Wisconsin

Women find empowerment and community in central Wisconsin outdoors program

Published

1 year ago

October 22, 2024

Women find empowerment and community in central Wisconsin outdoors program

For more than three decades, the Becoming an Outdoors Woman program in central Wisconsin has been providing participants with the skills and confidence they need to more fully enjoy the outdoors, regardless of past experience, fitness level, age and background.

The program, launched in 1991 at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, is part of an international initiative, with workshops held in dozens of U.S. states and in Canada. At its heart is a belief that the outdoors should be accessible to everyone. Women who have never picked up a bow, cast a fishing line or pitched a tent can find themselves part of a supportive and welcoming community of learners, mentors and friends.

Peggy Farrell, director of the local BOW program, has seen firsthand how transformational the experience can be. In an interview with WPR’s Shereen Siewert on “Morning Edition,” Farrell said some women say that the program changed their lives.

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“One gal came to a program and took canoeing because she was specifically afraid of water, after having been involved in a water accident,” Farrell told WPR. “She said that we had really given her something back in her life. It helped her get over that fear and get the confidence to not only do that, but continue doing those activities outside of the program. That is one success story.”

BOW offers a wide range of hands-on workshops and outdoor adventures at locations throughout the region, including UW-Stevens Point’s Treehaven field station. Treehaven hosts a wide variety of programming in environmental and natural resource education throughout the year.

From archery to fishing, birdwatching to kayaking, women from all experience levels can discover new skills or deepen their love of nature. Find a list of upcoming events here.

The following interview was edited for brevity and clarity.

Shereen Siewert: What does it mean to you personally to share your love of the outdoors with so many other women?

Peggy Farrell: It helps me remember the things that I learned when I was first introduced to the outdoors. It’s just really important to me to be able to share what I love with other people, and when I see them get excited, it just kind of brings everything full circle.

SS: How did the program begin and how did you get involved?

PF: It grew out of a conference that was looking at why women were underrepresented in outdoor activities that were traditionally dominated by men, such as hunting and fishing.

After digging around, after trying to identify barriers to women’s participation, a group came up with the idea that education was a barrier. Women had no place to go to learn these things in a safe and welcoming environment. The very first Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshop was created and more than 100 women attended. It just took off from there.

SS: Talk about the courses you offer. What’s available?

PF: We do two big weekend-long workshops up at Treehaven Field station, which is sort of halfway between Tomahawk and Rhinelander.

There are over 20 different classes offered at each of those, and women can choose four they want to participate in. The classes are equally divided between fishing and boating, hunting and shooting, and a third category which is anything and everything you can think of to do in the outdoors like photography, wildlife ecology, camping, kayaking and other things.

Sometimes we put hammocks up in trees and people sleep in the trees at night, for example. There’s something for everyone.

SS: How do you choose which subjects to focus on?

PF: Sometimes it’s based on which instructors are available. Sometimes it’s based on the time of year. For instance, we do a winter workshop where we’ve got ice fishing, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

It can be dictated by what part of the state we’re in, because we do things like charter fishing on Lake Michigan. We move around the state to try to create opportunities for people who might not be able to drive all the way up north.

SS: What does it feel like to you personally when you see the magic happen, when the light bulb turns on?

PF: It feels like oh, now I remember why I’m doing this. There is a lot that goes into creating these programs and it happens at a computer in an office with lots of emails, lots of forms, lots of phone calls. And that seems like a little bit of an irony under the wooden engraved sign that says, “becoming an outdoors woman,” but that’s the stuff that has to happen to bring it all to fruition.

And then when you get a group of people together to have these first-time experiences and step out of their comfort zone and do cool things, that’s the rewarding part of the whole job. It’s just really cool to see.

SS: How do you ensure that the workshops are accessible and enjoyable for women of all ages and fitness levels?

