My 2025 outdoor adventures, by the numbers

Another wonderful year of time in the outdoors has come and gone.

While I didn’t log as many hours as I wanted, I’m not sure I’ll ever find a number I am completely satisfied with. In a weird way, that’s part of the fun.

This year held plenty of highlights, including more time fishing with my son and the chance to lease hunting land with my dad for the first time.

My website also turned five years old this year. I cannot thank all of you enough for your continued support. I sincerely appreciate you taking time to read my thoughts, engage with my content, and hopefully gain a deeper appreciation for nature.

Here is a look at my 2025 outdoor adventures, by the numbers.

188 – Hours spent in the outdoors

Believe it or not, this is the lowest this number has been in a little while. In total, I spent just under 8 full days fishing, hunting, or dip netting.

457 – Fish caught

I landed 19 different species of fish in 2025.

I’ve caught 3,605 fish since I started tracking in 2020.

Here’s my 2025 fish count, broken down by species:

Species	Number Caught
Smallmouth Bass	186
Bluegill	107
Rock Bass	52
Rainbow Trout	24
Bullhead	20
Golden Redhorse	15
White Crappie	10
Yellow perch	7
Northern Pike	9
Pumpkinseed	5
Brown Trout	4
Largemouth Bass	4
Creek Chub	4
King Salmon	4
Round Goby	3
White Sucker	3
Green Sunfish	2
Coho Salmon	1
Mottled Sculpin	1

98.6 – Percent of my fish that were released

Not a lot of meat fishing this year, and that’s OK. My keeper fish typically come from Lake Michigan or North Twin and those two bodies of water made up just over 6 percent of my outings this year.

124- Most suckers caught in a night dip netting this spring

On one very special night, my wife, son, and I pulled in over 100 suckers in under an hour with just two nets, including one pull that had 12 in a single net. My dad and mom got in on the action later in the night and we ended with 124 in about 90 minutes, the second-highest total I have ever caught on a single night of dip netting.

42 – species of birds spotted and logged into eBird

While I didn’t keep up with submitting my checklists as well as I have in prior years, I now have 92 different species of birds on my life list, including my first Eastern Kingbird and Orchard Oriole.

6- Deer harvested on our annual deer drive weekend

Our annual gathering of friends on the second weekend of gun deer season was once again successful. In the last five years, this group has harvested 28 deer on drive weekend.

19 – Bodies of water fished

This year, I got to fish three bodies of water I have never fished before. My fishing adventures spanned seven different counties. As is typical, the Sheboygan River was my water body of choice, encompassing 43.75 percent of my trips this year.

1,180 – Classifications on Snapshot Wisconsin

This was my first year participating in the Snapshot Wisconsin project through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. This citizen science opportunity involves sorting through trail cam pictures and identifying any animals that are present. It’s a great way to see more of the natural beauty our state has to offer.

In total, I spent 11.2 hours on this project. I look forward to continuing this in 2026.