End of Wi hunting season
 

Well the end of Wis. gun season has officailly arrived. After 3 long rigerous weeks of walking, sitting, and stalking in hi winds and sub freezing temps its all over. During the regular 9 day gun season there was an estimated 336,000 + deer harvested, up 7% from last year, so the DNR says. I have spoken to and have read that many hunters as well as members from the WDNR board that have said this years hunt was a flop. Some members had 8-15 some groups even had 20-25 members in their parties, that said they never saw a deer to shoot at. These results came in from different parts of the state. With the passing of the regular gun season, there is the10 day muzzleloader hunt. With the high winds the entire10 days it was difficult to see any deer at all unless you were making some sort of drive. I as well as many friends came up empty for the first time in many years during muzzle loader season. This was my first year muzzle loader hunting. Last Thursday started the herd reduction hunt. I was supprised of the amount of shooting I heard dung the 4 day hunt. But disapointed in the sizes of antlerless deer harvested. So many were very very small. I myself ended up taking a small antlerless deer on Saturday. Out of our group of 7, there were only 3 deer taken off our property of 260 acres during the regular gun season, 0 muzzle loader and 1 during the herd reduction hunt. This kill being waydown than previous years. Most of us harvest at least 2-3 deer each. My father-in-law told me the last day of the regular gun season that this is the worst year he has ever seen in the 40+ plus years he has hunted. And the first year in over 40 years that no one in our party has ever taken a legal buck during the gun season(s). Id like to see where the dnr is getting their numbers and where the next eradication area is going to pop up. Theres been rumors going around already thet they the DNR will call back the Oct. Antlerless gun hunt next year, thuskeeping bow hunters from enjoying prime rutperiods. Then they will have the regular 9 gun season, then muzzle loader, then another herd reduction hunt. Personally im not fond of the October hunt as I am a bow hunter, I think the way the seasons were setup this year was perfect. Sure there was the youth hunt in October but didnt seem to effect much in my area. With the low antlered buck kill this year, I am hoping we will have some very nice bucks harvested next season. Only time will tell.

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

I agree, I think we can do without the October Hunt. Especaillysince I justfound a secret spot that will be killer for bow hunting!


Anyways, I'm not familiar with your area, wis bow hunter, but I know that the kill was low in my area. I hardly saw any trucks with deer in the back doing the usual drive around show-off. I pesonally only saw 5 deer this season (total- all seasons to date) and one of them I saw twice (the small buck I killed Thanksgiving day). I also would like to know where the hell the DNR gets their numbers from. The past few seasonshave just been jokes.

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

Delete. link won't work

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

Someone started a thread a while back asking if theirWI season was a flop. I was surprised at the number of people who said it was; yet, as pointed out the season was quite successful compared to other seasons. Personally, it wasmy worst bow/gun season in 25 years.[:-]

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

I chimed in on that post too. This raises the question, How/Where does the DNR come up with their numbers? If they're actually right, great, if not then WTF, why lie to us. I remeber reading about how they ESTIMATED deer numbers in the state, and I just laughed. I wish I remember the site name... oh well. If deer numbers are going up, thats awesome; if people are killing more deer, even better - good for them. But everyone I talk to, here and in person, says the gun season sucked.

I have heard from many others however that the EarlyBow Season was pretty decent. I didn't get a whole lot for bow so I dunno for sure though. What do you guys think (besides gunsnbowses who has kindly answered already)? Bow season a bust this year or not too bad?

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

Our season too was a flop, but on the bright side we should have many large bucks runnin around next year. this year we had at least 4 different 8's, 2 10's, and a real monster roamin our property and none of em fell to our guns this season. thats not to say someone else didnt get em, but with that many bucks theres a good chance at least some of em made it. Im anxious to see what kind of free time i'll have next fall because im gonna be a freshman in college and will be a half hr closer to my hunting spot, and hopefully i'll get some weekends of serious hunting in.

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

Doing the hunting and school thing is hard. Thats why I only got a handful of times for Bow Season. Lucky me our fall break just happens to be the same week as the 9 day gun-deer season, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten in the woods much at all!

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

I can't find the gun kill records for 2004 or 2005, but the 2006 season ranks 9th out of 39 seasons. From 1966 - 2003 plus 2006.

2000- 528,494
1999- 402,179
1995- 398,002
1996- 388,791
2003- 388,344
2001- 361,264
1991- 352,520
1990- 350,040
2006- 336,000+

9th out of 39 seasons isn't a flop. 1993 was a flop, it was the worst season since 1983 (10 years). 1983, incidentally, was a flop for me.

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

sometimes i wonder if the DNR isfabricating thosenumbers to keep the license sales up, i havent talked to anybody who has had a decent season. so either im hangin out w/ a bunch of unlucky hunters, or the guys that are slayin em aren't talkin. either way, its not gonna keep me outta the woods next year, even if the DNR said 100,000 deer were killed i'd still be out as often as possible.

burbaust, im not expecting to get out alot when im in school either, im just tryin to be optimistic. but on another note, for you and anyone else who hunted while in college... where did you keep your equipment, (gun, bow, stands, etc)? on campus doesnt sound realistic/legal, and me and my buddy were thinkin of goin in on a small storage space for stuff like this.

