wi opening weekend

had a decent opener saw 25 deer 6 bucks all too small to shoot hope you guys had better luck

8 does on Saturday and 4 does on Sunday! My brothers daughter shot 2 does on Saturday! Otherwise no horns the entire weekend!

Saw 3 deer on Satuday, shot a doe and passed on another doe and a small 6 pointer. Scared up a buck on my way into my afternoon stand which my dad shot. A 7 point 2 1/2 year old, 15.5 inch spread.

Sunday saw 3 deer I pushed up, and then like 5 or so that the neighbors pushed up. All does except one spike and a 6 pointer, which I think then WE pushed up to the landowners 16 year old who shot it for his first buck which was cool.

Overall it seemed VERY slow as far as deer movement, unless someone was moving and pushing deer.

I saw 8 does – no bucks. Our party saw a total of 20-22 deer. Few scrub bucks and does. I have off the rest of the week – we’ll see how it goes – NEVER GIVE UP!!

This was the worst I can ever remember. I saw 1 doe all weekend. Last year I saw around 12 bucks opening weekend. Of the three of us I think we saw about 18 deer all weekend. Way down. Nothing was moving.

Our hunting has been so bad in Bayfield county my Dad is actually considering not going up there next year for the first time in 30+ years. He has seen 3 deer in the last 2 years.

i think that shows that the bucks have stopped rutting and are bedded down to regain energy. On Mossyoak.com the “best days” calendar showed that last friday, saturday and sunday were supposed to be poor movement due to moon phase and solar impact. Throw in this time of year and you have a terrible natural movement

Our hunting party of 6 saw 4 deer all weekend…

The amount of pressure in our area increased significantly. Almost every piece of public ground within 10 miles of the cabin had been pushed by drivers.

This has been the most dissapointing opening weekend that I can’t remember, not to even mention that the drivers took out both the bucks I’ve been bowhunting all year.

Hunted in Pepin County, saw 11 does on Saturday. Sunday morning saw a 2 1/2 year old buck – not a shooter. Hopefully, going back this weekend. Good luck to all.

I saw 4 different bucks and a handfull of does…..none of which were showing any signs of rut.The deer were just on their normal travel corridors early & late in the day.I have better and certainly worse outings.

Saw my first deer today! Slow going and not many shots in the area.

Eau Claire tv reported that registration for opening week-end was 25% down from last year. Local talk around Alma says the same thing. I haven’t seen a deer from my stand yet. Maybe EAB is taking effect.

Getting used to seeing very few deer, my tally from the ever present 5 shot volleys, anything brown was getting lead thrown at it (EAB 59B), some guys most likely had to go back to town for shells. Couple years back I asked a county conservation guy whom I know very well how the DNR managed deer on private lands–his answer was “they can’t”.
So, macromanagement is what they do, areas where access is still available and hunter numbers are now seeing the repercussions of cheap doe tags and buck fawns being counted as female deer. Funny how shooting a baby buck qualifies you to shoot an adult buck.
If you are a landowner you can combat this, actually very effectively..simply limit the number of does your group shoots per year and let 1 1/2 year old bucks go. On our land (60 acres) everyone can shoot one doe per year, that way everyone can be qualified for EAB and get some shooting in-plus we like eating does. That keeps everyone happy since 1) they get to shoot something 2) They get qualified for EAB 3) We end up seeing more big bucks every year. We have accepted the fact that if we leave key areas alone and simply hunt the escape routes we 1) See deer running thru the property 2) See deer that have not left the property.
Here is proof it works: Saw not many deer opening weekend, but did see the right one.

Jeremy

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Eau Claire tv reported that registration for opening week-end was 25% down from last year. Local talk around Alma says the same thing. I haven’t seen a deer from my stand yet. Maybe EAB is taking effect.

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I have already gotten two emails this week from hunters in the Arcadia Fountain City area who sent the DNR some nastygrams about how few deer they have seen. I think EAB is REALLY taken effect. If I had to guess, I would say the deer herd is down 50% over 1993 levels. There are less people driving and pushing deer, but we are seeing probably 20% of the deer we saw 15 years ago.

