ABOUTI can’t assist but smile every fall when the DNR issues reminders and suggestions to hunters preparing for Wisconsin’s deer seasons.
AND DNR press release On September 12, it recommended: “Help maintain a healthy herd: avoid baiting and feeding deer.”
To avoid?
Perhaps the Wisconsin State Patrol should take the DNR’s lead and issue press releases with the following recommendations: “Help reduce motor vehicle fatalities: Avoid driving 90 miles per hour on two-lane highways, especially if you have not avoided drinking excessively in the last three hours “.
Shesh. Just say, “Don’t do it!”
After all, it is it is illegal to harass and feed deer in 64 (88%) of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. As of September 13, harassing and feeding deer is only legal in Ashland, Bayfield, Brown, Door, Douglas, Iron, Kewaunee and Price counties.
At least the DNR press release explains why we should “avoid” being mockers. Unnaturally baiting and feeding concentrations of deer in compact areas, creating situations where infected deer can quickly spread CWD.
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This is no compact thing, considering CWD has now been detected in at least one wild deer in 46 (64%) of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. As noted in the press release, CWD kills any infected deer. Sick deer can spread CWD through saliva, urine, feces or blood. Moreover, the causative agent of CWD, prions, can remain infectious in the soil for long periods of time.
The day before, DNR press release When announcing the state’s four-month deer season for crossbows, compound bows and conventional archery equipment, he didn’t even mention the disease. How can the agency discuss deer or deer hunting without drawing attention to CWD, given Wisconsin’s fame as the world leader in infected whitetails?
Sigh. The DNR is not only ignoring the elephant in the room, but also the one who raids the snack bar and the one who spits tobacco juice into the punch bowl.
It’s true that Wisconsin’s arrow seasons offer hunters great opportunities to hunt antlerless deer. Deer soon change their activity patterns as summer fades away and more archers and eventually gun hunters become available.
We also appreciate the agency’s gentle reminders to stay sheltered by wearing a full-length safety harness when hunting from tree stands and maintaining three points of contact when climbing ladders or tree steps.
And yes, we recognize that the combined forces successfully thwarted CWD control efforts with penniless regulations and flawed plans for 2011-2014. Specifically, the culprits are former state senator Tom Tiffany, former DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp, former Natural Resources Board member Greg Kazmierski, and our former deer czar, Dr. James Kroll.
Yes, they created this mess, but Gov. Tony Evers and former DNR Secretary Preston Cole made no effort to throw off those shackles after Evers’ election in 2018. Who thought you could twiddle your thumbs for six years? What’s more, Evers apparently can’t find anyone to run the agency since Adam Payne resigned on November 1, 2023.
We also haven’t seen any thoughts or suggestions on CWD from the Environmental Protection Congress leadership team, the people leading the citizen input process.
Perhaps that’s why the DNR’s Sept. 11 press release about the 2024 archery and crossbow season made no mention of a modest recent rule – NR 10.104(12)(c) – aimed at increasing CWD testing and killing of deer in CWD-infected counties. Beginning this year, hunters will receive a free replacement tag for both sexes if they register an antlerless deer of any age that tests positive for CWD. The tag is valid for the 2024 and 2025 deer seasons in the same unit and land type as the registered deer.
The agency already issues a statewide replacement tag if a hunter registers an antlered deer that tests positive for CWD. None of these tags are specific to a hunting tool.
As with the state deer carcass disposal program, the gender replacement tag for CWD-positive antlerless deer does not come from the DNR, NRB, Governor, Legislature or Congress. The lead author of both efforts was Doug Duren of Richland County, a member of the county’s deer advisory council, or CDAC. Since Tiffany, Stepp and Kazmierski colluded in 2011 to eliminate the for-profit program, despite 15 years of mighty results, the DNR has had no aggressive option to limit deer herds and control the spread of disease.
However, the agency did not aggressively employ the tools it had and later allowed Kazmierski to persuade the NRB to eliminate buck hunting during the holiday hunt. Yes, the DNR drops free antler-only tags on our population, but most hunters don’t shoot more than one deer a year unless forced to do so.
Therefore, given the DNR’s scant deer control capabilities, you would think the agency would regularly remind hunters to test every deer they shoot and employ replacement tags if their deer tests positive. These are the only possible incentives that can encourage more hunting and shooting.
This is especially true for archers, the only group of hunters whose numbers have not declined this century. With the growing popularity of crossbows, Wisconsin now sells nearly 40,000 more archery hunting licenses (297,675 in 2023) than it did in 2000 (258,002). In contrast, it is selling 150,000 fewer gun permits, including 694,712 in 2000 and 541,582 in 2023.
This trend continues until this year. As of August 31, license sales to conservation patrons increased compared to the same date in 2023 and amounted to 0.09%; and crossbows 0.01%; and slightly down for archery – 0.02%; total raise of 0.04%.
You would also think that the DNR would encourage participants in a “learn to hunt” program to shoot an additional antlerless deer. Yes, many novice hunters may only want one deer, but if the scarce opportunity arises to bag two quickly, encourage them to do so.
After all, herds in the immense regions of southwestern Wisconsin offer a 30% to 50% chance that one of these deer will die from CWD. The more beginner deer you shoot, the better your chances of getting a hearty one.
Without question, the DNR and Evers administration inherited a passive and irresponsible deer program that ignores science and emphasizes recreation. Still, Evers and his team could do more to employ hunting to maximize harvests and test more deer.
Contact Patrick Durkin at [email protected].