PF: First of all, we tell them ahead of time if they’re looking at our brochures or our website that we can help you do just about anything, no matter what your physical fitness level is, or your age, or if you have some specific disability. That could be a physical or a mental disability as well, like a fear of something, so we can prepare in advance.

We can talk you through it and find out what you need. We’ve gotten elderly people on long hikes and snowshoe hikes and skiing and rock climbing, and we’ve gotten people who have mobility issues to get out in the field and actually hunt deer. If there’s a way that we can make it happen, we do it.

SS: How do you recruit and train instructors that are right for your program?

PF: Sometimes we have participants who really dig in deep with what they’re learning. They go out and do these things on their own and learn more and come back and say I really want to help with the program. So, participants can become instructors as well.

SS: Over the years that you’ve been involved in this, have you seen a shift in demographics? Are more women participating in these kinds of activities?

PF: I think so, particularly in the hunting world. I didn’t start hunting until I was an adult. I was almost 30. So that was a lot of years ago and it was sort of unusual to see women in blaze orange or in their camouflage clothes at the gas station. I would often get questions like, “Hey, you’re hunting; what are you hunting?” That sort of attention, just because I was a female.

But that doesn’t happen anymore. Maybe it happens to younger people, but I feel like it’s not such an anomaly or curiosity to see women who are out hunting, which is good. This is what we set out to do, to make it like we are all in this together and everyone is welcome.

I think there has been a shift. I think that’s because of educational programs like this one that make it more possible for women to even think about doing these things, to feel like they might want to try it and then to actually get themselves to a place where they can do it and be successful.

If you have an idea about something in central Wisconsin you think we should talk about on “Morning Edition,” send it to us at central@wpr.org.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 results for March 8, 2026

Published

4 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Wisconsin Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 results for March 8, 2026

The Wisconsin Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 8, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 8 drawing

Midday: 2-3-5

Evening: 2-2-5

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 8 drawing

Midday: 6-2-7-6

Evening: 4-8-7-6

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning All or Nothing numbers from March 8 drawing

Midday: 02-04-05-07-09-10-12-17-19-20-22

Evening: 02-03-05-06-08-09-12-13-14-16-18

Check All or Nothing payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Badger 5 numbers from March 8 drawing

05-15-17-20-24

Check Badger 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning SuperCash numbers from March 8 drawing

05-11-19-29-30-31, Doubler: Y

Check SuperCash payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

Prizes up to $599: Can be claimed at any Wisconsin Lottery retailer.
Prizes from $600 to $199,999: Can be claimed in person at a Lottery Office. By mail, send the signed ticket and a completed claim form available on the Wisconsin Lottery claim page to: Prizes, PO Box 777 Madison, WI 53774.
Prizes of $200,000 or more: Must be claimed in person at the Madison Lottery office. Call the Lottery office prior to your visit: 608-261-4916.

Can Wisconsin lottery winners remain anonymous?

No, according to the Wisconsin Lottery. Due to the state’s open records laws, the lottery must, upon request, release the name and city of the winner. Other information about the winner is released only with the winner’s consent.

When are the Wisconsin Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Super Cash: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 3 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 3 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 4 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 4 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
All or Nothing (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
All or Nothing (Evening): 9 p.m. CT daily.
Megabucks: 9:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Badger 5: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.

That lucky feeling: Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

Feeling lucky? WI man wins $768 million Powerball jackpot **

WI Lottery history: Top 10 Powerball and Mega Million jackpots

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Wisconsin editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Wisconsin

Smith: DNR shares positive summary of 2025 Wisconsin deer hunting seasons

Published

16 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Smith: DNR shares positive summary of 2025 Wisconsin deer hunting seasons

Hunters in the 2025 Wisconsin white-tailed deer hunting seasons registered more bucks than any year since 2007 and the most deer overall since 2012, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

What’s more, the harvest of antlerless deer – the key to herd control efforts – showed a year-over-year increase of 5% and the archer, crossbow, holiday, late antlerless and youth seasons all showed higher deer registrations.

