New Hunting Laws Passed

[DonBo]

Earlier this year, the Natural Resources Board approved several new rules pertaining to the current license year hunting seasons. These rules were not immediately in place because they needed to undergo a legislative review process. This process is now complete for these rules, and they will be in effect starting this fall. These changes are not reflected in the printed version of the hunting regulations, but will be updated in the online versions of the regulation booklets in the near future.

These new rules are:

Rifles will be allowed in Waupaca County for the 9-day firearm deer season.

The fall turkey hunting season will be extended for turkey zones 1-5. Turkey hunting will be allowed from November 28 – December 31. This late season has occurred for the past two years during a trial period, but is now a permanent season that will occur annually.

The archery deer season will now be open concurrently with the 9-day firearm deer season. In 2011, the early archery season will run from September 17 – November 17 and the late archery season will run from November 19 – January 8, 2012. Bow hunters will be required to comply with the blaze orange clothing requirement any time a firearm deer season is occurring in the area of the state where they are hunting.

Each period of the spring turkey season will be extended by two days. The dates for each period during the 2012 season are as follows:

Period A April 11-17

Period B April 18-24

Period C April 25- May 1

Period D May 2-8

Period E May 9-15

Period F May 16-22