Women may choose their own adventures at an outdoor sports workshop, with courses ranging from shotgun shooting to fly-fishing. The 18th annual Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) will be May 3-5 at Ross Camp in West Lafayette, Ind.

The workshop is open to women ages 18 and older and limited to 100 participants. Register for the program at http://indianabow.com and the cost is $185.

The program is designed for women to learn outdoor skills in a relaxed, low-pressure environment. Participants will choose four activities from more than two dozen offerings, including archery, Survival 101, orienteering and learning to hunt small game. New for 2013 is a class on kayaking.

The workshop is for women who have never tried the activities but have hoped for an opportunity to learn, who have tried them but are beginners hoping to improve or who know how to do some of the activities but would like to try new ones.

Women who enjoy the camaraderie of like-minded individuals and who seek time away to reconnect with nature are prime candidates for BOW.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division of Fish & Wildlife is delaying the 2013 spring stocking of 400 rainbow trout in Wyland Lake at Tri-County Fish & Wildlife Area (FWA) until April 20, to coincide with Indiana’s newest Free Fishing Day. Indiana residents who want to fish at the six-acre natural lake April 20 will not be required to purchase a fishing license or trout stamp.

According to Steve Roth, property manager of the FWA, only anglers under age 18 and any adults who accompany them will be allowed to fish at Wyland Lake after 6 a.m. April 20. Fishing will be open to the general public again on April 21.

“By timing the stocking to a Free Fishing Day, we hope to encourage more anglers, especially those with young families, to try their luck trout fishing,” Roth said.

Until last year, trout at Wyland Lake were stocked in March. Last year, 200 trout were stocked in March for traditional anglers and 200 were stocked in April to provide a special youth trout fishing opportunity. This year all trout will be stocked in April.

Anglers will not need to register before participating in the Free Fishing Day, but will be required to check in with DNR personnel at the lake when they arrive.

Wyland Lake is off Kosciusko County Road 875 East, one-quarter mile north of Epworth Forest Road. Most trout fishing at Wyland Lake is done from boats, but a small fishing pier is available.

Fishing from shore is limited by shallow depth and aquatic plants. A portable restroom facility will be available at the boat ramp.

The trout will measure about 10 inches long and should bite on worms and small spinner baits. For more information, call the district fisheries office at 260-244-6805 or the Tri-County FWA at 574-834-4461.

The Division of Fish & Wildlife reports lab tests failed to detect chronic wasting disease in any of the 1,031 tissue samples collected in 2012 from hunter-harvested whitetail deer in Indiana.

Division biologists collected the samples at check stations across the state during last fall’s deer hunting season. The samples were submitted to the Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab at Purdue University for analysis.

Since the DNR began active CWD monitoring in 2002, more than 15,800 samples have been collected, with no sample testing positive.

CWD is a contagious neurological disease affecting deer, elk and moose. It causes a characteristic spongy degeneration of the brains of infected animals, resulting in emaciation, abnormal behavior, loss of bodily functions and death.

CWD belongs to a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or TSEs, and is a variant of TSEs affecting domestic animals, such as scrapie in sheep and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, also known as “mad cow” disease. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a TSE variant affecting humans.

The agents of CWD are called prions, which are abnormal, protease-resistant forms of cellular proteins normally synthesized in the central nervous system and lymphoid tissues. Illinois, Wisconsin and most recently, Pennsylvania, are among several states having confirmed cases of CWD in captive and free-roaming deer.

For more information about CWD, visit the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website at www.cwd-info.org

On April 13, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., visitors to Charlestown State Park will have the opportunity to discover the wonder of birds of prey and bird watching.

Hardy Lake Raptor Rehab Center will present live bird programs and have several of its birds for visitors to see up-close at the Clark Shelter House, located near Trail 2. Naturalists/birders will have telescopes set up to observe birds in their native habitat and will offer “Non-live” raptor programs.

Ongoing children’s activities include coloring, dissecting owl pellets, creating bird-related crafts and much more. Bring a picnic lunch and make a day of it. The event is free, although the standard gate fees apply – $5 per vehicle for Indiana residents, $7 per vehicle for non-residents.

Charlestown State Park is at 12500 State Route 52, Charlestown, IN 47111, which is located 1 mile east of the intersection with Highway 3 (Charlestown) on Highway 62.

With turkey season fast approaching, many new hunters are looking to find a hunter education class in their area.  Classes are not hard to find; simply go to http://inhea.com/PassItOnIndiana

Click on the “Classic Course,” type in your ZIP code and classes within 75 miles of your location will be displayed.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Jack Spaulding may contact him by email at jackspaulding@hughes.net or by writing to him in care of this publication.