Wisconsin Season
 

I'm planning to go up to my uncles next season over Thanksgiving or Christmas. My dad told me the WI rifle season is a lot shorter than ours and I'd rather go up and rifle hunt because it really increases your chance because of distance. It will probably be the only year we go there so gotta make sure I get one while I can. Of course that is until I can move out of course... then I'm moving to the big bucks:woot:

So anyways.. when is the rifle season and what tags are you allowed? I read a thread a minute ago andsaw something about earn a buck... If I don't get a bucktag I won't even waste my time lol

Also do you know of any good public hunting grounds, like state parks? I know of one but forgot the name. It's by some lake we go Pike fishing on sometimes.

Hello Master Chief:
The Wisconsin rifle season is 9 days long and always starts the Satuday before Thanksgiving. Wisconsin issues 2 tags right away, a buck tag and a doe tag. Some units had "earn a buck" which meant you had to shoot a doe before a buck, but, us Cheeseheads went to Madison and let the DNR know what we thought about that, and, it has been repealed...will that occur again in 2011? We don't know, but, I think the DNR realized the power of the people and I think the harvest numbers were up in 2010's hunt from 2009, so, I can't see them reinstating that silly program...they will have another uprise on their hands. What part of Wisconsin are you going to be hunting in?

Thanks for the reply! Very helpful. I'm glad it falls over Thanksgiving :]

The CWD zones are still EAB

That is why I asked what part of the state he was hunting...hopefully the northern zone so he doesn't have to worry about that.:poke:

Many units in WI still have Earn-A-Buck - your information is not accurate.

I still hunt in an "Earn-A-Buck" unit, basically means that anyone (including non-residents like myself) have to shoot an anterless deer before you can shoot a buck.

This year I had to shoot a button buck the night before I shot my 11pointer. I didnt know it was a button buck at the time, I was just shooting a doe, but found out it had little nubs and some nuts.

If you have to hunt in a EAB unit, I would try to come to Wi during one of the early "anterless only" seasons to get your buck tag earned before you can even shoot a buck legally. They normally have a season around halloween that is anterless only, and any does shot would earn you a buck tag. Any unused buck tags can also be used during the following year.

Also - research the area you plan on hunting. Not all units allow rifles. There are even a couple townships that don't allow rifles (mostly up near the waukesha county area i beleive ). My unit just started allowing rifles about 2-3 years ago. It was traditionally shotgun, pistol or muzzleloader only.

The Wisconsin DNR site is a bit hard to sort through. However, the information about different zones, and what rules need to be followed are fairly easy to find.

The only tricky thing is knowing what type of firearm can be used in each zone. The state outlines the areas they defined, but there are areas that have passed other laws due to their needs that restrict some regions to shotgun only.

There are not many areas that restrict firearm useage, but I would ask your family member about the local laws that would affect you. I imagine they are very familiar with laws in their area assuming they go hunting as well.