Local Column River Currents 11-19-07
gengberg November 19th, 2007
The 2007 Deer Gun season opened this past Saturday, November 17th, in what is the sixth year that hunters in the southern part of the state have had to deal with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The state has spent millions of dollars trying to eliminate this fatal brain disease. But despite many liberal seasons and regulations, the Wisconsin deer herd has continued to expand or at least maintain its high numbers. The estimate this fall is that the deer herd now numbers somewhere between 1.6 and 1.8 million deer. The state would like to have the over-winter herd at about 700,000 deer.
The main tool the DNR has used to combat and eliminate CWD has been to shoot as many antlerless deer as possible in the two major CWD zones, the Herd Reduction Zone (HRZ) and the Disease Eradication Zone (DEZ). To encourage deer herd reduction, the DNR has designated 57 units out of the 130 deer management units as Earn-A-Buck (EAB) units where the hunter has to shoot a doe or antlerless deer before they may harvest a buck. Hunters could have also qualified for a buck permit by shooting a buck last fall.
State officials expected there to be at least 650,000 hunters in the woods and fields during the gun season. The season in the HRZ and DEZ units stays open till December 9th. The traditional nine-day season in the rest of the state closes November 25th. There also are bow muzzleloader seasons that are yet to open. But, bow hunting remains open during the gun season in the special units.
Deer hunters were out in good numbers this opening weekend and most of the hunters that I talked with reported seeing many deer. The weather (what else) was a “goofy” with rain and mist south of the Baraboo Bluffs in Sauk City, Lodi, and the Madison areas. But, if you went from Devils Lake toward the Wisconsin Dells there was a mini snow storm with a couple of inches of snow that stuck to the ground. Hunters coming to the Wilderness Fish and Game store where I was registering deer said there was a “white-out” to the north, only 10 miles away.
Hunters have seemed to accept CWD more now than in previous years and don’t worry about eating venison as some did when the disease initially surfaced years ago. Though, most hunters would like to return to the traditional nine-day season that seems very unlikely because hunters will not shoot enough deer to get the herd to the numbers that the state would like. The bottom line is that Wisconsin deer hunters will shoot only so many deer! The elimination of donating deer in the CWD zones has also been a blow to the number of deer harvested and to the local food pantries that depended upon the venison for helping the less fortunate.
One thing that was encouraging was the number of young hunters that I saw and talked to that were out hunting with many harvesting there first year deer. This is what I’ve been “harping” on while trying to get as many children as possible out hunting safely with a parent or mentor. We need to introduce as many children to the sport of hunting and the outdoors in general, if we are going to maintain the number of hunters and hunting in the future. We (hunters) have to make up for the loss of the Baby Boomer generation of hunters that are aging, losing hunting partners, loss of hunting land, and the rising costs associated with hunting. Hunter numbers are declining nationally from 7% of the U.S. population to 5% in 2006. There has been a 10% decline in hunter numbers in just the last decade. Wisconsin is lucky because the number of hunters has remained steady in the Badger state.
The state wide figures will not be out for a few days for the opening weekend. I have some numbers from the areas where I worked and some other local registration stations. This weekend, 471 deer were registered in Sauk City with 238 Saturday (90 antlered and 148 antlerless) and 233 Sunday (80 antlered and 153 antlerless). Last year, 422 deer were registered opening weekend. So, it seems that hunters are out trying to reduce this burgeoning herd. In Lodi, there were 197 deer registered (62 antlered and 135 antlerless) for the entire weekend. Saturday there were 28 bucks and 61 antlerless registered. Sunday, 34 antlered deer were brought in and 74 antlerless were registered. In talking with Sara Kehrli, a DNR biologist, she said that the Baraboo registration station registered fewer deer that Sauk City which is usually the opposite.
Keep hunting and shooting antlerless deer! Though, we may not get to the numbers that the DNR wants, hunters can continue doing their part! The DNR Stakeholders Committee report and recommendations on CWD will be out after the first of the year. This should be an interesting study and I’m waiting to see the suggestions. Be safe and keep on hunting!!
- Conservation , Hunting , Deer , My Local Column , River Currents , Birds , Bow Hunting , CWD
