Anyone else get one of these?

Just received a WI DNR survey in the mail regarding my 2013 deer hunting experience. Any one else get one?

Didn’t get one yet.

Do they have a check box for “It Sucked”?

Nut

I haven’t received one yet for 2013, but have received them for past years. I may be incorrect, but I thought they came out in January because of the “Holiday Anterless Slaughter Incentive” and the other hunts they toss in there.

I’m sure I’ll get beaten up for this one….but I wish we (WI) would get out of the so called traditional 9 day hunt and break the zones into multiple seasons like Colorado or Wyoming.

Randy,

I won’t beat you up on it but I would like a little more of your opinion as to how it would benefit the hunt experience, I might be game if it makes sense. The DNR has put this question of changing the 9 day hunt on the spring ballot questions and it has been shot down by the majority hunters mainly due to tradition.

Darrin, I just don’t like 600,000 guys hitting the woods all on the same day. Yes, there are parts of WI that has a low density of hunters…while others have way too much. I prefer to hunt whitetails on their natural patterns – not getting chased farm to farm to farm……until they are eventually shot.
I also like the variety of “seasons”. Strictly as an example – Unit 71 (for 2014) starts archery, then a muzzle or archery, early gun or archery, late gun, then Archery and closed. For 2015 it may open muzzle, then archery, then gun…. so all the weapon choices rotates through the early to late season over the coarse of 3 or 4 years. Archery accounts for a small number of kills, so leave archery as an “or” type weapon with it also having its own specific season.
Many or our elder hunters could enjoy the years of the early gun hunt in their unit with the much warmer weather. Same goes for our young hunters that haven’t developed that love for bitter cold yet.

Then it spreads out the seasons so you have limited hunters per unit in a season. Very similar to our turkey seasons. Its a quality hunt to me when my kids or I can target specific deer and get an opportunity to see them on their natural patterns. Having a dozen guys tromping through all the bordering properties to me everyday does nothing more than run deer off to secluded places with no access. I have watched this for 22 years and it is the one and only reason why I miss hunting up in Prentice (unit 25?) area.

Very compelling and I agree with the logic. I bowhunt for the experience, relaxation, and being able to see Deer in their natural behavior. As you say, many of the shots you have during gun season are at running deer. I would support your proposal given that bowhunting would still be an option during the gun seasons. That being said I would not support having to wear blaze orange while carrying a bow during the prime time of October 25th thru Nov 10th. While this may be just a pipe dream now, I hope your model is adopted some day.

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While this may be just a pipe dream now, I hope your model is adopted some day.

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I wish, but the “traditional” 9 day season is something that most guys won’t consider changing. God forbid, in WI you apply for early season and don’t get what you wanted, we’ll have another recall election

I like the idea Randy.
Our herd can’t support it in many places right now but I like the idea of a hunter being able to purchase buck tags and using them with whatever weapon they see fit. I think Iowa does it already. I think residents can shoot 3 bucks? Someone correct me if I am wrong.

It might even be more than that Jon. Watching Bill on Midwest Whitetail, he seems to shoot about 5 good bucks a year. That’s probably exaggerating it a bit, but I’ve often wondered how many tags the residents get down there.

I would like to see the herd managed on a county by county basis. This works out in SD, but then again that’s very different terrain.

A Iowa resident I believe can shoot 2 bucks.One gun,one bow.

Darrin, I thought of this later. Based on you not wanting to wear blaze orange in oct. What if you didn’t draw a tag for that week? Would you apply for option b or c? What if muzzle or a gun season landed on that week for that unit on that given year? Would take another unit, differ season???? Surprisingly, I got a couple pus encouraging me to present this at the spring hearings. Interesting. …but I still think the mass of guys want the 9 days around Thanksgiving and could give a crap about quality hunting.

My biggest drawback to the model Randy’s proposing is that it doesn’t bode well for “hunting camp”. I’m every bit as attached to all the guys getting together every fall as I am to the hunt itself. Trading stories….. daily details….. formulating strategies.

We don’t have the ability to really push deer around and the only running deer we deal with are either a buck running a doe hard or one of us kicks one out of it’s bed, which isn’t often because we don’t want to possibly interfere with another party’s hunt. In our coyote discussions, it should be evident what I’m hunting in and one guy roaming around isn’t pressuring the heck out of the deer.

I look forward to the camp. The group. The comradarie. If our camp got split up because we were given different “seasons”, I wouldn’t enjoy it as much. I do so much hunting on my own as it is, I’d really hate to endanger the one thing that brings all us guys together.

Granted, in high attendance areas, I can see the attraction but I’m on private land and honestly, none of our neighboring camps practice drive techniques either.

For me, personally….. I don’t know….. If I want warm weather hunting, I should move to Texas or take up archery. I have no intentions of going to TX so archery it is.

I do think more people would be interested in muzzleloader season if it preceded the open gun season. It would also aggravate the archery audience because they hate having to wear blaze orange during “their” season.

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A Iowa resident I believe can shoot 2 bucks.One gun,one bow.

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Unless you are a resident landowner, then you can shoot 3 bucks. Statewide anysex bow tag, statewide anysex gun tag, and a anysex tag specifically for the land you own.

Interesting idea, I fail to follow on how this would reduce pressure on an individual unit level though. If unit say 59D has the rifle season on day ‘X’ to day ‘Z’, all the hunters in that unit will still be hunting the same days. Now if your on the edge of a unit that may change some as the unit across the highway isn’t getting pressure.

I could see it backfiring, in that you may get a fair amount of hunters (especially if they still pass out buck fawn, ohh, I mean antlerless tags like candy) that will now hunt multiple seasons in multiple Zones and in theory per square mile per day of season you have ‘more’ hunters in the woods as these hunters now don’t have to choose one place/season to hunt, unless each unit/season has its own tag and you can only choose one, or at least have to pay full price to get multiple zones/seasons (if that’s the case I could get more behind it).

I like the line of thinking, just not sure its going to help the herd or the experience except for a few groups.

I wouldn’t mind going to a 1 buck/year system, if I could fill it with my bow and not even have to step into the woods during the 9 days of lead rain, wouldn’t bother me a bit (granted I could do that now, but if your going to dangle the chance of a second buck in front of me, I’m gonna give it a try(hasn’t happened yet in 20 years though, but I’m pickier on the bucks I shoot). Knowing out DNR we would have to issue twice as many buck fawn, dang it that’s twice, I mean antlerless tags to make up for it though.

In case someone hasn’t caught on yet I have serious issues with the current definition of ‘antlerless’ also. They ought to make buck or doe fawn one of the options you have to fill out (unless they do now, I’ve ate nothing but tag soup the last 2 years), at least then you’d have to publicly announce that you shot something that just stopped sucking on moms teat 3 months ago. (I know of 4 (buck fawns, 3 others that were doe fawns, plus any I don’t know about) shot on properties surrounding ours this year so I’m not quite over it yet).

As to the original question, I have not gotten one this year, last one I got was in 2009 or 10 I think.