“All in all, our harvest numbers were strong, the strongest we’ve seen in a couple decades,” said Ryan Haffele, DNR acting deer program specialist.

Haffele and several DNR colleagues presented the 2025 Wisconsin deer hunting season summary at the Feb. 25 Natural Resources Board meeting in Madison.

The 2025 statewide deer hunting opportunities opened Sept. 13 with the crossbow and archer (vertical bow) seasons and included a Oct. 11 and 12 youth, Nov. 22-30 gun, Dec. 1-10 muzzleloader and Dec. 11-14 late antlerless hunts.

Many deer management units also included a Dec. 24 to Jan. 1 holiday hunt and late bow seasons that closed Jan. 31.

All told, hunters had more opportunity than ever to take a deer in Wisconsin.

Their pursuit was further aided by a statewide deer population estimated at 1.82 million following the 2024-25 hunting seasons, highest on record, according to the DNR. Two consecutive mild winters helped bolster the herd in the northern and central forest zones and deer numbers in the agricultural zones have generally swelled over the last decade after the Wisconsin Legislature prohibited Earn-A-Buck regulations and the early gun hunting season for antlerless deer.

Both the central and southern agricultural zones showed record high deer populations, according to the 2024 post-hunt estimate by the DNR.

The Feb. 25 report was dominated by positives as hunters took advantage of the higher deer numbers and excellent late season conditions.

The 2025 results are especially impressive since the number of deer hunters has dropped by 116,640 (or 16%) in the last 25 years, according to the DNR.

The DNR data showed hunters in 2025 registered 389,481 deer, including 165,754 bucks and 173,727 antlerless deer. The totals, through the end of January, will increase when registrations on agricultural damage tags and tribal harvest are added in the coming weeks.

The seasons started out strong with 8,480 deer registered in the two-day youth hunt, 18% higher than the five-year average.

The only season in 2025 that didn’t show a year-over-year or five-year increase was the nine-day gun hunt. Hunters registered 183,094 deer in the season, which has the most annual participants and contributes the biggest harvest. But hunter effort over the last three days was hampered by a heavy statewide snowstorm and the deer kill fell 4% from the previous year.

Once the storm passed, though, the snow cover persisted through December and helped hunters see and track deer in the muzzleloader, late antlerless and holiday hunts, Haffele said.

In the muzzleloader season, hunters registered 11,911 deer, 68% higher than the five-year average, while the total in the four-day December antlerless season was 10,591 deer (30% higher) and holiday antlerless deer hunt was 11,278 deer (77% higher).

Haffele said the 2025 data helps illustrate an important aspect of deer management.

“It helps tell the story of how a lot of our hunting harvest can be condition-based,” Haffele said. “When conditions are good we still have the capacity to get out there and have excellent harvest conditions. But the counter of that is when conditions aren’t as good it can also bring down our harvest, which we don’t have control over most of the time.”

Continuing a trend since 2014 when crossbows became legal for all hunters regardless of age or physical ability, the crossbow season kill of 70,050 was the highest on record.

But deer registered by archers (users of vertical bows) also was higher in 2025. The archer kill of 41,461 was 5% higher than the five-year average.

The 2025 seasons were the first with a hybrid system of deer management units. Most of the state uses county lines to designate DMUs, but last year the northern forest and central forest zones were rearranged into habitat-based units.

While it will take a few more years of data to allow direct comparisons, Haffele said the first year results looked good.

Among counties or deer management units, Marathon County showed the highest deer registration, with 11,876 deer, followed by Waupaca (10,525), Shawano (9,798), Vernon (9,344) and Dunn (8,972).

License sales: Sales of deer hunting licenses continued a trend, albeit very slightly, in the negative direction. In 2025, the DNR reported sales of 792,969 deer hunting licenses (gun, crossbow and archer combined) a 0.1% decline from 2024. The gun license sales of 552,362 were down 0.5%.

