gunther89

cwnaty03: Yes one of our neighbors shot 3 bucks on opening day. They had 2 buck tags that carried over from last year and then shot a fawn and then shot another buck. They said they wanted to shoot another doe so they would have a buck tag for next year but said they didn't see a doe all day.

Handles

The DNR does not control who pulls the trigger, or how many times it happens. If you feel that the population where you are at is down, the simple solution is to not shoot.
It IS that simple.
The DNR can only estimate, and they must do so on a huge scale. As hunters, and landowners, you should have a better idea of what and how many is out there. Take care of your own herd control.

Big Buck Dave

If there is a shortage in a particular county then they should adjust the earn a buck program. Sounds to me like everyone is feeding them trying to grow big bucks and that's how the desease is spread. You have to harvest does that's the majority of the heard. If you want BIG bucks you need to hunt near agriculture. The vast expanse of land will grow big bucks too, but they are smart, have good noses, and the does protect them, so by harvesting does you actually increase your chance at bagging the big one...

warbirdlover

The herd is down and here's why I feel it is.

In the town near where I hunt, there is normally 3 rows of cars with trailers loaded with deer (usually bucks). This is year after year. This year there might have been one or two cars there when we stopped.

The local grocery store that processes the deer normally has an hour long wait of cars lined up. The parking lot is full. This year there was no one every time we stopped. The guys they hire to do the deer were standing around waiting for someone to show up.

The DNR should base their deer population estimates on this, not their goofy formula. And they already have proposed an extended season next year before the deer kill numbers were even in!!!

Special hunts, earn-a-buck and all these other DNR bull**** programs have decimated the Wisconsin deer herd.

And what is there excuse? Foggy conditions and poor hunting practices. I don't think so.....

Handles

The herd is down and here's why I feel it is.

So the DNR has forced these hunters to shoot all of these deer?

You said that this has happend year after year. And that the DNR should base their quota numbers off this? Using your formula, then because this town was full of dead deer year after year, the DNR would think the herd is at the very least stable, and the same # of deer should be shot the next year.

Here's something else to think about people. The DNR does not control if you fill your tag or WHERE you fill your tag. Anyone can go and hunt in any zone any year. If I'm not mistaken, the woods of the NW saw a large increase in the # of hunters about 10 years ago. Let's say 15K more hunters decided to hunt there, if half get a deer, that's 7,500 deer harvested there EACH year for 10 years. Hello.
If you really want the DNR to start controlling your hunting, and the herd, then start advocating for a application/draw like for turkey. I don't want to see that happen at all, but if you can't lay off the trigger when you think numbers on your farm or zone are down, then it's your own fault.

IL-Cornfed

Despite obviously extreme hunting pressure and poor hunting pratices by some.... I think the problem in WI is just a little more complex that your complaint! LOL! I dn't see them making you the new spokeperson for the WI DNR anytime soon! LOL!

All kidding aside though, nearly all the midwestern states turned in the lowest deer harvests in a decade. I know MO and IL both did...... perhaps we could blame to WI DNR for our problems to! LOL!

warbirdlover

All the landowners bordering the land we lease and ourselves do not shoot does. We also have minimum standards for bucks. The size of the bucks on the land we hunt is getting much better. It's the lower number of does that concern us. The wolves that the DNR loves have taken their toll. My point is that we shouldn't be having these special seasons, earn-a-buck, extended seasons etc etc when they have introduced another predator on to the scene. And the coyote population has grown. The neighboring farmers see coyotes carrying fawns in the spring. It all adds up. We shot six coyotes off the land last year. How many more are there that we didn't see.

We killed three bucks on the land this year. Three to four is about the norm. I passed up on a small 6-point to let him grow up. It's the lack of does that concerns us as the fewer doe the bucks can breed the fewer bucks in the future.

Thank God I don't have to hunt public land anymore.

salukipv1

Wasn't the plan to get rid of the deer in the CWD areas, then let healthy deer repopulate them again?

I'm in IL but curious what's the plan in WI?

If the plan was to drastically reduce numbers of deer in CWD areas, then why are guys suprised at the lack of deer?

basserman

I also hunt in an area that we carefully and selectively hunt. My land and the neighbors all hunt selectively. I am a FEDERAL wildlife tech (not state) and have a good knowledge on treating our wildlife in our select area. The fact is..... deer numbers are down. The 2008 season was down near 70% FROM 07 AND THIS YEARS IS DOWN ANOTHER 30% FROM 08. To be frank and to the point? It is the DNR's fault that the numbers are way down with some blame on some hunters that over harvest their area. It's time we put wildlife management back into the hands of wildlife people and not a governor appointed lawyer. I have watched our deer herd go thru many ups and downs in my 45 years of deer hunting and these past few years are the worse I have ever seen.

basserman

Only a part of Wisc. is considered a CWD unit. Mine is not. Numbers are way down in nearly the whole state.