People
Patrick Durkin
Outdoors writer/editor, weekly columnist for 17 Wisconsin newspapers, regular contributor to American Hunter magazine, and former editor of Deer & Deer Hunting magazine.
Recent Posts
Hunting
Friday the 13th: Ignore Its Superstitions at Your Peril
If you’re reading this, you obviously survived June 13, the only Friday the 13th we’ll see in 2025. But don’t get too cocky. We’ll face three such unlucky Fridays in 2026, the maximum possible in a calendar year, according to TimeAndDate.com, an astronomy website. If you’re like me, you won’t see...
Patrick DurkinFeb 13, 2026
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Whitetail
Wisconsin Man Asks, ‘Have You Seen This Buck?’
Roger Maes knows he’ll recognize his grandfather’s nearly century-old trophy buck whether it’s in online photo lineups, hanging in a Northwoods tavern, or fully restored and displayed at a giant hunting/fishing store. But the Madison, Wisconsin, resident hasn't seen the buck for over 30 years, not...
Patrick DurkinFeb 6, 2026
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Hunting
Knife Accident Turns Deer Hunt into All-Night Challenge
Matt Jefko of Wisconsin says he can’t sacrifice the time and money to hunt Western states, so he turns his stay-at-home hunts into hard-earned adventures whenever possible. But after this public-schools teacher arrowed a buck in southwestern Wisconsin’s Yellowstone Lake State Park in early November...
Patrick DurkinNov 26, 2025
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Anthropology
50 Years Later: How Complacency Sank the Edmund Fitzgerald
Fifty years after the ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald sank with its 29-man crew on storm-tossed Lake Superior, shipwreck buffs and maritime archaeologists still debate what caused the tragedy on Nov. 10, 1975. Some claim the big ship capsized and sank. Others think it bottomed out after straying onto...
Patrick DurkinNov 10, 2025
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