Just a little something I sent to the WDNR this morning.... Im not sure what the Wisconsin DNR is trying to prove when it comes to hunting these days, but what ever youre doing it has to stop! The DNR has hunters believing there are deer behind every tree. Wrong. Ive been bow hunting all season long and can count on 2 fingers the amount of deer I have seen since opening day of bow season. I have spoken to roughly 50 other hunters from around the state that are saying the same thing. There are no deer! You have accomplished your mission by reducing the deer herd to virtually nothing. Sure there may be some areas with larger herds but thats not the case throughout the state. Ive spoke to people in CWD zones that are not seeing deer as well. Now you hit us where it really hurts and want to extend the gun season an extra week. This is a bad move on your part. Hunters are not happy with this proposal and you are going to be getting your ears full. If you want to manage the herd correctly the DNR has to listen to the hunters. We are the ones out there every day trying to put food on our tables and enjoy the opportunity to hunt. Its a choice we make. We dont have to give the state our money, but we do because we enjoy the tradition of being out there with family and friends. Now its not so much fun. Its becoming more work than anything else. At least 97% of the hunters I have spoken to throughout the state via certain websites, have all said the same thing. "We need things back to the way they used to be." I beleive there were more deer shot back when it was buck only gun season with the option to buy a bonus tag or hunters choice. When I started bow hunting, it was nothing to see 20-40 deer in one day. Now im lucky to see 1. Of all the properties I have the option to hunt of close to 1500 acres total, in 3 different counties, 400 acres of them are private land, im lucky to see any deer at all. WE DEMAND A CHANGE! We do not want an extra week of gun hunting, we dont need all the special zones, and we sure in the hell dont want to slaughter the herd, although its probably too late for that. LISTEN TO US! I will be more than likely be posting an article in local papers througout the state as well as in Wisconsin Outdoor News. I would rather see a 3 point minimum antler restriction than all this garbage that has been going on for the last 5 years! Its time for a change. We need this change! If this continues I know 50 people the WDNR will not be getting money from anymore. Take all the bow hunting licenses, fishing, gun licenses, small game license costs and multiply that by 50. You do the math. Thank you for your time and Im sure my word means nothing.
Awwwee... poor Wisconsin bowhunters. Now you know what its like to hunt much of Illinois.:D I swear you guys aren't ever happy unless you're seeing 20 deer a day. In a 2 hour sit. I hunt Wisconsin public land and see more there than in my home state on private.. and all I ever hear from you guys is complaints. Which I find entertaining. I'm not from your state.. so I won't comment on this anymore.. but isn't getting the deer herd numbers down the whole point of a managed herd? I'm sure this will be quoted and bashed for the next 2 days..
NO OFFENSE wisbowhtr!!! But you dont know what $hitty hunting is yet IMHO....come and hunt in MN sometime and you guys will realize just how fortunate you really are! I drive semi through your area wisbowhtr and you wouldnt believe the deer I see at night....so maybe you are just having a bad run of luck or something.....I hunted here last yr and logged over 100 hrs on stand and never saw a deer! While others were shooting deer all season, so I think the problem is that maybe the deer arent as populated where you are hunting??? I feel the same way about MN DNR....u think its bad over there? Try hunting here where they are constantly changing $hit for the worse!!! I can drive all damn day in MN while trucking and never see a deer and I come out there and there are deer everywhere!!! And some monsters not to mention....I think you guys maybe got spoiled before and now it seems horrible to you...But I wouldnt know because I dont live there, but from what I have read in the outdoor news....you guys have it good! Just my .02 Seems to me you invited me out there for hunting with you and you told me you saw deer all the time and you would probably be able to get me into some good action too.....Hmmmm so was all this just a crock of $hit then or???.....very confused now!
Tony since I hunt right down the road from you I can attest to the deer population going down the crapper. I think the wolves have more to do with it than over hunting it. Yes the DNR gave free range to hunters to stack deer up like cord wood but I never did that by my place and neither did my neighbors and we still seen a decline in the last 2 years. My trail camera proves that. If you want to ***** to the DNR about something ***** about opening a wolf season.
Wow..I was considering a move to the Mid-West, but, now I think I'm gonna stay in NJ cuz its apparent that there are way more deer, here. I hope the situation in your State is remediated. It sometimes seems as if there is a conspiring group, or, interest that wishes to completely eradicate the entire whitetail herd, throughout their States. Good luck, stay vocal and get the job done !!
