The second annual Snowshoe Celebration will be held Saturday, Feb. 2, from 10 a.m. to dusk at the Tara Lila Trails, located off Sundstein Road in Eagle River.

The event will feature guided snowshoe tours, free snowshoe demonstrations, door prizes, raffles, food and refreshments and campfires.

Approximately 500 cross-country skiers, snowshoers and hikers are expected on Lake Minocqua Saturday, Feb. 2, near Matt Morgan’s for the third annual River Valley Loop Around the Lake presented by Excel Rehab and Spine Center.

The event will benefit both the Minocqua Joint 1 Firebird Education Foundation and the Arbor Vitae-Woodruff Education Foundation.

There will be both five-kilometer and two-kilometer untimed events, which will begin at 5:30 p.m.

The Sayner-Star Lake Lions Club will hold its 11th annual Plum Lake Ice Fishing Tournament Saturday, Feb. 9, with fishing to take place on the ice of Plum Lake from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The tournament will feature $700 in cash prizes and nearly $4,000 in door and raffle prizes to be awarded to an expected field of 300 anglers. The awards ceremony is set for 4 p.m. in the Sayner Community Center.

Tickets cost $25 and are available at Up North Traders, Sayner Mobil Express and Sayner Pub, all in Sayner, as well as at Island City Lanes in Minocqua and 70 West Auto Body in Eagle River.

The January snow season is prime time to plan 2013 Learn to Hunt events, which last year saw an increase in the number of female participants among the more than 4,000 novices who enrolled in events the last two years.

Keith Warnke, Department of Natural Resources (DNR)?hunting and shooting sports coordinator, says Learn to Hunt events are popular with those interested in learning more about this state tradition but have never had any personal experience.

“Many adults who did not come from hunting families are interested in hunting, but don’t know how to get started,” said Warnke. “Learn to Hunt events are a great way for them to learn in a controlled environment with an experienced mentor.”

Northwoods United Way will hold its eighth annual Fishing Jamboree Saturday, Feb. 2, on Lake Minocqua at Stacks Bay Boat Landing.

This charity event is attended annually by more than 200 people and is open to the public, according to Tracy Beckman, executive director for the United Way.

The event began as a coll­aberation between the employees of the local UPS center and the Northwoods United Way. 

Jared Duquette will join the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Bureau of Science Services as a deer and elk research scientist, taking over coordination and guidance of DNR’s ongoing multiyear deer research project into causes of death in white-tailed deer, fawn mortality and recruitment and deer population distance sampling techniques.

Duquette is currently finishing a doctorate program at Mississippi State University and will be stationed in the department’s Science Operation Center in Madison.

Due to the snow conditions along the trails, the Langlade County Trailblazer Challenge Dog Sled Races will be postponed until Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16-17.

Two deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), one each in Portage and Juneau counties, reported the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

These are the first positives in wild deer populations for both counties.

“Any CWD positive in a new county is noteworthy, but neither of these positives was completely unexpected,” said Kris Belling, DNR regional wildlife program manager. “We’ve been performing surveillance in Juneau County due to the proximity of the CWD management zone boundary and we’ve been sampling in Portage County for 10 years after positives were discovered on a former game farm.”

Communities and organizations throughout the North Woods are planning ice fishing jamborees this winter.

Most of the ice fishing derbies are family-oriented events, offering prizes for the largest fish as well as door prizes. Participants should call organizers at the number provided to confirm dates and locations.

The following is a rundown of the ice fishing jamborees in this area.