rainbow trout released in the Black River in Medford, Wisconsin by Taylor County Sportsman's Club.

The Taylor County Sportsman’s Club released 600 rainbow trout in the Black River on Monday May 2, 2011. This project coincides with the fishing opener on May 7. The trout were released from the millpond dam area down to the Perkins St. bridge in the city of Medford, Wisconsin.

Tracy Swedlunds, of the Medford Area Senior High AP Biology class, assisted with the handling of the fish this year. TCSC club members Nick Nice, Mike Riggle, Chip Courtney and Brian Bucki assisted in the trout program.

Area fisherman, both youth and adults, spent to afternoon fishing for the trout following the release. The tradition has become well know in the area and continues to build family values based on the outdoors.

To view additional photos, go to our trout release photo gallery.

TCSC Youth Turkey Hunt 2011 group photo taken after the morning of hunting as the group gathered at Northwoods Archers clubhouse.

Since 2005, TCSC’s Youth Program has held an annual spring youth turkey hunt which gives kids the opportunity to hunt turkeys if they don’t have a parent or other adult to take them. The hunt is a great way for youth to learn how to properly handle and shoot a firearm. This hunt also exemplifies good stewardship giving kids a good example of how to conduct themselves in the field.

View more turkey hunt photos.

This hunt has been the foundation of the club’s Youth Program since it began in 2005. In cooperation with the Wisconsin DNR Learn to Hunt Program, this event is organized to introduce youth to the sport of turkey hunting. Youth must apply to the program with an interest in turkey hunting. All applicants are considered, but youth without this opportunity at home and without prior hunting experience are given priority in the tag drawing process.

This event includes a mentor preparation meeting where mentors declare their hunting land and receive the name of their youth. Then, at the Friday Evening Rendezvous at Northwoods Archers clubhouse, youth are taught how to properly handle and shoot a shotgun. In addition, youth are shown the difference between toms, jakes and hens and a short calling demonstration is performed. Youth receive a variety of useful tools including a camo face mask and gloves, a turkey call, multipurpose knife-tool and educational materials. A dinner is provided so youth have the opportunity to plan their hunt with their mentors.

Bright and early on Saturday morning, youth meet their mentors and head to their hunting ground. The youth hunt is not restricted by unit boundaries. Back at the clubhouse, warm beverages and snacks are waiting the returning hunters. As the youth and hunters arrive, stories are shared and birds are tagged. In the past, our youth spring turkey hunt has had a 40 to 50% success rate. This is very high considering this is the first experience for most youth. A group photo is taken before hunters head home or head back out to try their luck in the afternoon.

"I’ve hunted all my life, but I’ve never had such a rewarding experience as when I got to enjoy the thrill of the hunt with my youth. I can’t wait ’til next spring." – 2006 Mentor Paul Hemmer

Learn more about TCSC’s Youth Program.

TCSC is teaming up with the University of Wisconsin and the Department of Natural Resources on the largest deer research project in Wisconsin.

Wood and metal shop students at Rib Lake High School are working on a project that could have a significant impact on wildlife in Wisconsin. This deer trap is a part of a statewide project that will track the buck recovery and fawn mortality rate. Rib Lake Student Phillip Shupp says “I’ve been doing a lot of deer hunting and I’m noticing the population has been low the last couple of years and we want to find out what’s killing them.”

The class was contacted by the Taylor County Sportsman’s Club to help out with what will become the largest whitetail deer research project in the state’s history. According to Mike Riggle of the Sportsman’s Club, “Approximately 40 bucks will be radio-collared and ear-tagged and about 40 does will be captured and ultrasounded for pregnancy.” A chip is then placed inside the does to track when they give birth, that way radio-collars can be placed on the fawns when they are born. Riggle says this will give researchers more information on what is preying on deer.

Shop teacher William Hackbarth says this project means a lot to the students. “They were very enthused about it,” he said. “They really wanted to get involved. Not only in building the trap, but in the follow-up… trapping and tagging and some of the other things that go along with it.”

