I want to hear everyones thoughts on the deer population in Wisconsin. I HATE how the DNR counts the population every year in an arial view from a helicopter. They just go to a certain area where all the deer are and then divide that by the acreage. Then they make a goal for the next years hunt based on that estimate. I just want to hear your thoughts on the deer population and how it is decreasing majorly.
i agree with you 100%. Earn-a-Buck has messed everything up and the dnr doesnt realize that. I recently went to a deer meeting and they were bragging how it was the 4th best year for buck hunters. Well no [censored] it was. We had to kill all those does a few years back now the population is hurting and like you said there is more bucks then does.
Iberg30, I am gonna have to disagree with you on this one. Where do you hunt? Maybe you do not read the deer sign well enough. Personally, I would try moving my stand to a different location. All I know is that deer are smart. There is a reason why they travel mostly at night. I feel that thousands of deer take refuge on unhunted land during the hunting season. Just because you can’t see them, does not mean there not there! Great topic!
proshedhunter, i agree 100%. i truly believe deer take cover in the unhunted timber around us. earn-a-buck wasn’t the worst thing that could happen, alot of people couldn’t even shoot a doe let alone an antlered deer which made alot of bucks bigger.
i’ve only hunted in WI for a total of 3 years. the 1st (2) years were up in Waupaca County in the late 90’s for gun season. Both time i hunted for 3 days and saw over 70+ deer. Last year i hunting in the famed Buffalo County and had the best year of my life (and i didn’t even shoot one). With that said i think the deer #’s are unbelievable. It just comes down to where you have permission to hunt. Some places just hold more deer then others
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It just comes down to where you have permission to hunt. Some places just hold more deer then others
true that, but there are definitely A LOT of areas that took a major hit from all the extra free tags. I spent a lot of hours in the stand this past season around Dane County (CWD areas) and gotta say that this was by far the worst season I’ve ever had and probably the hardest I’ve hunted with less than stellar results. I can’t remember how many hours I had on stand, but I was hunting nearly every day from the end of October through the end of the season and figured out I had about 12 hours on stand for each deer sighting and only saw about a dozen deer the entire season and 4 of those were spotted twice.
I don’t claim to be the worlds greatest bow hunter, but I know enough about deer behavior, reading sign, etc. and been hunting long enough to realize that there is a serious decline in numbers which was the whole idea, but I think it went wayyyy too far.. Granted this was all on public in the CWD area where they want every deer in the woods dead, but according to the DNRs population estimates, I should be seeing plenty of deer. I for one will definitely think twice about shooting a doe for the next few seasons to come.
The bottom line is that I am as guilty as anyone in the state for the decline in the deer population not to mention all the other factors such as harsh winters, predators, etc. As much as we want to blame someone else, it was us that ultimately pulled the trigger. Although I don’t agree with having to earn a buck, I also don’t think that lead to the “demise” of the whitetail in the state. 1 doe 1 buck per lucky hunter isn’t going to wipe out an area. It was all the free tags that came along with the program that tempted us to put more deer down and the sense of security we were given by the alleged enormous deer herd.. While there are definite flaws in the SAK formula, how do you really figure out exactly how many deer there are in any given unit?? But because of these estimates, we were given the extra tags. Put 4 free doe tags in someone’s hand and more often than not they are going to be put to use. Down by me, anyone can get up to 5 free tags a day. Do the math on that and that turns out to be a lot of brown on the ground.
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First off, welcome to IDO hunting!
This has been an often discussed topic here and elsewhere and the conclusion I have come to is that the WI DNR is beholden to their SAK method of counting deer. Where I hunt there are maybe 3-5 deer per square mile. I usually see about 5 different deer the entire bow season and 2-3 total for the gun season. The herd has been decimated by the earn a buck and we now have more bucks than does. I can however find a few fields within 5 miles of me that have 15 deer in them at dusk out feeding in the corn stubble. So if they are flying over enough of these fields it may skew the count no matter how they average it all in.It is up to each of us to now regulate the herd back into a healthy population by not shooting does. This also means shooting bucks that are mature. I haven’t seen a 3 1/2 year old in 5 years now, that tells me some of my neigbors are shooting anything that moves. While I refuse to shoot a doe this year and will pass all bucks under 4 1/2, unless my neighbors do the same, things will not improve because the neighbors will no doubt continue “if its brown its down.”
I have stopped in and talked to atleast a ten of my neighbors, mostly farmers, and they have a large group of hunters, say 6-10 people that are hunting an area no more than 200 acres. Alot of the hunters are from other states or Madison or Milwaukee. They don’t have an interest in QDM and only wish to fill the freezer. This doesn’t bode well for the future unless the DNR imposes a buck only season in my unit.
I have tried explaining to these gentlemen how QDM can benefit the herd and hunters but it has fallen on deaf ears. These guys have been meat hunters forever and invariably throw back at me the phrase “you can’t eat antlers.” Unless you are in Buff county or others where the trophy mentality has a foothold, decent bucks are an anomaly. I wish you luck as I feel your pain.
While I agree with a lot of your post, don’t throw me under the bus just because I am from Madison. I am fortunate enough to have sole access to some decent land in Trempealeau County which for reasons I won’t get into I didn’t hunt this past year and why I spent so much time on the public grounds in my area, I also know that there are plenty of landowners in that area that’ll shoot anything that moves. While I don’t practice QDM out there to a T, I shot my first buck out there 2 years ago and that was my 15th or so season on that land. It was a 2 1/2 year old 10 pointer, nothing huge, but a trophy in my eyes. I’ve seen plenty of mature bucks out there, but haven’t had the opportunity to harvest one. I can’t even tell you how many 2 1/2-3 1/2 year olds I’ve passed over the years including some real dandies, but have always held out for a truly mature animal. I took that one 2 years ago, to sort of get the monkey off my back and was pretty proud of that deer.
just sayin
The numbers are down and the DNR has already put their tails between their legs on this. However, what to do next seemed to be the difficult question. So little changed, yet much was different. Frankly, I wonder if they have a clue at all but I’d like to encourage this:
If you have coyotes in your area, get involved in predator hunting!!! Coyote dens have been found to have as many as 17 fawn skulls found in them and they’re much harder on deer reproduction than once believed. The numbers are already down and the young are vulnerable to these amazing predators. Controlling the number of lost fawns will make a noticeable difference in your area so get involved.
All predator numbers are on the rise so chances are you’ve got some “dogs” near you. Get after ’em cuz QDM alone isn’t going to replace the numbers. As predators increase in number, all your QDM efforts will be for naught if more and more of the young are simply exposed to increased natural predation.
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