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Open Carry in Northern Wisconsin (North of Highway 29)

ccwinstructor

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Jul 11, 2008
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919
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Yuma, Arizona, USA
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I open carried Saturday the 13th of June. I ran a few miles carrying a Smith & Wesson model 36 in a Fobus paddle holster. A mile or so was along highway 63 a bit north of Hayward. I carried a bit on private land. I am in Wisconsin to care for my elderly mother, so I may not get out much, but when I do, I will be open carrying. I am not sure if people in the cars passing by even noticed that I was carrying, but when I was on the private property of my cousin, he noticed, and applauded me for doing so.
 

ccwinstructor

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Yuma, Arizona, USA
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I open carried in Hayward today at the Northern Lakes Co-op. I was going though some mail that I had picked up on my way here from Arizona. The Florida Department of Agriculture had sent back my fingerprints for the Florida CCW renewal with the instructions that they had to have the address of the law enforcement agency on the back.

I called the Sawyer County Sheriff's Department and made arrangements to get the fingerprints redone. They were done in the booking room and as I had more experience taking fingerprints, I gave the person doing so some tips on how to do it. Interestingly, they had me lock up my pocket knife in a lock box before I went in to do the fingerprints. They were very friendly and helpful and did not charge for the prints.



I left the Sheriff's Department and mailed of the corrected form to the Florida department of Agriculture. I then went over to the Co-op , took my model 36 out of the case, loaded and holstered it , and did my shopping in the Co-op, bought some bread and fruit, and left, unholstered, unloaded, cased, and went back to my mother's place.

No one gave me any looks, no one seemed to pay any attention, it was much as I remebered when I first open carried in Hayward about 30 years ago when I and my brother were running a trapline.
 

opusd2

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2008
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453
Location
Butt is in, Wisconsin, USA
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Now that Barney Fife isn't around, I always carry and I'm just a couple of miles form the new Birnamwood Town Hall. I have carried in Birnamwood with no issues, in Wittenberg at the NAPA (best place for getting parts, I swear!) with no problems, and in Antigo a little bit.

But trust me when I say that I carry for a reason. There are so many damn wolves and bear in the area that it's more prudent to be carrying than not.
 

Apet

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May 9, 2009
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I carry around rural Forest County. Never any problems, a few people stop and chat. One guy in a camper was lost and asked for directions and his wife was hysterical- not sure if it was the pistol or she was just mean.
 

ccwinstructor

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Yuma, Arizona, USA
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I open carried again today (Tuesday 16 June 2009) along Highway 63. I went a little further today in my run. I noticed 3 snapping turtles laying eggs along the highway, and a doe and early fawn on the way back. There were a fair number of cars, but no reactions that I could detect.

I do not go out into the woods without a gun. You are right about the bears. When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's, I saw maybe three bears in 15 years outside of dumps. Now I have seen as many as five in a two week visit. My brother got a permit and shot a 600 lb bear two hundred yards from my parent's house. Last year when I was running, I found fresh bear droppings on my route that were not there when I went out. We have had a couple of bear attacks in the northland in the last couple of years, but no fatal ones yet.
 

Nutczak

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Dec 2, 2008
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The Northwoods, lakeland area, Wisconsin, USA
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Bears?? Oh, that must be the reason why my birdfeeders migrate out into the woods at least once a weekto self-destruct and crush themselves?
I woke up one morning to see a mama bear drinking from my hummingbird feeder and my German Sheperd just standing by the window watching her and her cubs.

The funniest thing was when my GF (A transplant to this area) was looking at a busted birdfeeded still hanging on the wall and complaining about "Those damn deer" I started laughing and also saw the huge paw and nose prints on our family room window from the bear standing up and looking inside the house. And a year ago the "Rudolph Rd. pack" started using our property as their travel route.2 of the wolves had radio collars on them.

In all seriousness, I have never felt threatened by a bear, wolf, or coyote when we make contact. I have had more problems with the turkeys being agressive in this area. I have been carrying for 10 years when we go out in the woods foraging.
 

ccwinstructor

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Location
Yuma, Arizona, USA
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I open carried again today, the same route that I did on Tuesday. I saw three more gravid snapping turtles looking to lay their eggs. This time two of them were on Weingarten rd, and one on Highway 63 near the Namekagon bridge. One was wandering around trying to pick out the "perfect" nest site, one was digging a nest, and the third was actively laying eggs, as close as I could tell.

I went down to the old homestead where I grew up. There is a bittersweet quality to visiting a place that was your home for your entire childhood, but has now been torn down and deliberately turned back into wilderness. The old lilacs about the grounds had survived and were in bloom. I even saw a couple of moss encrusted boards across brances of white pine that was large when I was a child. I remember placing them there with them to make a tree fort. It was and is a beautiful spot. I was so lucky to be able to grow up in such a place.
 

ccwinstructor

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Yuma, Arizona, USA
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I open carried again this morning, while I was running a different route. I drove over to my brother's place, and we ran down Peterson's rd to Highway 63, then back along old 63 to Peterson's, then back to his place. I didn't see any snapping turtles while running this morning, but I did see another digging a nest next to Larsen's bridge over 63 on the way to my brother's.

I carried my model 36 in the Fobus holster, while he carried concealed. He is legal to do so as a Peace Officer. No one that I noticed paid any attention.
 

ccwinstructor

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I open carried again this afternoon, the same route as on Thursday. I only saw on "slider" turtle that looked like it was searching for a nesting spot. Nothing else to report.
 

ccwinstructor

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Yuma, Arizona, USA
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I and my 24 year old, blonde, pretty, single, and open carrying niece (she has a Florida CCW that she got in Ohio) open carried in Hayward today. Today is a Musky Festival day, so the town was crowded with people.

