Look at Marathon county which is where my land is and happens to be the largest area county in the state. Much of the county is straight up farm land with small pockets of woods. Where my land is it is big woods terrain. So this could be a problem no doubt.
I like allowing hunting on the Friday before rifle opener. I would've bought another tag if it was like that this Fall.
These threads lately have given me so much perspective. I see guys whining about having to buy an extra doe tag and complaining about management. Try and hunt in Colorado. They do not sell over the counter deer tags, it is draw only statewide. This year it took an act of God to draw one and if you didn't draw then you got to pick from the leftover list where your chances of being successful take another act of God. We have list A, B & C tags and they all carry their own regulations. If you harvest a single deer in Colorado I consider that a great and successful year. So it cracks me up to see people in other states start whinging when their tags are cut down to only one buck and one doe per season. I just took my wife on her very first hunt to Nebraska on a late season doe tag. I spent $150 for two non-resident doe tags and we got bonus tags to go with them and i felt like i won the lottery. In all honesty I felt a little guilty having 4 doe tags and would have felt like I was doing something wrong had we filled all of them. I understand that management of our wildlife is a very sensitive situation and we all have different ideas of what is best. Just a little perspective.
Wisconsin sells 650,000 gun licenses a year for a 9 day season. 1/2 of those people probably only hunt two days out of the 9. It is a different culture over here.
While you are right to an extent, regulating the gun hunters makes more sense than regulating the archery hunters since they take far more does than the archery hunters. I do think that this has the potetial to help though. Too many years of T-Zone hunts have decimated the doe population (at least where I hunt). I also thnk that predators have played a big role too. Personally I could care less about paying $2 for a doe tag. That isnt going to put me in the poor house.
It doesn't make any sense to whine about it. It does however make sense to be jealous of it. I am jealous that in a lot of states in the midwest you get bonus tags and free doe tags. So to hear guys complaining about an additional cost for a doe tag to me is crazy. Granted, I was not raised in the midwest and it seems like a lot of the complaints are being backed by tradition of "this is how it has always been" and that's perfectly fine. I have never lived or hunted in Wisconsin so I have absolutely no place in trying to offer advice. I was just adding a little perspective.
I like all the changes except the bonus buck tags. The online registration works great in other states so it should work here. It'll be interesting to see what kind of people they put on the county committees. If they get people that truly care about the herd, I think hunting quality will rebound in the state. Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk
I kinda like it so far. But, I don't need to shoot 4 or 5 deer a year. 2 is my max. One usually being an early season doe. I hunt in a heard reduction zone, 54A, and didn't see a deer the whole gun season this past year and hunted 6 full days, dark to dark. The only way to increase the quality of hunting is going to be by restricting it one way or another. The 138 zones now are kinda difficult to understand if you were to go to a new area. Dividing up by county lines simplifies it. I also would love to bow hunt the day before gun season. My father typically shoots the first deer he sees. He is a non-resident hunter and spent many years not being able to shoot a doe, as non-residents used to not be allowed. He gets almost as excited over a doe as a buck. So I will always buy the $2 tag, as its $14 for him. At least they recognize a need for change. Lots of *****ing, yet not lots of solutions offered is the WI way.
What do you guys think will happen to the overall buck population with hunters being able to take as many as 3 bucks per year? A lot of hunters do not hesitate to take the first buck they see where I hunt. With that extra buck tag, I think it will be interesting to see how many buck make it through their first couple years without getting shot. Do you guys think that hunters will start to drop their "standards" knowing that they have another buck tag in their pocket? Just something I've been thinking about. I know for a fact that I will not be changing my views on what is a shooter buck for me. What do you guys think about this?
Yes, more young bucks will be shot. For example, I won't shoot a buck under 4.5 years old at our cabin and I had the same standard at our home/farm because I only had one buck tag for the bow. Now, I would shoot a 3.5 year old buck behind the house knowing I could get a second buck tag to use at the cabin. I could see guys doing the same thing with even younger bucks.
The County line as management units also have big problems. Under current system the units are drawn up with something physical like a river or highway so a hunter knows when they cross into another unit. If it goes to a county line that line could be in the middle of the woods. As for shooting multiple bucks, it won't affect me here in the north and I am very happy about that. In areas where it is in effect it will mean a drop in older age class bucks. On private lands that could be up to the landowner but small landowners are at the mercy of those around them.
doesnt sound like much will change down here in walworth county in cwd zones. still no deer down here. at least maybe the dnr is listening to the complaining. ive been emailing back and forth with the wildlife management dnr for my part of the state. after showing him my stats.(84 sits seen deer on 9, 12 cams on 5 properties all private and 1 mature buck). i have a email from him saying he knows this county is done especially the southern half, and told me to try jefferson county cause walworth is going to be dead for the next few years.
