Welcome to Taylor County Sportsman's online resource! Taylor County Sportsman's Club supports outdoor traditions through quality wildlife management, youth education and development of recreational opportunities.

Through numerous hands-on projects, TCSC is helping improve wildlife habitat to create more quality recreational opportunities for future sportsmen and women.

Club Projects

2011 Deer Research with the Schools Project

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. Click here to view the video clip on the WOAW website.

Shane's Youth Hunting Club 2010

A new program was started at Shane's Outfitter's 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.

If you have any questions or would like more information about Shane's Youth Hunting Club, please do not hesitate to contact Suzi at Shane's Outfitters 715 748 2855.

Ruffed Grouse Habitat Project 2010-2011

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.

Pirus Road Range 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 in the area.

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.

Taylor County Pirus Road Range Hours:

The range is open April through September 9:00 am to 6:30 pm and October through November 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. Closed December through March. It is also closed Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. Please follow these range restirctions to respect the adjacent landowners with nearby residences. Thank you. View map to range.

Annual and Special Projects

Annual fish crib construction on area lakes is a popular annual wildlife project for TCSC. TCSC also sponsors 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. 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 and MRC Sportsman's Club 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 and Little Hills Youth Pheasant Hunt.

TCSC Youth Program

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 turkey hunt photos.

With the youth program, the club has also made outdoor education for EVERY area child a top priority by organizing the Taylor County Outdoor Youth Expo. In the first two years of the youth program, the club was bussing the county's youth nearly four hours to southern Wisconsin to take part in the statewide youth outdoor event. With a little extra planning and the help of well over 100 volunteers, Taylor County now has their very own expo they are proud to host every May. View expo photos.

Learn more about TCSC's Youth Program.