A lot of hunters are blaming the DNR for being too open to all kinds of extended seasons, earn a buck tags, etc.
Some day we'll have to take a page out of the DNR's book to manage humans!
Hunters registered the fewest deer in 27 years in the Wisconsin gun deer season that ended Sunday, according to preliminary data from the Department of Natural Resources.
The 2009 harvest of 195,647 deer (86,251 bucks and 109,396 antlerless deer) represents a 29% drop from 2008. The 2009 buck kill is the lowest since 1980.
In addition, seven hunters were injured in shooting incidents; an eighth incident remains under investigation.
The state sold 638,040 licenses for the season; last year it sold 642,419.
“Deer populations are variable throughout the state,” said Keith Warnke, the DNR’s big game biologist. "And we believe people when they say they did not see deer in their hunting area. We have also received reports from successful camps. As always, local populations make all the difference."
The hunt was marked by mild weather, a lack of snow and more standing corn than usual.
This year's registration data showed a remarkable consistency: All 72 counties showed a drop from 2008.
The DNR had anticipated a lower harvest this year because of changes in season structure, a reduction in antlerless permits, lower fawn production and a decline in the deer population in the north and northeast.
You have to go back to 1982 when hunters registered 182,715 deer (97,534 bucks and 85,181 antlerless) to find a lower 9-day gun kill.
"There's a lot of dissatisfied hunters," said Ed Harvey, chairman of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress. "It's one thing to not get a deer. It's another thing entirely to not even see a deer."
The harvest decline was especially pronounced in the north. Year-over-year registrations dropped 62% in Florence County, 59% in Vilas County and 50% in Oneida County.
The state's legally established over-winter population goal is about 740,000 deer. Last year the over-winter herd was estimated at 1 million deer, according to the DNR.
Wisconsin hunters registered 618,274 in 2000, highest of any state on record.
A harsher than average winter in 2007-08 reduced fawn production last year to 0.73 fawns per doe; the long-term average is 0.87.
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/78271777.html