I guess this season was down 30% from last year. 196K deer taken this year. Last year was down 20% Pretty soon WI will have the whitetail on the protected list and wolves and bear will be giving tags away.
I guess this season was down 30% from last year. 196K deer taken this year. Last year was down 20% Pretty soon WI will have the whitetail on the protected list and wolves and bear will be giving tags away.
soon the gun deer season will run from the middle of november clear through december. already next year i hear it will be a 16 day season. they will keep extending the season based off of their flawed counting. then there will be no deer around and they will be happy.
The weather certainly did not help this year. Warm weather and no snow cover means they did not have to move around near as much.
It hope it goes to 16 days, it's the only way "second week of deer camp" will ever apply. (provided you don't do muzzle loader season currently)
There seem to be a lot of deer, according to my trail cameras and the fields at night. That being said, I saw 2 deer all of gun season.
The real issue seems to be that there also seems to be a lot more wolves which are driving the deer in deep and discouraging much real movement. Speaking to the DNR warden at the registration station, my area near Crivitz has it's own named pack of wolves and there is a ton of evidence of them on our property. The tracks in our sand hill last week looked like thay had a dance party one night. And I hunt enough coyotes to know that these were wolf tracks, that or the yotes are getting into A-Rod's private stash.
And P.S. - On Sunday, Nov 15th, while bowhunting, my cousin and I heard a wolf howl repeatedly at a distance that couldn't have been more than a few hundred yards. Talk about the most bone chilling sound you can hear on a pitch black quiet morning..
Last edited by DirtyMax; 12-02-2009 at 01:26 PM.
I don't think it was weather or wolves. It was mismanagement by the DNR over the last ten to fifteen years (or longer.) Over estimating the herd, seventeen different deer seasons, and handing out doe tags like like flyers for a frat party have decimated the herd.
I do agree with that as well.
We used to be able to pass 20-30 deer opening day and now you're lucky to see one.
I dont know where you hunt but the weather was very warm (in the high 40's) opening weekend which didnt help. Also there are more wolves and bears than there has ever been. If anything was mismanaged it was the bear population. Fawns make up the majority of the feed for bear in the spring/ early summer. I would be willing to bet that the southern regions without bear/wolves had about the same amount of deer shot as in years past, I could be wrong but this is my guess. From what I can tell the further north you go the herd has really thinned out. I did not see one deer that was born this spring at all while I hunted. Every deer I saw was atleast a 1.5 to 2.5 year old. That was while in the stand bow hunting. I did see a few 3.5 and older deer but that was on camera. Last year I could bet that I would see a fawn with its mom almost every time I sat during bow hunting. The fact that I didnt see any this year scares me.
Yes the DNR did mismanage the herd making herd management units and eab units where it shouldnt have been but it goes deeper than just having to many does taken in years past.
this has alot to do with it but we never got at for sure cold snap that pushed all the deer into rut. the wolves are so fucking thick up by use that they sit on the edge of the wood line watching are camp waiting for everybody to go in the trailer so they can go get the ONE deer that was shot between 15 guys opening morning. the wolves where bad last year so bad that when i shot a doe and went to get an atv to bring it back to camp the ass end of it was chewed up by the time i got back to it. THE wolves are so bad that the farm up he road shot a handfull of them and the dnr trapped and relocated them from are area. Then they went back and payed the farmer for all the calfs he lost in spring. If the wolves where off the great lake compact they would be in season.
Last edited by That_Guy; 12-03-2009 at 09:57 AM.
good call. thanks for clearing that up.
da yoopers ftw!
back to the topic. i had a class in high school that focused on the outdoors and whatnot. one of our main projects was analyzing the way the DNR conducts their deer counts. one DNR agent brought in a video tape and pictures of a recent deer counting expedition over a large marsh. he pointed out all the deer they saw and counted. afterwards i asked why they were counting tree stumps and large dark bogs as deer. he got a bit red in the face as the class was laughing and simply stated that objects that appeared to be "non-vegetative" often get counted as deer.
what a joke. they have no idea how many deer are out there.
ugh... i hate you... i mean i really fucking hate you... u are hands down the most ignorant ass on this site.
do a little research on the skinner creek pack..
Spring-Summer wolf surveys were conducted in Wisconsin in 2008, as has been done since 1980, plus
statistics for calendar year 2008 were gathered on gray wolves in the state. A total of 31 wolves were livecaptured
and 29 were fitted with radio collars At least 150 wolf packs were detected in the state. A total of
61 wolves were on the air during the summer period, and a total of 75 collared wolves were monitored for
the year. Dispersals were detected in 8 different wolves. Through howl surveys wolf pups were detected
in 31 of 47 packs examined. A total of 94 wolves were found dead in the state, and most important
mortality factors were euthanized depredators, vehicle collisions, and illegal kill. Wolf depredations
occurred on 32 farms, and 39 wolves and 2 wolf-dog hybrids were euthanized at 14 locations. Wolf kills
included 39 cattle killed, 4 cattle injured, 1 sheep, 1 pig, 2 chickens, 1 llama, 1 deer, 22 dogs killed, and 6
dogs injured.
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/public...t_AprSep08.pdf
Last edited by That_Guy; 12-03-2009 at 10:55 AM.
exactly!
The deer population has suffered from mismanagement by the DNR, not wolves or coyotes, that's just what the DNR wants you to think. 10 years of "earn a buck" screwed us. The only way we'll ever see the herd rebound to numbers like years past is if they temporarily cancel deer hunting for 2-3 years....but that'll never happen.
I've talked to friends in South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia and they ae say the same thing "heard ya'll don't have the deer you used to". Wisconsin USED to be prime whitetail hunting spot...those days are gone!
you're not seriously considering believing what the DNR is telling you about the wolf population, are you? They still claim there are an "over abundance of whitetail deer" in our state. They'll never admit they phucked up, so this is their excuse to why deer hunters aren't seeing the deer they used to.
The longer hunting seasons goes, the better. I rack up the OT like crazy during Deer Hunting
iPedal : AIM:BMXpORK : Milwaukee, Wi : SUICIDEDOORS
"You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves." -Abraham Lincoln
bout time someone tried to hold these clowns accountable.
http://new.wsau.com/news/articles/20...nr-his-target/