The Department of Natural Resources proposed new recommendations for the 2011 deer hunting season to allow hunters to shoot more deer.
The changes include removing the Earn-A-Buck program that requires hunters to shoot a doe or fawn before shooting a buck and limit or eliminate the early antlerless hunt in October where deer populations in Deer Management Units are below their goals.
Wisconsin hunters have been unhappy with the DNR’s deer herd management in the past. Nick Gunkel, from Belleville, Wisc. south of Madison, has been hunting since he was 12 and has seen the herd wane from DNR regulations.
“In the past few years, I have noticed a large decrease in deer population and haven’t had successful hunting seasons,” Gunkel said. “This has been really discouraging, so I’m excited to see the DNR relax the rules.”
Gunkel described one of his hunting experiences under the current rules. While walking through a river bottom, a 14-point buck jumped up ten yards away from him, Gunkel said.
He could have easily shot it but was unable to fire since he had not shot an antlerless deer yet that season. Gunkel said he was crushed.
The DNR said they hoped the new proposed regulations would increase the number of hunters who go out into the field each year.
“With these additional gestures, we hope to show the hunters that we are listening to their concerns and want them engaged,” DNR Land Administrator Kurt Thiede said. “Wisconsin is a wonderful place for deer hunting.”
The October antlerless deer harvest helped to lower deer population because it focused on harvesting female deer, but some locations have seen a dramatic decrease in deer population due to the early hunt, Thiede said, which is why the DNR intends to end the program.
Another problem facing herd size in Wisconsin is Chronic Wasting Disease, a fatal nervous system disease similar to Mad Cow Disease. Thiede said CWD would be managed by eliminating the Earn-A-Buck program.
Since Earn-a-Buck requires hunters to shoot doe and fawn first, that population has dropped and made it harder in recent years for hunters to be able to shoot bucks. However, CWD has a higher prevalence in bucks, so the program is self-defeating, Thiede said.