Students wanted to make sure they weren’t delivering a faulty product, so of course they tested it out. Two delicious snack cakes were all that were needed to draw in the test subject, and it worked like a charm. Involvement in an important project coupled with the class having a good time in the process makes this group of Rib Lake students News Channel 9 Class of the Week.

Read more about this story on WAOW News Channel 9′s website.

A new program was started at Shane’s Outfitters in Medford, Wisconsin in fall 2010. Shane’s Youth Hunting Club, co-sponsored by Shane’s Outfitters, Buckstop Taxidermy and Taylor County Sportsman’s Club, was open to all youth ages 10-17 years old.

When signing up, the youth received a shirt from Shane’s Outfitter’s (that was partially funded by BuckStop Taxidermy and the Taylor County Sportsmans Club). With every deer harvested by the youth, the child was able to bring in a photo and it was placed on our "Youth Brag Board." Every picture that was posted, entered the youth into a drawing for over $400 in prizes.

Shane’s Hunting Club was open through all of rifle, muzzleloader, fall and late archery season. There were 44 youth that signed up for theShane’s Youth Hunting Club. Of those 44 youth, 23 brought in pictures of their deer kill. Every individual who brought in a picture had a smile on their face and a story to tell. It was amazing to see all the youth so excited about hunting and the outdoors.

Taylor County Sportsman’s Club, in cooperation with the the US Forest Service, Ruffed Grouse Society, Chequamegon Wildife and Rec Club, Chelsea Conservation Club and Chequamegon Spur Time Chapter of NWTF have put together a HUGE habitat improvement project right here in our area. Mike Riggle, TCSC member, is volunteering his time to operate a RGS ASV brush mulching machine which clearcuts small pockets of overgrown openinings reclaiming them as forest openings. Most areas are within the Perkinstown unit of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.

Aspen (popple) forests are home to many types of forest wildlife and are critically important to ruffed grouse. Landowners interested in ruffed grouse, white-tailed deer and a long list of wildlife species that share cover with grouse and deer, should do everything they possibly can to sustain their aspen forests through active forest management.

To learn more about ruffed grouse habitat, please visit the Ruffed Grouse Society website.

View the image gallery for the ruffed grouse habitat project.

In 2010, TCSC on the task of making major improvements to the public shooting range on Pirus Road west of Medford. This project was initiated In response to adjacent property owner’s concern. The Pirus Road range is on county property, but our board of director’s feel it is important enough to improve this facility for all sportsmen, sportswomen and youth in the area.

Scroll down to view range hours below.

Recent modifications include berming the shooting lane and adding six sound deafening tubes which contain the muzzle of the firearm during discharge to drastically reduce sound pollution. Tree plantings are also underway to stabilize the new construction and create an even better sound barrier. Thank you to those key individual who put in many, many hours on this project. Your hard work has been for the benefit of ALL area sportsmen and women. Thank you!

View the image gallery for the shooting range project.

View map to range.

Use of this range is a privilege, not a right. Respect the area as it can be taken away.

The public is allowed to use the shooting range on Pirus Road under the following conditions. If these rules are not obeyed, the range will closed. If you observe unauthorized activities, please call the Taylor County Sheriff’s Department at 715-748-2200.

1. Know your gun and how to use it safely.
2. Eye and ear protection required.
3. Keep muzzle pointed down range.
4. Open action while on bench.
5. Clear range before firing.
6. Be respectful of others.
7. Pick up your targets and empties.
8. No use of alcohol or drugs before or while shooting.
9. No glass, plastic, metal or wood on the range.
10. No clay pigeons. Shotgun slugs and turkey pattern only.

Pirus Range Hours:

The range is closed December through March as well as on Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.

April through September
Monday – Saturday 9:00 am to 6:30 pm
Sundays 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm

October through November
Monday – Saturday 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
Sundays 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm

December through March
Closed