RE: Griping about Earn-a-Buck
All the hunters from other states dont seem to realize that many areas of wisconsin are having the herd decimated after repeated seasons of earn-a-buck. Where I bow hunt I used to see five to ten deer a sit, now me and the others that hunt our land only see a deer half the time we sit. I understand how guys who who have the chance at a doe every single time you hunt would not see what the big deal is, you just shoot one one of the tons of does you see every year and get your sticker, but when the number of does isnt anywhere near what it used to be, getting your sticker isnt just a drop in the bucket anymore.
Further, Wisconsin has a lot more hunting pressure than most other states. This fall Matthews put out a bowhunting special magazine. In the back were stats about each state. Wisconsin had an unreal number of licenses sold compared to most other states . Requiring600,000 people to shoot a doe can really hurt your herd. For exampleit is not uncommon in my area to have ten or more people crammed into 80 acres for gun season and have just has many bow hunt the sameproperty. If you haveseveral properties that make up 1000 acres with over 100 hunters that have to shoot a doe for bow and gun season, that is potentially 200 dead does on 1000 acres(one for a archery buck tag, one for a gun buck tag). Its no wonder noone is seeing many deer anymore.
I am not against shooting does, and have shot many myself. I just think the DNR has gone completely overboard and has killed the tradition for people that huntin very pressured areas and small properties, which most everyone Iknow does.