wis_bow_huntr

Im not sure what the Wisconsin DNR is trying to prove when it comes to hunting these days, but what ever youre doing it has to stop! The DNR has hunters believing there are deer behind every tree. Wrong. Ive been bow hunting all season long and can count on 2 fingers the amount of deer I have seen since opening day of bow season. I have spoken to roughly 50 other hunters from around the state that are saying the same thing. There are no deer! You have accomplished your mission by reducing the deer herd to virtually nothing. Sure there may be some areas with larger herds but thats not the case throughout the state. Ive spoke to people in CWD zones that are not seeing deer as well. Now you hit us where it really hurts and want to extend the gun season an extra week. This is a bad move on your part. Hunters are not happy with this proposal and you are going to be getting your ears full. If you want to manage the herd correctly the DNR has to listen to the hunters. We are the ones out there every day trying to put food on our tables and enjoy the opportunity to hunt. Its a choice we make. We dont have to give the state our money, but we do because we enjoy the tradition of being out there with family and friends. Now its not so much fun. Its becoming more work than anything else.
At least 97% of the hunters I have spoken to throughout the state via certain websites, have all said the same thing. "We need things back to the way they used to be." I beleive there were more deer shot back when it was buck only gun season with the option to buy a bonus tag or hunters choice. When I started bow hunting, it was nothing to see 20-40 deer in one day. Now im lucky to see 1. Of all the properties I have the option to hunt of close to 1500 acres total, in 3 different counties, 400 acres of them are private land, im lucky to see any deer at all. WE DEMAND A CHANGE! We do not want an extra week of gun hunting, we dont need all the special zones, and we sure in the hell dont want to slaughter the herd, although its probably too late for that. LISTEN TO US! I will be more than likely be posting an article in local papers througout the state as well as in Wisconsin Outdoor News. I would rather see a 3 point minimum antler restriction than all this garbage that has been going on for the last 5 years! Its time for a change. We need this change! If this continues I know 50 people the WDNR will not be getting money from anymore. Take all the bow hunting licenses, fishing, gun licenses, small game license costs and multiply that by 50. You do the math.
Thank you for your time and Im sure my word means nothing.

kevin1

Considering the CWD situation Wisconsin has your DNR is doing your herd a favor by reducing their numbers drastically. The further apart deer are the slower the rate that the disease can be transmitted. Your annecdotal accounts of deer numbers, and those you've surveyed at BBs are no substitute for proper field counts by trained biologists. You're probably wrong, and so are your online buddies since you each see only a very small slice of the state. "The way things used to be" is the primary reason why your state took such drastic actions, once your herd becomes overpopulated and simultaneously exposed to a serious pathogen it's in danger of total collapse. Before you send that letter you'd be wise to consult your state or district deer biologist to see what's really going on rather than going off half ****ed, they get paid to answer your questions, and they exist to serve the public.

semi

Actually the DNR in Wisc is a disaster. They have no idea how many deer are here, they keep insisting there are no Wolves killing deer. Its become apparent all they care about is revenue and how many people buy tags. Hunters have been saying for years that the deer population is down to nothing. They worry about every little infraction they can find, enforce the stupid things but when it comes to the important things it seems they can only make the wrong decisions. they keep pumping money into enforcements of every kind but ignore the hard things.

cwanty03

kevin1 i am from WI also i respect what you say, i am not saying your wrong, but it is just getting ridiculous out here. I don't believe you understand the devistation to the herd.....it sucks...i have been bow hunting for 5 years now and can honestly say i have seen a difference(in a bad way)

fastetti

Kevin, I have to side with the other guys on this as well. The WDNR is very messed up right now. They hire people who have no background to be doing these types of studies. I have been doing research about hunting up in Central WI this year and have gotten countless emails saying one thing.....don't. In my opinion, they took this CWD as an excuse to kill out as much as the deer herd as they can. Ive heard whispers that it was an excuse to get the deer numbers down because of all the insurance claims people were making from deer/car collisions and the Insurance companies were trying to influence the state to really reduce the herd. Less deer=less collisions.

I remember 6 years ago heading up to Merrimac in the fall and winter and seeing deer all the time while I was skiing and driving around. Now, Ive heard that your lucky to see a few deer in a whole weekend. Im sorry, but that is just wrong. Illinois and Wisconsin share a decent size border and the population in Illinois is going strong and other than a increase in License cost, we seem pretty happy.

I was thinking about heading to Wisconsin this year for gun season but with how bad they say the population is up there, I think Im going to take a pass. I know its ony $160 they are missing out, but if it keeps getting worse up there they are going to lose a lot of tourist $$$.

Good Luck WI Bow hunter. If you get a response please let us know, but knowing the WDNR right now, they won't even respond to you.

browningbolt

I grew up hunting WI im in my 40s now.How the hell does it go from as a teen to having to apply to shoot a doe and getting a choice permit every other year.To shoot a doe for a EAB tag with you bow.Then if you want to shoot a buck with gun you have to shoot another doe.Then god forbid you have family and friends that hunt the same property they need to do the same to.All the DNR has done is wipe out certain herds of deer on the land that allows hunting.The only places that have large amounts of deer are private or un-huntable.We all know these spots shine the fields 15-20 deer every night.They can count all of those deer all they want they are unhuntable.The herd on these places that allow hunting will take years to recover from the slaughter of doe fawns and nubbies all in the name of EAB.All this agenda of voting on an extended gun hunting season is the DNRS way of keeping EAB around.They will say we offered a alternate plan to EAB and you voted it down.

wis_rifle_hunter

i'll back that letter up. thats pretty much how i feel towards our dnr. we need people like you in the dnr that love hunting and the outdoors.

gunther89

There aren't alot of deer in the CWD area. I hunt there and I know for a fact that we don't see as many deer as we used to. My cousin has been out roughly 5 times and seen a doe and fawn and he shot the doe. Our area has a buck to doe ratio of 2:1 or 3:1! I shot a 17 pointer last weekend and now I need to shoot a doe or fawn to get another buck tag. I don't want to shoot a doe cause we need them around for next year so I don't know what I'm going to do. I also believe CWD was an excuse for them to kill off tons of deer!

wisbowhunter2009

I hafta agree about the DNR... For whoever wants to come to wisconsin to hunt, DONT! its a hugggeee waste of money! The wisconsin DNR is useless, they dont know a damn thing. I hunt around a state park, total of 9,000 acres and i hunt on the edge legally, i havent seen a deer in the past 8 sits. I'm not going to buy another wisconsin deer license for a long time.. I give them quite a bit of money, i buy every license you can get, now my whole neighborhood said screw them, no ones hunting or fishing anymore. I was going to move down to either eau Claire or LaCrosse but i've talked to a few guys down there and said theres not many deer, so im going to move to illinois now... We all need to get together and bitch the dnr out....

Sswpriz

I agree with most of the otherws here, the DNR doesn't really know how many deer there are anywhere, just look at the bear issue, first they thought there were about 13000 bear in Wisconsin, now they say they made a mistake and say there are close to 39000 ??? Who's doing the counting ??
I hunt in far Northwest Wisconsin, north of Hayward. 15 years ago, I used to see herds of deer off of my stand, groups of 6 to 10 were not uncommon. Last year in 4 days of hunting I saw 2 deer, both bucks, and they are both in the freezer !!!!
Out of 3 other people I hunt with they saw a total of 5 deer !!!
Signs were few and far between...oh, by the way, I saw my first wolf in all my years of hunting, there were plenty of wolf signs around !!!