lungbuster12point06

EAB is definately having a huge impact on antlerless numbers ...............I manage for mature bucks and low doe numbers,and in normal years i ask that anyone that hunts our place take 2 does..........well this season I have seen twice the number of bucks (of all age structure) than does and the majority of does i have seen have been yearlings...........this you might say is a good thing, more bucks than does who would complain, until you realize that w/o a healthy doe population those total deer numbers, buck and doe, will drop off to almost nothing! I do believe the method that the DNR uses for est. herd population is skewed, EAB is a good way to keep numbers in check , but over use will decimate a herd and in the zone I hunt it is starting to take a toll, where even last year i could drive a stretch of hi-way and see deer every nite along the road there are none.........during the rut you could count on seeing deer in the ditch in certain stretches of road at least one - two a week.........this year ,none (it is a good thing, but also an indication of a population drop) In certain areas of the state there has been a major population drop, just because you have yet to see it doesn't mean you won't.......Gregh, don't you hunt in S.E. wi? Ask any average joe that hunts in that area what they have been seeing for deer this year? As for the rest of you that claim there are more deer, there are more deer than there were 25 years ago, but there are also more hunters and in turn more deer killed every season. It kinda balances things out and actually turns the other way in terms that we are killing more deer today than in the 80's, but not nessasarily because there are more deer for us to hunt, but rather we have become more proficient in our killing.

I don't doubt there are pockets that have high deer densities in Wi. and these pockets would benefit from the use of EAB.......but in areas that have reached the lands carrying capacity and stated to go the other way, EAB is ruining the deer herd.

BTW I have killed my share of mature bucks,so it's not as if I don't know what it takes to kill deer..............but you can't kill what isn't there.

wis_bow_huntr

You cant tell me there are more deer the last couple years than there ever has been thats a crock. Who here really knows how the DNR gets their numbers....do they take the kill of lastyear and multiply it by 3???? Theres no real way to say how many deer there are. 5 years agoit was nothing to see 30-50 deer out in our fields in one night. Now were lucky to see 3-10. Something isnt adding up and I blame EAB for this crap. It has nothing to do with not harvesting does and taking too many young bucks. I balme on on harvesting too many does. If you kill the does you kill more than one deer atleast 70% of the time. I know alot of hunters that are not going to be buying licenses next year because of the EAB in zones that will be next year. I wish they would just put things back to the way they were when hunting wasfun and not a job. The DNR just makes me sick, sick I say.

peakrut

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wis_bow_huntr

OIHH MAN i have to use that pic in my msn display pic ohh Eds going to love it!!!!

_Dan

That answers my question.....more deer=a better hunt......

Sorry....WI has too many deer....just drive down the road and look in the ditches. I'm leaving for the cabin in an hour.....its a 56 mile drive and I bet I count at least 25 dead deer along the way.

I love how everyone wants to blame the DNR for trying to do what should have been done a long time ago....better ratios of deer.......traditional deer management is over. (Thank God)

If people aren't going to buy licenses next year...I say good. Those same people don't understand deer management....they just want to go out opening morning and be able to see 12 deer, let the 11 does go and blast the spike.....just to say they got their buck. I'll be happy 10 years from now when the old WI mentality is dead.

They ran DR. Alt out of PA and now they're happier than hell.......well most. Give WI 10 years and most will think EAB was the greatest thing that happened to WI.

Blunt but true.

cmscat50

I'm telling you there are as many deer in unit 60B and unit 11 as there have ever been. Yes that is only 2 units, but all the units around 11 BESIDES 11 are threatened to go EAB next season. That tells me the population surrounding 11 is even higher. Just stating facts as I see them around my hunting areas. I understand other areas are different. The mature buck hunting has been more difficult as a result of the higher population IMO.

dandbuck

OK, so here is how I see it. The DNR says there are too many deer, been saying it for years. They let us take more deer and now the numbers are going down. What this is saying is that the way they are doing it is working. We have less deer, just what the DNR wants. So to the DNR, it's working. Is it hard to determine where they are and how many? You bet it is. Do you have a better way to determine where they are and how many? If you do, tell the DNR your thoughts, I'm sure they are willing to listen to logical answers. I still agree with ___Dan though. If we keep seeing a lot of deer getting hit by cars, the DNR will want to get rid of more deer. If we get a hard winter, we may see it really hit home and have low numbers, but stick it out, EAB will help it out. Let the yearlings walk, get away from the crowd, the deer are there

passthrough24

Not saying they are right but I know a lot of people who are giving up hunting all together, because in their eyes there are no deer around. The sad thingfor me is that most of the hunters i know who say they are giving it up,or didnt hunt this year, most of them areyoung hunters...under age 16. Thereare deer around, but there is no doubt that you have to work harder for them.

waiting_for_a_gift

This is an age old discussion amongst WI hunters. It is common to go hunting and not see deer, and assume that there aren't any/many. I've had thoughts in that direction myself.

The fact is that there are plenty of deer in WI. If you're not seeing any, choose a different stand or try stillhunting. If you're not finding sign, not many deer are moving in the area you're looking, look elsewhere. A lot of WI hunters are locked into a small area. It doesn't make sense because there is so much area. In many areas, it is not necessary to go far from the road. In fact, just the opposite can be true.

I think baiting greatly influences deer sightings in areas where it is happening. Baiting concentrates the deer, reduces their travel and makes them more nocturnal. A hunter using conventional tactics in a baiting area should not expect to see any deer. The DNR implemented baiting ostensibly to make it easier for hunters to reduce the herd. It didn't work, they should get over it and outlaw baiting.

I am strongly opposed to EAB. I don't even want to go hunting if I can't shoot a buck. I'll gladly shoot does, but I hate having my chances of shooting anything reduced by 50%. I would strongly support AR, but only if it was statewide. I don't think it will ever happen in WI, so I'll just keep on popping the first yearling or doe that offers itself.

dandbuck

Waiting for a gift


I agree with the baiting issue. It makes them noctunal. Sure it worked the first couple years before they got educated on why they get shot at over a bait pile. There are "hunters" who put out 100#'s of corn about a week before rifle season and keep it up til they drive home with or without their deer. I guess people are making money selling the stuff and that's great, I'm all for that, but I too would rather see no baiting like it was in the past. When it was not allowed, people were still doing it, a lot. Every deer I shot had a belly full of corn and there were not cornfields anywhere. I like to hunt the big woods up north, but I do not have to see a lot of deer to have successful hunts. If 12-16 year-olds are stopping hunting because they don't see the deer, that's too bad, they need another person to show them hunting does not have to be only about the kill. Just my thoughts. I don't think less of someone who baits either, I just think that if no one did, things would get better,at least up north.
Dandbuck