Trouble is in the northern part of the state there is very little deer! The wolfs and bears eat them.
There is one flaw to the article. It seems to be assuming that the DNR intends to meet the "quotas" when in fact, they only intend for a percentage of the numbers to actually be reached. It is really the only way it can be done. They look at historical data on how many tags have been issued and how many of those tags get filled combined with estimate on herd size and how many they want killed. If they want 20,000 harvested in a zone, and that zone typically fills 50% of its tags than they have to issue 40,000 tags. Now if that zone does better than expected you can expect the numbers to be lower the following years. I can see an issue with the farmland in the middle of the state. I drive through it every day and in the evenings I can see fields filled with 30,40 and higher deer and I hear people in the area complaining about not having enough deer and at the same time farmers are complaining that there are to many deer wrecking their crops. It seems like farmers are not letting enough people hunt their land to have the number of tags needed to control the local numbers.
I'm sure there is a lot of truth to other theories ipregarding a lower than claimed population via predation, disease etc. However, I was wondering if anyone else feels that WI deer in general, and bucks specifically are just crazy nocturnal. I run trail cams in northern Indiana, central Michigan, and central WI. Public land in IN and MI, private in WI with all private low pressured QDM lands surrounding that WI parcel. All our WI neighbors bowhunt lightly if at all. Based on my trail cams, damned if WI deer aren't the most nocturnal of all these states. Come October, the bucks go nearly 100% nocturnal in our area, and does and even yearlings are almost as bad. Not much better even in peak rut. I see dozens of deer, good percentage to even majority of which are bucks, on trail cams almost every night from 8pm-4am. Nearly zero during daylight hours. And I only hunt up there 2-3 weekends a year so it's not like I'm pushing or spooking them. Maybe I just hunt an odd area...but it's covered in good white and red oaks that they absolutely hammer so it's not like we lack forage.
Even nocturnal deer leave tracks and droppings. Central and northern Wi. are like two differant states. Talk to the people who hunt up there and you will hear that most of the deer are gone. In my area it has been buck only for any season for three years. The deer cannot come back when everything eats them.
Even in the buck only units there are still hundreds of doe's taken each season in those units. DNR deer management goals are about 15 deer per square mile. That's 640 acres. Now you own a 40, that leaves 600 acres that they can roam and never be seen by you. But yet the the deer are at management goal. Deer need 4 things. Food, Water, Bedding area, and security. If you land has 1 or 2 your land is marginal at best for holding and seeing deer. Here is a tip from an old deer hunter that you will never hear from QDMA and the Plotters. Set up your land with great bedding and Security. Food plots are great BUT most activity will be at last light or after dark. If you make your land their core area and hunt the fringes your deer sightings will go up.
Here are the latest goals for WI that I've been able to locate. Doubt they have changed much. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/documents/abungoals.pdf
That's a great map but I wonder who came up with the numbers. To me 25 deer per square mile seems awful low, if you break down a sq/mi into 80 acre pcs that are all deer inhabitable and you have 4 guys on each pcs that's 32 hunters for 25 deer. In some areas I would say that is ok but where I have my land it's all woods with a couple of 40 acre fields in the sq mile my property is at and it can easily sustain more deer then that and has sustained more then that. The only one to benefit from those low numbers are the insurance companies, less deer car accidents + less payout = greater profits
I have no idea who set the numbers. but remember these numbers are where they expect to be after hunting season, so the numbers at the beginning of season are higher. I know where I hunt can handle more than the 21 normally but I also know when we have rough winters like we had 3-4 years ago, it can't. We are sitting on 240 acres, we typically take 5 or 6 deer a year. Assuming we are average that is a shift of 10 deer per square mile.
Splitting hairs here but average would be 14 to 15 deer per sq mile. So you end with 25 deer per sq/ml buck to doe ratio is 1 to 2 if your lucky that would give you 16 does with mortality rate and yearlings not giving birth lets just say you get 1 fawn per doe that gives you 16 new deer a year per sq mile a year it seems like it could work out + or - a deer a year! I would really have to watch my age structure to ensure I keep those numbers. IMHO I think in the forest zones the numbers could stand to be a little higher and the places with wolves there is no way to keep those numbers consistent
The Wi. DNR had for years if its brown its down policy. We as hunters should have known we were killing off our future but to many it was hay the DNR says I can so I will. Now, at least in northern Wi., the DNR admints they made a mistake but with their hands tied by the feds on wolfs and to many bears the deer can't come back.