I think that the last winter, logging and baiting have more to do with low sightings the the DNR or Wolves. The area I hunt around has changes so much in the past 10 years (ie. maturing stands, new clear-cuts, mild winters, severe winters, influx of hunter numbers). Nature changes, you got to roll with it. Keep in mind that the most of WI & MN didn't have much if any whitetail until logging began. Just moose, woodland caribou, and yes... wolves.
i hunt in middle wisconsin. now i never saw 20-40 deer even in a season, bow and gun. i do however agree somewhat with you. the herd estimates always seem to be much lower than what the dnr says. there are so many variables that go into what we see though, weather, moon, wind, temp., location, ect. also along with that how much noise we make getting to and from stands, hunting pressure, scent, there is so much that that can screw us in the woods that my idea of herd #'s vs. my brothers hunting on the same 169 acres can be way different. the dnr pissses me off too but no matter what they decide to set up as far as estimates, season length, or earn a buck... whatever , there will people that think it's wrong and sucks. hope you see more and get a good buck
I couldn't agree more that the DNR is decimating the deer herd in Wisconsin. This is becoming more apparent year after year. Every Hunter I've spoken to in my area is saying "NO DEER" ! I live and hunt in northern Wisconsin and all the earn a buck and special hunts have taken their toll. I've heard theroy's about the DNR reducing the deer heard because of pressure from Insurance companies. Who knows, anything is possible, but there is no dispute about the deer numbers. I've talked to a land owner that has an old apple orchard on his property and has always had deer. This year he said he hasn't seen one deer! I think from Wolves, special doe hunts, earn a buck have all taken their toll. The Wolf population is exploding too, the DNR can estimate their numbers all they want, but there are many more than they think. The DNR is commonly referred to the Department of no results by those who know, however this time there is a result of their actions.
I actually saw 3 deer tonight! Now my total is 5 for the season. I guess I've got nothing to complain about.
Guys I can tell you Northen MI NELP went through this in the 90's. I can also tell you now the buck hunting has never been better there. They are bigger on average and the rut is more like the rut is suppose to be. We have to remember states like MI, WI, and Minn have mis-managed the deer herd for a long time. It's not going to be fixed over night
It shows a lot of character to find pleasure in other peoples pain. Just remember we Wis complainers are fighting hard so you out of staters can come and enjoy a cheap quality hunt.
Wow...I like how you lump ALL WI bowhunters into one bunch Duke! I know I'm not here for your entertainment, but if you want to point fingers so be it. The fact that you aren't from WI says a lot being you come and hunt here when it's convenient for you, and you can very easily avoid all the BS we have to put up with as a bowhunter here. As some of my fellow WI "complainers" have already pointed out, with all the special hunts with RIFLES during some of the best times in archery season it makes things quite difficult at times. Of course you wouldn't know this because you can just stay home in IL. I also find it funny how many of you folks from IL love to flock to WI to hunt, but your precious state only allows so many out-of-state tags. I think all the bordering states should only allow the number of IL people to hunt their states that IL lets in....how would that be for you? I am not concerned with the deer numbers because I have believed that an EAB program was more than a little needed to help the herd overall. I do have a problem with the longevity in which the DNR has chosen to use it. The DNR didn't keep close enough tabs on things when they worked so hard to get the deer numbers back from what they were in the early 60's that they failed to see the population boom. By the time they really noticed it, the damage was already done, and the herd numbers were simply out of control. I am not hearing complaining about not seeing drre because they believe their numbers are way down, but more so because of all the standing corn from the exceptionally wet fall we've had. What I am hearing BOWHUNTERS complaining about is the proposed season changes for next year's hunting season structure. The fact that it seems the DNR is continually bending over bowhunters to appease rifle hunters whining about who gets to hunt the rut is simply sickening, and for ANYONE that bowhunts in WI should have voiced their opinions on the DNR website about taking even more time away from us. I would guess you, Duke probably didn't because you would loose out on some ENTERTAINMENT if the new structure didn't go into effect. If you enjoy hunting here in WI so much Duke; perhaps you should take a good look at what really goes on here all the time and not just when you feel like showing up.
Upstate NY has a low amount of deer too, I've only seen 1 this year. All my buddies that hunt NJ are seeing them left and right. Next year im hunting NJ!
Uhh, there's no deer here. We told them all to leave. Dont waste your time hunting here. Just trying to save ya the trip(s) !! In all reality, NJ is packed with Whitetails. Every year, towns throughout the State hold management hunts, some have contracts with depredation companies which literally slaughter hundreds, if not thousands of deer. This is on top af a 50k-60k deer-per-year hunter harvest. Yet, they still dont seem to decrease, all that much(some areas more so than others) Im not sure that we have "more" deer here, we just live in close proximity. We've literally built-up right on top of them. So, we've condensed them, which makes them more visable..
Wow.. I say one little thing and here comes the rally of troops... LOL! I never said your DNR didn't suck.. and I never said you WI hunters don't have to deal with a ton of BS. But I do have a problem with WI hunters who complain cause they didn't see 20 deer in tonights sit. BOO-HOO. And you can quote me on that one.