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I live with my Grandparents off campus, so I can store all my stuff here at home (closer to where I hunt). There are some campuses that have gun lockups on campus. I know UW-Superior does as well as a couple of others up north. A small storage shed may not be a bad idea, maybe impractical/not cost effectivefor the entire year though. I don't know if this is possible for you at all, but I had a friend who hunted up north several years ago, who payed a bar-owner like $20 for the enitre deer season to keep some of our junk at a storage shed he had behind the bar.

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

thanks burbaust99, you're right, it probably isnt practical to keep it there all year long, but from september to january i'd like to have access to my bow and rifle in case i find i have a weekend off and wanna go try my luck with the elusive whitetails. I'll be going to UW stevens point, which is basically in the middle of the state, but they might have somethin available. also, the campus is very near a bunch of state/county land that im pretty sure is open to hunting, so i hope to be able to get out on there sometimes too.

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Hey, Schobs! I live in St. Point. You're right. There isa fair amount of public land around the area. The Mead is very popular. Thereare also some forestry units east of Mosinee that are open to hunting. They add up to several thousand acres.Obviously, there is a fair amount of hunting pressure, but it's a start if you're new to the area.

There have been some comments about the integrity of our DNR and their deer population analysis. I briefly scanned my latest copy of Wisconsin Outdoor News and the independant group hired to review our DNR's SAK system stated it may be the best deer population counting system in the whole U.S.;)Somehow I figured that would be their response! And up until this year, I wouldn't argue. After this terrible yearof huntingup nort' and the farm country of central WI, I don't know what to think![&:]

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Good research on that. I don't think there are many of us that do know what to think about their systems. I'd like to believe it all - that would be great for all hunters alike - but like you said, it's sure hard to believe it this year; when there are groups of a dozen or more hunters goin out for a week at a time and not seeingbut 5 deer amongst them; it really makes me wonder.

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

Well my group had tremendous success the first 2 days of the gun season. Every person in my group (10) all saw deer opening day. The least amount seen was 3, and the most was about 25-35. We shot 3 bucks during the first 2 days, one being a 110'' 6 pt, another being a 134'' 9 pt, and I shot a giant 12 pt scoring 162'' gross. But after the first two days things really slowed down and almost nonbody saw any deer that entire week.

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well, congrads to you! post a picture or two your buck. I'd love to see it. Where about WI are you from and where do you hunt. I'm glad that there are people still having a fair amount of success. I mean, my season wasn't real bad for the number of days I was able to get out - but it wasn't awesome either.

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The first 2 days i saw 4 deer, all small bucks.I jumped a few on day 5 but couldnt tell from the tail what they were.I think the heard is way down,but the hot weather had alot to do with it.I saw alot of bucks bow hunting the early rut.We got 9 all year between 3 of us but we had to hunt hard for them.Only 2 durring gun seasion.I think it was the weather

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

I think the weather has had a lot to do with it. By me, we only had a day or two of decent hunting weather (colder temps, overcast, etc.) otherwise it was warm and sunny. I don't know how the weather was during the hunt in other parts of the state though.

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Though I wasn't in WI during the gun season, I believe some peoples lack of deer sightings had to do with the rut being late this year. I believe the deer were on lockdown the first few days of the season because of the rut and then were on lockdown because of the numbers of people in the woods.

Just my theory.

RE: End of Wi hunting season
 

It wasnt that the rut was late cause it wasnt....it was short, very short. I saw very little rutting activity through out the entire bow season. And I hunted every single day except 3 of the days when it rained. Also sat every day during the gun season and hunted every day muzzle loader and herd reduction.....what a flop.

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I have hunted deer since the late 70's and the DNR would have you think there are deer behind every tree, can you say tourist $$$$$$$ Millions.

The deer numbers they throw around are bogus I have said that for years. Out of 10 of us we got 2 deer a little doe and a non typical 6 pointer. My brother hunts private land near Hayward food plots the works and out of 8 guys they saw 1 deer all week and got skunked? If you hunt way up north the deer are very dispursed and the 2 deer we shot were on drives they sure weren't moving at all.:DI hunt near Dodgville some nice bucks at the registration station but overall very down year. :eek:

You watch now the DNR will push for Earn a Buck next year saying the doe kill was bad, that is another farce. We are tinkering with Mother Nature let her moderate the excess population if there is one?

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i don't seehow they get the number s they got. i was out helping my brother in law look for one the last day of season out by the Kettle Moraine in waukesha county and when we got out the DNR boys were there. we talked to them for alittle bit and i had asked how the season was out there. the DNR warden told me flat out it was a bad year and that since opening day of gun season til then they had only registered 450 deer. that to me is a slap in the face if you take into consideration how many are normally taken in thesame area. I lived out there for almost 20 years and the normal for there was about 3500 for gun hunters a year.
this has got to show something either that the numbers are down or the early seasons screwed things up.

speed