Wisconsin T zone and bow hunting
 

A buddy of mine at school is a pretty big hunter and he said that during Tzone you cant shoot a buck with bow. i no u have to wear blaze orange but he said you can only shoot does during t zone no matter what even if you are hunting with a bow is this true.

Uh, before you go believing that, contact the DNR.
Get thier official version of the rules, he may be right, but if hes not, bet him 5 bucks and than collect.

I wouldn't do any betting with your buddy if I was you (unless you like to lose money). He is right if your area is "herd control" you can't shoot a buck during the October and december antlerless only hunts.

Your friend and Jesse (above) are correct. You cannot take a buck, even by bow, during the antlerless gun hunts in October and December. This is applicable in Herd Control units that have the October and December anterless hunts. Specifically addressed on page 6 of this year's Deer Hunting Regulations.

NO BUCKS / ANTLERLESS ONLY> Read the regulations and you would know the answer. Not try'n to be a smart a$$ just try'n to save hunters some $$$$$ and embarasment. The DNR changes rules every year so the only way to keep up is - read the Rules!!!

Yup as above. They are correct, no bucks during t zone hunt. Even with a bow.

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife/...09regs4-15.pdf

See page 2 (or regulations page 6)

just that perfect time to throw a bunch of ppl in the woods when the bucks are just starting to show up and make them go nocturnal.....idk about you guys, but as a bowhunter this kinda upsets me!

Worse things are in store for us i'm afraid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Truer words were never spoken.

Especially with this DNR and administration. The DNR must be free from tampering with by the (any) administration.

The only way you can shoot a buck during these hunts with a bow is if you are outside a tzone. If you are outside a tzone you do not need to wear blaze orange. You can how ever shoot a buck in a tzone if the antlers are shorter than 3 inches. Then again I still wouldnt take that chance because theres a chance that you could be more than the 3 inch max. Im going to recomend you read and fully understand the TZONE/HRZ regulations before making any decissions to go out. Good luck and be safe.

I see how it upsets you as a bowhunter and say "what a perfect time to throw a bunch of ppl in the woods", etc... And I support your argument and how it messes with bow hunting, however one thing I will say is that this T-Zone, Antlerless hunt, whatever you want to call it this year is not new, nor is the time of year they are doing it. Its been this same week for SEVERAL years, so if this is a shock to you I'd argue your new to hunting in WI. I'd also agree that more changes may be on the way and the only way this T-Zone thing will likley go away is if they extend the regular gun season to 16 days or add an additional week in Dec as they are currently discussing.

Also remember that the DNR could care less if you shoot a 200 class buck or a yearling doe. They want the herd reduced regardless. Its also all about the money, less deer = less crop damage claims = less accidents = higher insurance rates (for everyone) in the end this all equals worse hunting opprotunities for hunters.

I agree with you Windog, but they are still trying to keep the T-zone hunt in October even with the extened gun season. They are just pairing it up with the youth hunt. Here is a link to the dnr page with the proposal for the changes in 2010.:hit:

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/...r/proposal.htm

I've been watching the reg. stations and there is a very minimal deer harvest so far in our area. This says to me that hunters are'nt hunting the antlerless seasons this year here. What have others noted as far as shots fired or reg. numbers so far? I know there are'nt the deer this year from what i've seen bow hunting. In our area none of the landowners are hunting or letting hunters on their land because of the low doe numbers.

It could get interesting what the DNR comes up with for next year!

From what I've seen not to many people are hunting the antlerless hunt this weekend. Not much orange in the woods. I can still bow hunt cause I am in a regular unit. However I have seen the eight pointer i am after more than any does or fawns. I don't have all the answers for the DNR but i agree with most people that say they need to do something different.

Why should bow hunters have priority over gun hunters? I'm all for allowing bow hunters plenty of time to accomplish the more difficult task of hunting with a bow but gun hunters are not a sub-species of hunter. The anti-gun snobbery isn't okay.

I would readily admit that many of the worst hunters, especially in the ethics arena, hunt only with a gun. I'd even admit that the percentage is probably higher than bow hunters. But it's no excuse to be against the good gun hunters.

And, for the record, I hunt both ways.

We all must stick together. There is enough problems for all hunters out there. Bow Hunters and Gun Hunters must get along!!!!

this may not be true. im not trying to be a jerk cause i thought the same thing. on pg 5 in the regulations were it breaks down the seasons for regular units it says nothing about about a antlerless only hunt for regular units oct 15 thru oct 18. but if u go to pg 9 about 3/4 of the way down the page under ARCHERY BUCK DEER CARCASS TAG it says "this tag is valid for one buck deer harvested with legal archery equipment in any unit statewide during an open archery season, except DURING THE OCT 15-18 AND DEC 10-13 ANTLERLESS ONLY DEER HUNTS."

i admit it is very confusing and i could be wrong. it seems to me the dnr is either setting us up to screw up or we have to buy a bonus tag to go hunting those weekends in a regular unit. i think ill call and find out for sure.

yep i was wrong. just got off the phone with dnr. bucks are legal during the oct herd control hunt in regular units with a bow but not during the dec herd control hunt. antlerless statewide. sorry.

No need to appoligize. The regs are so confusing and I think they need a good reformatting. Noone understands anymore what we can and can not do...