Among the licenses, the DNR reported 40,348 were sold to “new hunters,” a 0.6% decrease from 2024.

Hunting incidents: Two firearm-related incidents were reported during the nine-day gun season, including one fatality, according to the DNR.

The last decade has shown an average of five incidents for the nine-day season. Six of the last 10 have had no fatal incident.

CWD positives increase: As of March 4, the DNR had tested 18,232 deer in Wisconsin for chronic wasting disease and 2,035 (or 11.1%) were CWD-positive, according to the DNR. The number of CWD-positive deer and percentage of positive tests are highest since the state began testing for the disease in the 1990s. It continues a trend toward increasing number of infected deer and higher prevalence rates in the affected areas.

Under the current “monitor only” strategy in Wisconsin, the trajectories of higher prevalence and geographical spread of CWD are expected to continue in the state, according to wildlife disease experts.

The fatal disease was first identified in the 1960s in captive deer at a Colorado research facility. It was documented in Wisconsin for the first time in deer killed in the 2001 hunting season near Mount Horeb. It has since spread to more than half of the state’s counties.

Although CWD has not been proven to cause illness in humans, the Centers for Disease Control and other health agencies recommend humans not consume meat from a CWD-positive animal. The DNR provides free, voluntary CWD testing on deer samples by hunters and others.

Deer donation higher: Hunters provided 1,331 deer to the state’s deer donation program in 2025, a 21% year-over-year increase, according to the DNR.

The number is expected to rise since about one-fourth of processors hadn’t filed reports as of Feb. 25. They have until March 31 to do so.

The program had 58 participating processors in 41 counties for the 2025 deer hunting seasons. In another optimistic note, the number of processors increased for the second consecutive year, Haffele said.

The program relies on hunters to donate deer. Venison from donated deer is processed and distributed to food pantries across the state. Since the program began in 2000, hunters have donated over 100,000 deer, which were processed into over four million pounds of ground venison, according to the DNR.

“Overall a lot of great, positive things coming out of the 2025 deer seasons that we hope will set us up for a successful 2026,” Haffele said.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 results for March 7, 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

The Wisconsin Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 7, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 7 drawing

17-18-30-50-68, Powerball: 24, Power Play: 3

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 7 drawing

Midday: 9-3-6

Evening: 4-0-4

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 7 drawing

Midday: 8-0-7-4

Evening: 4-7-8-4

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning All or Nothing numbers from March 7 drawing

Midday: 05-07-09-10-11-13-14-15-16-17-18

Evening: 01-03-04-05-07-08-11-14-16-18-19

Check All or Nothing payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Badger 5 numbers from March 7 drawing

01-07-11-22-28

Check Badger 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning SuperCash numbers from March 7 drawing

09-13-14-31-36-37, Doubler: N

Check SuperCash payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Megabucks numbers from March 7 drawing

06-07-09-19-31-34

Check Megabucks payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

Prizes up to $599: Can be claimed at any Wisconsin Lottery retailer.
Prizes from $600 to $199,999: Can be claimed in person at a Lottery Office. By mail, send the signed ticket and a completed claim form available on the Wisconsin Lottery claim page to: Prizes, PO Box 777 Madison, WI 53774.
Prizes of $200,000 or more: Must be claimed in person at the Madison Lottery office. Call the Lottery office prior to your visit: 608-261-4916.

Can Wisconsin lottery winners remain anonymous?

When are the Wisconsin Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Super Cash: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 3 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 3 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 4 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 4 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
All or Nothing (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
All or Nothing (Evening): 9 p.m. CT daily.
Megabucks: 9:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Badger 5: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.

That lucky feeling: Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

Feeling lucky? WI man wins $768 million Powerball jackpot **

WI Lottery history: Top 10 Powerball and Mega Million jackpots

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Wisconsin editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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