Anyone know what the DNR deer per square mile goals are in Western WI?

Our group took 6 does and 2 nice bucks between Saturday and Sunday but it was the quietest opening weekend I have heard hunting in Buffalo county. My son was hunting for the first time and we saw 6 deer on Saturday including a nice buck but he was chasing 2 does and was not interested in stopping to give us my boy a shot (I was not hunting). We saw a few more deer Sunday night but again, just out of position and range but we’ll try again tomorrow. There were definite signs of rut activity where we were at

59B 15 deer or less per square mile of deer habitat. That is why we have had years of EAB, unlimited antlerless tags–we are seeing the repercussions of years of this. When asked why we are at 15 deer or less, the wardens and biologists can not give you a straight answer since this number is state mandated and was decided on a long time ago. So theorically, if one group has a square mile of habitat containing 20 deer and 15 were shot off–your left with 5. Some years ago on public TV there was a deer program done by the DNR in which they surveyed a central WI unit via plane in the winter. This was done in a grid format, the determination was approx. 40-60% of the zone was devoid of deer—their conclusion was that maybe hunters were telling the truth when they said they did not see any deer on their properties—there were not any there to see.
This same study also documented the effect of corn piles (referred to as the golden glow as it stuck out from the air like a sore thumb) on deer concentration in wooded units.
Think we have to accept the good ole days of deer hunting in WI are memories; the WI deer herd is exactly where the DNR wants it to be numbers wise and have no interest in allowing the herd to grow. If you are one of the few with a honeyhole and not effected by this current horrible trend–thank your lucky stars and buy the landowner a turkey dinner.

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Think we have to accept the good ole days of deer hunting in WI are memories; the WI deer herd is exactly where the DNR wants it to be numbers wise and have no interest in allowing the herd to grow.

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I agree with this, which is one reason I asked the question. I think it’s time we look into electing legislators who want to see some changes within the DNR. Yes, I understand there is some reasons for lower numbers (car deer collisions, crop damage, etc), but there is also reasons for a larger deer herd for the hunter, and who is actually paying the DNR to manage the deer herd (and other resources)? It the hunters and fisherman of the state. I’m so sick of fighting the DNR on stuff when it theory they are supposed to be looking out for the sportsman’s interests. Seems they are more interested in the lobbists money (insurance companies, lakefront property oweners, etc.).

If you’re thinking of running for office in WI and one of your major platforms is making changes in the DNR, you got my vote.

We have 16 guys in our group and we have shot 8 deer in 4 days. I live just up the street from the local kwik trip in Fountain city and see little to no orange registering deer. The buffalo county game warden stopped and talked to us sunday afternoon and said registration is way down.

I hunted Buffalo County near Cochrane and it was the quietest opener of the last five. Fewer shots were heard. For me personally, I saw more bucks and more quality bucks than ever before. I saw 4 in three days and two were eights, I had a tough time passing on them but they weren’t overly impressive eights. Next year they’ll be awesome.

I got my doe early Saturday but it was only 1 of 4 that I saw. Our group of 5 took three deer.

Driving home Monday afternoon, I went from Cochrane to Alma to Mondovi and Hwy 10 through Ellsworth back to R. Falls and Hudson. I have another theory on low numbers.

Four letter word ….CORN. There’s a ton of it left in the fields. More than I’ve noted before this time of year. Any farmers verify this? This has to provide deer with a safe haven. I’m betting 10 deer/acre in some of those bordering wood.

Last year when I dropped off my deer in Mondovi I was last guy in on Sunday night and #599. This year, at 3 pm on Monday I was #605. Might be down a little.

I’ll be back out Sat. and Sunday!!

ET

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Think we have to accept the good ole days of deer hunting in WI are memories; the WI deer herd is exactly where the DNR wants it to be numbers wise and have no interest in allowing the herd to grow. If you are one of the few with a honeyhole and not effected by this current horrible trend–thank your lucky stars and buy the landowner a turkey dinner.

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Exactly!! I remember when it all started. When they started tossing tags to hunters like candy and all the deer camps were bragging about kill numbers like they were on a pheasant hunt. It’s a shame the heard has to be so low and a shame some hunters have to be so greedy.