Gun deer season designed to speed herd recovery in north

MADISON – The state Department of Natural Resources is proposing a 2010 deer hunting framework with fewer areas targeted for herd control and a larger portion of the state under traditional “buck plus quota” regulations.
To grow the herd in northeast Wisconsin, the department is proposing issuing no bonus antlerless permits in 18 deer management units where populations are well below goal (compared to 13 last year). This year, for the first time, the department is proposing that archers be restricted from shooting an antlerless deer in these units also, consistent with gun hunters and with the support of bow-hunting groups.
The Natural Resources Board is scheduled to act on the proposal at its April 28 meeting in Green Bay.
The department is recommending a regular nine-day season for 66 deer management units. In four seasons (2007-2010) the number of regular units has grown from 22 to 66. Regular units are those where hunters are able to shoot a buck plus a carefully controlled number of antlerless deer with unit-specific permits. Some units would have no antlerless permits available to facilitate maximum deer population growth.
A total of 46 DMUs are proposed for herd control status, down by 10 units from the 2007 season.
Herd control units are those where the deer population is estimated to be more than 20 percent above the healthy population goal for that unit. In addition to being open to unlimited antlerless deer harvest during all deer hunting seasons herd control units will have an additional antlerless deer gun-hunting opportunity October 14-17. There is no limit to the number of antlerless deer permits hunters may purchase for herd control units. Antlerless permits for herd control units are $2 each. In buck-plus-quota units, bonus antlerless permits cost $12 when they are available.

In the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone in south central Wisconsin all 22 units would be earn-a-buck in 2010, a regulation that requires hunters to “earn” a buck permit by shooting an antlerless deer. The number of EAB units in the CWD Management Zone has remained constant at 22 as wildlife officials seek to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease among wild deer.
Final antlerless deer quotas and permit availability for regular units won’t be finalized until late spring. Biologists will continue to track winter and spring weather and fine tune permit levels. So far, winter effects appear to be mostly moderate with a few small areas experiencing severe conditions.

Analysis of the 2009 harvest figures is mostly complete. Deer registrations provided by hunters yield a rich and deep pool of information on hunting success rates, age and sex distribution in the herd and regional population trends. Using these data biologists estimate the 2009 prehunt population was 1.37 million and the post-hunt population, also called the overwinter population, at 990,000.

The estimated statewide post-hunt population of 990,000 is about 25 percent above the new overwinter population goal of 794,000. However, deer populations vary greatly around the state being near or below goal in northern Wisconsin and generally above goal in the farmland regions of the state. Higher overwinter population goals were recently adopted by the Natural Resources Board and approved by the legislature following extensive public involvement, listening and working sessions with hunters, private landowners and stakeholders from agriculture, forestry, university and government.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Warnke (608) 264-6023 or Bob Manwell (608) 264-9248

Source: Wisconsin DNR
http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Lookup.asp?id=219#art2

Wisconsin Hunters register 329,103 deer in 2009

MADISON – Hunters registered 329,103 deer for the 2009 deer hunting seasons. This includes a total antlerless harvest of 191,715 and antlered (buck) harvest of 134,156. The grand total includes 3,232 deer recorded as unknown.

Archery buck harvest up 19 percent
The closely watched total buck harvest for all archery and gun seasons was down 3 percent compared to 2008.

The 2009 archery buck harvest was up 19 percent over 2008 at 41,402 making it the fourth best archery buck harvest in history. Archers accounted for 31 percent of the total buck harvest in 2009. This was up from the 2008 archery buck harvest which accounted for 25 percent of the total buck kill. Gun buck harvest declined by 11 percent last year from 103,845 in 2008 to 92,754, the 29th highest gun buck total on record.

Antlerless harvest was carefully regulated on a unit-by-unit basis through the bonus permit process. In 2009, 13 deer management units had no antlerless permits available to gun deer hunters in an effort to promote strong deer population growth in those units. Gun bonus permits were limited in many other units that were near established population goals.

In 2008 gun hunters registered 246,607 antlerless deer. In 2009 the number was146,917, a decrease of 99,690 or approximately 40 percent. The greatest changes in antlerless deer harvest occurred in the northern forest where hunters registered 30,431 antlerless deer compared to 56,607 in 2008. This 46 percent reduction in antlerless harvest was due to a reduction in antlerless deer tags available in the northern forest. The eastern farmland also saw a greatly reduced antlerless harvest with more than 31,000 fewer antlerless deer registered, a 47 percent decrease from 2008. The decrease in the eastern farmland region is largely due to the suspension of Earn-a-Buck hunting requirements.

The statewide post hunt population estimate is 990,000, down slightly from 2009. Regional populations vary widely in Wisconsin and in northeastern Wisconsin deer populations are generally below desired goals. Populations are higher in the rest of the northern and central forest regions and above goals in the eastern, western and southern farmland regions. Hunters interested in learning more about local populations are encouraged to attend a deer management unit information meeting in their area. Meeting locations and dates are available online or by calling the DNR Info line at (888) 936-7463.

Winter severity recording stations will continue to report through April and this fall’s antlerless harvest quotas will be finalized after all winter severity data are collected. March is a critical month for northern deer herds. Harsh weather in March can result in greater mortality and lower fawn production as deer can be in a weakened condition at the end of winter.

2009 Season Highlights

Gun and bow harvest by ecological deer management regions

Regional Bow Totals

Region -   Antlered - Antlerless - Unknown Total

Central Forest - 2,491 -  3,284 - 37 - 5,812

Eastern Farmland - 10,950 - 9,961 - 80 - 20,991

Northern Forest - 8,866 - 10,093 - 103 - 19,062

Southern Farmland - 10,403 -13,103 -674 -24,180

Western Farmland - 8,691 - 8,354 - 147 - 17,192

Unknown - 1 - 3 - 0 - 4

Total - 41,402 - 44,798 - 1,041 - 87,241

Regional Gun Totals

Region - Antlered - Antlerless - Unknown Totala

Central Forest - 5,725 - 11,769 -101 - 17,595

Eastern Farmland - 20,829 - 27,337 -256 -48,422

Northern Forest - 22,540 - 20,338 -175 - 43,053

Southern Farmland - 23,828 - 51,700 - 1,350-  76,878

Western Farmland - 19,830 - 35,772 - 309 - 55,911

Unknown - 2 - 1 - 0 - 3

Total - 92,754 -146,917 -2,191- 241,862

Tribal Totals

Antlered - Antlerless -Unknown Total

540 -842 - 0 - 1,382

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Warnke, DNR big game ecologist, (608) 264-6023 or Bob Manwell, DNR communications, (608) 264-9248

Source: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource
Site: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Lookup.asp?id=213#art1