Hunting Situation in WI
 

While at my local archery club we like to discuss many topics and one that is continuously coming up if the situation with the DNR and all the CWD stuff that is going. Many of the club members feel that the DNR is simply trying to completly wipe out the deer heard instead of managing it since the number of deer taken keeps decreasing but they keep on throwing tags and seasons at us. Many people feel that the DNR is not listening to the little people and that they are under the influences of higher auhorities. The general consensus is to just put the season back to normal and let it be. The discusions can get pretty heated and one suggestion that has been brought up is to not buy a license for next year in order to try to get the DNR to listen to the little guy. I got to admit that this approach seems kind of radical but if we got enough people to do it then maybe somebody might listen to us. I love to hunt but some of the stuff that is going on just doen't make any sense. I pay $165 for a conservation patron license and I know I'm not the only one, so if we could decrease the hunting population by even half
then that would be a huge $$ amount and that would get some people to turn some heads.

Anyone else been hearing these kind of conversations and if so what is your opinion?

I've had similar discussions like this for the past couple of years. The deer herd around my place is all but gone. At least the wolves have moved away from the area a little.

There was a group last year that refused to purchase a deer license. Granted we are not talking a lot of people, maybe 20 or so. But from all the grumbling this year I think that number will be a lot larger.

The same conversations are heard here as well. Though, the idea that not buying a license would be a way to get attention has been meet with poor review's. Primarily because the state would make an insurance claim against the loss of revenue from license sales. Thus, they would see a limited loss of revenue and not take a lesson away from the actions of hunters not buying a license.

The action we need to take is political. We must elect a Governor who will return control of the DNR to its managing group and remove it from direct control of the Governors office. It has been proven repeatedly that Doyle is not the Gov. that will do this.
Thus, we have a DNR more concerned with politics and less concerned with biology and sound management practices.

I normally buy a Patrons license too. I was under the impression that the "lets not buy a license" wind had stopped blowing.

The reality is the DNR has a fixed budget set by the joint finance committee. License sales do not effect the DNR's operating budget since it goes into the states general fund. It is not uncommon for license salses to vary by 40,000 annually if you combine all deer, small game, and fishing licenses. If 20,000 deer hunters decide not to hunt, and not buy a license ... it would barely be noticed. On the positive side, there may be a few more deer around the following year. :s4: All in all, a win win for the deer, and the remaining diehard deer hunters. :biggrin: JMHO

Wisconsin has no deer. Please dont hunt deer hear anymore! :-)

First off CWD is a joke. I hunt in Sauk county in the CWD zone and there is nothing to worry about. I am willing to bet that CWD has been around for a long time and it hasn't destroyed the herd like they say it will. Why if its going to destroy the herd are they saying that the population is growing and we are still overpopulated? Second they have to stop counting deer in the CWD area during the winter. The deer are grouped up and I know with our area there are roughly 30 deer around and that's all the deer for about 5 square miles. So this comes out to 6 deer per square mile which isn't anywhere close to the carrying capacity. We used to see over 100 deer opening day and now its down to 10-15. The difference between farm land and northern forest is the farmland can handle having more deer because we have crop lands. If the DNR doesn't get that then they should be fired.

gunther89. I couldnt agree more with you. Cwd is way overblown by the dnr. All that has happened is the hunting has been ruined. It use to be everybody got excited about deer season. Now things are so messed up, that i fear it wont be long and the dnr will have turned alot of people off from hunting by what they are doing to our deer herd. I wish people would just wise up and quit shooting does. Alot more does get shot every year then would need to be for earning your buck tag. Party hunting is legel so dont shoot unneeded does to tag the bucks you get. People think im crazy for this one but try shooting nub bucks it will at least let the deer herd come back more then shooting all of our does to earn a buck! Until the crazy notion the dnr has about curbing the spread of cwd is over we will not be able to enjoy hunting the way we once did!

SCH I agree EAB needs to be gone. I have been telling the guys that hunt with us to shoot the fawn instead of the doe because the doe can have twins in the spring. Yes I know that means less meat but its gotten to the point that hardly any does are around because of EAB. The problem is there are areas that are loaded with deer and I see this on the drive up to my land. In 1 mile of driving I can normally see 30-40 out feeding in fields. The rest of the hour trip I see no deer.