Post by Woody Williams on Dec 11, 2008 17:48:10 GMT -5
WI DNR: Deer herd reduction moves working
By TODD RICHMOND | Associated Press Writer
4:59 PM CST, December 9, 2008
MADISON, Wis. - Efforts to reduce the size of Wisconsin's deer herd appear to be working, and hunters next year may face fewer of the earn-a-buck zones that require them to shoot a doe before they can kill a buck, state wildlife officials said Tuesday.
Hunters killed 276,685 deer during the 9-day gun hunt over the last week of November, down 19 percent from 2007 -- despite nearly 1,000 more hunters in the woods.
State Department of Natural Resources deer expert Keith Warnke told the Natural Resources Board at its meeting Tuesday that the DNR may have overestimated the deer population before the hunt.
"Our pre-hunt projections may have been a little high," Warnke said.
The DNR has been working for years to reduce the state's burgeoning deer herd and cut down on car-deer crashes and deer damage to forests and crops. The agency estimated anywhere from 1.5 million to 1.7 million deer roamed the state before November's hunt, far more than the agency's goal of 709,000 animals.
The DNR has turned to earn-a-buck regulations in areas with large deer populations. Under that program, hunters in those areas must take an antlerless deer before a buck. Hunters generally despise the program, arguing it forces them to pass up trophy kills.
According to a report on the gun season that the board reviewed, the state sold 642,419 gun deer licenses this year, up 987 licenses from 2007. But deer kills were down in every region of the state except the south-central portion, which saw a 3 percent increase. The largest drop came in northern Wisconsin, where hunters took 30 percent fewer deer than last year.
DNR wardens reported hunters were frustrated by the lack of deer. Hunters told them they thought wolves and bears were killing too many deer, too many hunters were baiting and the DNR inflated the deer population to sell licenses.
Many hunters complained about the earn-a-buck regulations and questioned whether they were necessary, the wardens said. The hunters said the strategy had lost credibility.
But the wardens also reported different hunting patterns this year, with fewer hunters in the woods for long periods of time. They said they observed fewer deer drives and a drop-off in hunting interest after opening weekend.
Ed Harvey, chairman of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a group of outdoors lovers that advises the DNR, disputed any notion that less hunting pressure led to a reduced kill. Hunters hit it as hard as in past years and conditions were almost perfect, he said.
"If not for those things, no one would have seen any deer," Harvey said.
Warnke agreed. Changes in hunter behavior weren't dramatic enough to be a factor, he said.
"They're still out there hunting hard," he said.
He said earn-a-buck strategies and the long, hard winter appear to have shrunk the herd. He won't know for sure until the DNR has compiled more local data from individual deer management zones, he said. That information should be ready in late January or February.
But the report said fewer earn-a-buck zones may be on the way in 2009.
"I think the overall population is declining," Warnke said.
The Wisconsin Hunters Rights Coalition asked the Natural Resources Board on Tuesday to suspend a 4-day antlerless-only hunt set to begin Thursday to protect the antlerless population.
Board chairwoman Christine Thomas refused to put the request on the board's agenda, saying she wanted to wait until for more solid population estimates due early next year and many people already have made their hunting plans for the rest of the week.
Other findings in the report include:
--Hunters from all 50 states and 78 foreign countries ventured to Wisconsin. The highest number of nonresident hunters, 17,087, came from Minnesota.
--Almost 52,500 women or girls purchased a gun deer license, up about 1,200 from 2007. About 48 percent of them were under age 30.
--73,400 hunters were under age 18.
--The state saw a total of nine shooting incidents, the third time in history with fewer than 10. One was fatal.
--Wardens arrested nine felons in the field for possessing firearms.
--Wardens made 308 arrests for baiting, down 7 percent from 2007 record of 338.
By TODD RICHMOND | Associated Press Writer
4:59 PM CST, December 9, 2008
MADISON, Wis. - Efforts to reduce the size of Wisconsin's deer herd appear to be working, and hunters next year may face fewer of the earn-a-buck zones that require them to shoot a doe before they can kill a buck, state wildlife officials said Tuesday.
Hunters killed 276,685 deer during the 9-day gun hunt over the last week of November, down 19 percent from 2007 -- despite nearly 1,000 more hunters in the woods.
State Department of Natural Resources deer expert Keith Warnke told the Natural Resources Board at its meeting Tuesday that the DNR may have overestimated the deer population before the hunt.
"Our pre-hunt projections may have been a little high," Warnke said.
The DNR has been working for years to reduce the state's burgeoning deer herd and cut down on car-deer crashes and deer damage to forests and crops. The agency estimated anywhere from 1.5 million to 1.7 million deer roamed the state before November's hunt, far more than the agency's goal of 709,000 animals.
The DNR has turned to earn-a-buck regulations in areas with large deer populations. Under that program, hunters in those areas must take an antlerless deer before a buck. Hunters generally despise the program, arguing it forces them to pass up trophy kills.
According to a report on the gun season that the board reviewed, the state sold 642,419 gun deer licenses this year, up 987 licenses from 2007. But deer kills were down in every region of the state except the south-central portion, which saw a 3 percent increase. The largest drop came in northern Wisconsin, where hunters took 30 percent fewer deer than last year.
DNR wardens reported hunters were frustrated by the lack of deer. Hunters told them they thought wolves and bears were killing too many deer, too many hunters were baiting and the DNR inflated the deer population to sell licenses.
Many hunters complained about the earn-a-buck regulations and questioned whether they were necessary, the wardens said. The hunters said the strategy had lost credibility.
But the wardens also reported different hunting patterns this year, with fewer hunters in the woods for long periods of time. They said they observed fewer deer drives and a drop-off in hunting interest after opening weekend.
Ed Harvey, chairman of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a group of outdoors lovers that advises the DNR, disputed any notion that less hunting pressure led to a reduced kill. Hunters hit it as hard as in past years and conditions were almost perfect, he said.
"If not for those things, no one would have seen any deer," Harvey said.
Warnke agreed. Changes in hunter behavior weren't dramatic enough to be a factor, he said.
"They're still out there hunting hard," he said.
He said earn-a-buck strategies and the long, hard winter appear to have shrunk the herd. He won't know for sure until the DNR has compiled more local data from individual deer management zones, he said. That information should be ready in late January or February.
But the report said fewer earn-a-buck zones may be on the way in 2009.
"I think the overall population is declining," Warnke said.
The Wisconsin Hunters Rights Coalition asked the Natural Resources Board on Tuesday to suspend a 4-day antlerless-only hunt set to begin Thursday to protect the antlerless population.
Board chairwoman Christine Thomas refused to put the request on the board's agenda, saying she wanted to wait until for more solid population estimates due early next year and many people already have made their hunting plans for the rest of the week.
Other findings in the report include:
--Hunters from all 50 states and 78 foreign countries ventured to Wisconsin. The highest number of nonresident hunters, 17,087, came from Minnesota.
--Almost 52,500 women or girls purchased a gun deer license, up about 1,200 from 2007. About 48 percent of them were under age 30.
--73,400 hunters were under age 18.
--The state saw a total of nine shooting incidents, the third time in history with fewer than 10. One was fatal.
--Wardens arrested nine felons in the field for possessing firearms.
--Wardens made 308 arrests for baiting, down 7 percent from 2007 record of 338.