As we got ready to go to town, Vannessa complained of the silly rules. She said that it did not make any sense to have to continually load and unload the revolvers that we were carrying. I was carrying my S&W model 36 in a Fobus paddle holseter, and she was carrying a Taurus ultralight model 85 stainless in a uncle Mike's beltslide with thumbbreak.

We found a place to park a couple of blocks from the Northern Lakes Co-op, parked on the side street, loaded, holstered, locked the car, and headed over to the Co-op to buy some groceries. We passed by the little carnival of rides that was set up in the Co-op parking lot, entered the Co-op, got a cart and did our shopping. I saw one uniformed officer in the store, but I do not think he saw that we were armed.

As we left the register, the young teenag boy in line did a double take on my niece's revolver...at least I think it was the revolver. A couple of people sitting on benches outside the store appeared to notice that we were armed, but didn't say anything.

Aswe walked out of the parking lot and back toward the car, a Haward P.D. patrol car passed by on our right. Both of us were carrying on the right side. The car drove by slowly, but did not stop. Vannessa said that she saw the officer smile and nod at us as he passed.

We got back to the car, unloaded, cased, drove back to my Mother's place and posted this. I have a couple of pictures of Vannessa, but this is a dialup, so I cannot post them.
 

Nutczak

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Dec 2, 2008
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The Northwoods, lakeland area, Wisconsin, USA
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Great Job CCWIns.

I think that more young people need to start carrying, especially with older adults with them. So did she get to use the phrase "The ultimate in feminine protection" to anyone while (or if) they spoke to her about carrying.

I somehow have July 4th off this year with no catering events, I plan on carrying in Minocqua all day and I am hoping to have the GF at my side carrying also. We are up to our necks in tourists right now, so the attitude could be different in these parts.

I was speaking to a northwoods LEO wannabe (he is in school for police work) yesterday, and he started telling me that when he gets hired by the PD, he will arrest anyone carrying a firearm and charge them with disturbing the peace or inciting panic because it terrifies people when they see someone carrying a gun. and my rights do not trump other peoples rights to feel safe.
I just kinda nodded my head and listened, and said "well, let me know how that works out for you." and handed him a business card so he had my number. He turned a few interesting shades of purple after my last comment.
 

ccwinstructor

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Yuma, Arizona, USA
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Nutczak wrote:
Great Job CCWIns.

I think that more young people need to start carrying, especially with older adults with them. So did she get to use the phrase "The ultimate in feminine protection" to anyone while (or if) they spoke to her about carrying.

I somehow have July 4th off this year with no catering events, I plan on carrying in Minocqua all day and I am hoping to have the GF at my side carrying also. We are up to our necks in tourists right now, so the attitude could be different in these parts.

I was speaking to a northwoods LEO wannabe (he is in school for police work) yesterday, and he started telling me that when he gets hired by the PD, he will arrest anyone carrying a firearm and charge them with disturbing the peace or inciting panic because it terrifies people when they see someone carrying a gun. and my rights do not trump other peoples rights to feel safe.
I just kinda nodded my head and listened, and said "well, let me know how that works out for you." and handed him a business card so he had my number. He turned a few interesting shades of purple after my last comment.
I was talking to my brother, who is a peace officer and a firearms trainer. He was at a training session a few days ago, and said that the overwhelming response from the officers (not requested) was, "We are not going to be taking people's guns".

I understood this to mean that they would not be going door to door confiscating guns, but it was still a positive note.
 

lockman

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Joined
Aug 19, 2006
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1,193
Location
Elgin, Illinois, USA
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Sunday August 2, 5-6:30 PM

Open Carried a Glock 36 in Serpa paddle holster in Minoqua. Went shopping at Walmart and then to eat at McDonalds. No Problems, No questions or even long gawks that I noticed. Interstingly I felt more at ease actually OC'ing than contemplating it.
 

GLOCK21GB

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
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4,347
Location
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
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I took my dog for a walk with my Glock 34 in a serpa holster tonight, granted I live near an industrial area, with no traffic on a Sunday evening.
 

Nutczak

Regular Member
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Dec 2, 2008
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The Northwoods, lakeland area, Wisconsin, USA
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I was working at the Arbor Vitae firemans picnic for the last 2 days, I did run into another forum member there. The whole grounds was covered bytheir class "B" liquor license, so it was an "unarmed" weekend .

Lockman, you still up here? wanna hit the range or something?
 

Sgt_Habz

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Jul 14, 2009
Messages
62
Location
Winneconne, Wisconsin, USA
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My wife, brother, and I went up to St. Germain this weekend to visit our Mom. I've been watching this forum for several months now, contemplating whether or not to risk open carry, and finally went out for the first time. My wife and I took it slow and holstered my Glock 22C in a blackhawk Serpa and went for a walk around town, starting out on the trails and eventually making it out to Hwy 70.

Surprisingly, it felt a lot more comfortable than I thought it would. Nothing amazing to report, but there was quite a bit of traffic with the local BBQ "Pig in the Pines" in full swing. The only person that I saw staring at my firearm was an older lady, open mouthed and wide eyed, while she was driving by.

If anything was accomplished, it was that both my mother and my grandfather knew nothing about the legality of open carry, and they've both been educated (both already fully support 2A rights).

Anyways, glad to have popped my "OC Cherry" and look forward to my next OC experience.
 
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