RE: So how many Wisconsin EAB units in '09?
Unfortunately i don't see them changing anything either..........last year was one of the worst winters on record for snow fall, yet almost the entire state had EAB, the DNR does not seem to use logic or common sense when setting population goals or for that matter deer counts. The first step is to back off the CWD thing completely and let the southern 1/3 of the state get back to normal hunting seasons, they have to realize they will never eradicate the disease and it has not been spreading to the central or northen parts of the state so why waste a resource just to prove a point that can't be proven?Hell Wyo. has had CWD for over 30 years and never did anything drastic like the WiDNR did 6 years ago!
If the DNR wants EAB, they need to start micro managing all the units they wish to use it in and designate areas with low numbers to be anterlered only for a few season to bring the populations back in check. But the problem with micro management is it's too costly, so they should do away with EAB completely and let the landowners and hunters manage the deer populations. We did fine before the DNR got too involved and F^*$ed everything up!
I agree with mr.mc54 we need to take back our resource and send a message to the DNR that we won't stand for the unregulated slaughter of our deer herd anymore!
I don't know if any of you remember deer hunting in the 70's in the southern part of the state, but if you saw a buck , any buck, it was like Christmas day! A rare thing indeed. Then the 80's came with huge numbers of does and no tags avail. to manage them. I remember opening days where I counted over 100 traveling past my stand and I could not take one because no anterless tags were avail. for our unit! Then in the mid 90's things started to level out and good bucks and smaller numbers of does were seen, anterless tags were avail. and we did our own management and got the numbers in check. Everything in my neck of the woods was going great until CWD was "discovered" then it all went to hell in a handbasket and I fear will never return to what it once was for a very brief time in the mid to late 90's into 2001........... The DNR has had enough time to experiment with our deer herd, time to say enough is enough!!!