Is the WI DNR allowing hunters to take too many deer in this area?

[Boosey]

This will be my 16th year hunting in Grantsburg area and I have noticed a very steady decline of the herd. This year is the worst I've seen. It's been difficult getting my son interested in hunting when nothings coming to the food plots and very few are showing up on the cameras. I take what I use and don't need unlimited permits. Thoughts on this? Agree, disagree? I'm curious what others are experiencing.

[DonBo]

YES!!!! Unlimited antlerless tags in this (and most public land hunting areas around the state) are absurd. So few deer left. I haven't bought a WI tag for two years now because of lack of game. Been hunting up there since 1971 and this is the least amount of deer I've seen in all those years.

Note to DNR: Stop handing out antlerless tags like candy!

[harvey lee]

North Dakota in the past 5-7 years handed out tons of deer tags. I should say they were offered for sale as they were not free. The deer herd was maybe a bit too high.

Now in the past 3 winters with them being so hard and a few wet springs being bad for the fawns, our deer numbers are way down.

I guess the DNR gets tons of pressure from farmers and insurance company's due to losses that they felt they had to cut the herd. Then the hunters complain that there are not enough deer.

I would hate to have this juggling act to keep the farmers happy so they do not have alot of crop damage, same with the claims for car deer accidents. if they let the herd drop, then the hunters are not happy.

Wish I knew what the answer was.

[Boosey]

DonBo. I'm right there with you on the license thing. I own some property and a cabin there, but it's pretty much just for deer hunting. It might be time to sell and spend my tax dollars in another state. I used to see 1-8 deer pretty much every stand. Now, I'm luck to see one in a weekend. This is my stepdads 50th year bowhunting this area and he hasn't seen a deer in 8 stands. I've hunted South Dakota, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconin in the past 3 years and In my opinion Wisconin has the worst management (unlimited tags, baiting), followed closely by MN (Rifle season during the rut). MI has the best, (again just my opinion. I know it's not supposed to be easy, but if this sport is going to continue the only way is to get youth started. They need to see something to be bitten by the bowhunting bug.

[Jarrid Houston]

I will chime in on this issue since I hunt the Grantsburg area, and also Cushing, area.

The Grantsburg area I hunt is mostly public land, but we do have a private 80 in the middle of most the public land for our "base-camp". I can tell you over the course of the last 10 years I have seen deer diminish, and number of hunters increase. Most of the hunters we see on a daily basis are sporting the MN plates. It does not bother me that they hunt, it is everyones right. However it does bother me that they buy the extra tags, and use them. Some of them caravans are meat lockers! Shooting whatever they can see. I thank the guys that take there deer, and leave some for others to shoot. Same as fishing. If we keep everything it hurts population. I strongly dissagree with the over the counter doe permits, and I hope that after this season the DNR will finally realize that the hurd is hurting in the Grantsburg area!!!

The Cushing area that I hunt is nicer, for I have a great 40 acre private spot to hunt that is surrounded by lots of other private lands. Its nice to not run into strangers in the woods. I think that the hurd is okay in this area, but if everyone bought out the permits, and used them up, it too will take a toll.

I am super excited for deer hunting, just like every year. I take off work for the whole season, so I am one of those guys who puts in my time. Both during the gun season, and other times of the year. It can be quite frustrating to put in all the time,and have no deer to show for it! Good luck yall and be safe!!!

[Bagley]

Where we hunt East of Grantsburg it seems like the deer numbers have slowly been dropping since I've been hunting there in the mid 90's. It used to be nothing to see 10 deer per sit. Now its a really good sit if you see 3. About 6 years ago we started to practice QDM along with a few of the neighbors. It has really been working. We may not have the numbers we used to but we have a lot more mature bucks roaming the property then ever before.

If more people in the area could get away from the "Whack and Stack" mentality and let a few of those scrubs walk there would be more deer and size to em. It doesn't take long.

[DonBo]

Where we hunt East of Grantsburg it seems like the deer numbers have slowly been dropping since I've been hunting there in the mid 90's. It used to be nothing to see 10 deer per sit. Now its a really good sit if you see 3. About 6 years ago we started to practice QDM along with a few of the neighbors. It has really been working. We may not have the numbers we used to but we have a lot more mature bucks roaming the property then ever before.

If more people in the area could get away from the "Whack and Stack" mentality and let a few of those scrubs walk there would be more deer and size to em. It doesn't take long.

The problem here is, and I'm not picking on you personally, is this: Lots of private landowners in the area do exactly that. Be really picky on what they take off their properties while filling their antlerless tags on the huge tracts of public lands the area has to offer. This skews the deer population densities somewhat, with fewer deer PSM on the public land and inflated deer PSM numbers on private.

If they could somehow allow for more deer to be taken from the private lands while at the same time taking fewer from public lands, well I believe the problem would be solved. However since that will never happen, then I dodn't know what the answer is.

It's awfully easy to let the scrubs walk when you've got a piece of primo private propery to hunt. It's another thing alltogether while hunting public land.

[Bagley]

The problem here is, and I'm not picking on you personally, is this: Lots of private landowners in the area do exactly that. Be really picky on what they take off their properties while filling their antlerless tags on the huge tracts of public lands the area has to offer. This skews the deer population densities somewhat, with fewer deer PSM on the public land and inflated deer PSM numbers on private.

This true for some I know. We don't hunt any of the public land ourselves but I know there are people that love to fill the truck box up. It's tough to do anything about it when it's promoted by the state's DNR.

[Jarrid Houston]

I think the WI DNR has some things to consider after this season. I am predicting the same kill trend will continue this year, and the way they are making this winter season sound so harsh there will be the natural die off. I believe next year, there will be way less deer. And the DNR will have to revamp the regulations. I hate the over the counter deer tags. I know WI is among the best when it comes to trophy deer, but they are out of private lands of Buffalo County etc. Good luck getting one on the private lands of Polk/Burnett. Although it does happen if your lucky!! I think that if they got rid of the over the counter tags or limited them at a least it would help population, and overall building up more of a quality heard!

[Jarrid Houston]

Lets not forget about the population rise of Wolves in the area too! Studies say a single wolf can eat at a minimum 12 deer per year! OUCH...

[klecker]

Headed up there Friday. Thinking its going to be a tuff year, by what we have seen or "not" seen this fall. Looks like we will gave a litle snow by Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Still should be fun times had by our camp. Good luck to all and be safe.

[Boosey]

Just curious what people's thoughts are now on the population numbers that the official toll is -38% harvest in Burnett county for the 9 day firearms season. It's not a public land versus private land issue. It's not out of state hunters. It's bad management!. Unlimited tags for $2 every day as many as you want and the kill was down 38%. That is statistically significant no matter how you look at at. I agree with Jarrid in that they should ban over the counter tags to keep the horders in both WI and MN honest. In fact I think they should not offer and doe tags until the population recovers (except continue to offer one of either sex for youth and through the mentor program hunts). There is some good depate going on right now on the Wisconsin DNR's page on the most popular social networking site since they released the numbers.

[DonBo]

I'm sure the DNR will explain away the lower harvest (like they've always done) on something other than lack or deer. "The big storm of July 1st knocked down so many trees that huge areas were unaccessable" comes immediatly to mind.

I did not gun hunt WS this year, but have many friends who hunt zone 10. Mostly the ones who hunted the north end (North of 70) saw very few deer and heard even less shooting, while those hunting down in the "Barrons" of the southern end of the zone did quite well.

[Jarrid Houston]

That is an accurate account of what I got out of this season t0o.