Weekly News Article Published: August 24, 2010 by the Central Office
MADISON – Archery deer hunters no longer have to wait three days after purchasing a license during the open season to begin hunting in Wisconsin. The State Legislature removed the three-day waiting period restriction during the recent legislative session at the request of the Department of Natural Resources.
“The law has outlived its usefulness,” said Tom Van Haren, DNR conservation warden. “The three-day waiting period is an obstacle for young hunters who celebrate their tenth birthday during the archery season and have to wait until then to purchase their license.”
The waiting period was originally enacted to discourage deer hunters from waiting until they killed a deer before purchasing a license and to discourage a person from buying a license for someone who had killed a deer but either did not have a tag, or did not want to use the tag on their deer.
“The waiting period is inconvenient for anyone who didn’t purchase a license prior to the season then realizes they have the coming weekend open with time to go hunting. If they do not think to purchase the license ahead of time they are unable to use the license that weekend. It has especially been a deterrent for non-residents who travel great distances to Wisconsin on a Thursday or Friday to spend the weekend with family or friends or for the primary purpose to archery hunt for deer.”
Van Haren said that before the law was changed the deer population was low and the number of deer a person could get tags for was limited.
“Basically, each archer was issued just a tag that was good for a buck or an antlerless deer. The fact is, abundant harvest tags are now available in most deer management units making it possible to harvest multiple deer legally,” he added.
The requirement that people wear a back tag while hunting reduces the incidence of hunting without a license. If a conservation warden suspects that something is wrong, the warden can find out instantly through the automated licensing system, when a license was purchased right down to the minute, which is also printed on the license or back tag. In 2009, bow hunters purchased 208, 022 licenses in Wisconsin.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Van Haren, Warden, (608) 266-3244
View all articles in this issue or check our previous Weekly News Issues.
Source: Wisconsin DNR
Site: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_article_Lookup.asp?id=1507
Friday, August 27, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Two more state parks open to hunting for regular gun deer season November 20-28
News Release Published: August 23, 2010 by the Northeast Region
Contact(s): Don McKinnon, Supervisor, Potawatomi State Park, 920-746-2893
Rick Ostrowski, Park Manager, Whitefish Dunes State Park, 920-823-2400
Potawatomi and Whitefish Dunes open to hunting during the 9 day gun deer season only
STURGEON BAY, Wis. – This year, for the first time, Potawatomi and Whitefish Dunes State Parks in Door County will be open to deer hunting during Wisconsin’s regular gun deer season, November 20-28, 2010.
The parks will not be open to hunting during any other early or late-season deer hunts, included in herd reduction areas, muzzleloader dates, special youth or disabled hunts, or other special hunting opportunities.
While hunting enhances recreational opportunities in the parks, its primary objective is vegetative and resource management. Once implemented, hunting will continue long-term in both parks.
DNR staff and other natural resources professionals agree that deer over-browsing is a serious problem at these parks. Forest regeneration is severely lacking and even completely absent in some areas. Ongoing deer management is necessary to maintain a healthy and balanced ecosystem. Any attempts to promote forest regeneration will be ineffective until deer browsing is under control.
The parks will allow firearms that are allowed for gun deer hunting in Door County, including rifles, shotguns, muzzleloaders, and handguns. Archery hunting is not allowed.
DNR strongly recommends that hunters review the 2010 Wisconsin Deer Hunting Regulations for restrictions on firearms. All firearms must be unloaded and enclosed within a carrying case when in or on a motor vehicle or within a closed area of the park. Hunters may enter the parks 1 hour prior to opening hunting hours.
Certain areas of the parks will be closed to hunting, and regular park users will still be able to use the parks during the hunting season. In fact, this 9-day deer season framework was chosen to have the least impact on other park users. The DNR recommends that anyone using any areas of these parks during this regular hunting season wear blaze orange as a safety precaution. Park users are in the parks at their own risk.
Hunters are advised to also consult the 2010 hunting regulations for additional information on hunting on state-owned lands. Certain hunting regulations relating to ground blinds, tree stands, casing of weapons, etc. apply when hunting on state property. Hunters may not pursue wounded deer into closed areas or drive deer from closed areas. Remember that any time a vehicle stops in a state park, a vehicle admission sticker is required.
Source: Wisconsin DNR
Site: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=1801
Contact(s): Don McKinnon, Supervisor, Potawatomi State Park, 920-746-2893
Rick Ostrowski, Park Manager, Whitefish Dunes State Park, 920-823-2400
Potawatomi and Whitefish Dunes open to hunting during the 9 day gun deer season only
STURGEON BAY, Wis. – This year, for the first time, Potawatomi and Whitefish Dunes State Parks in Door County will be open to deer hunting during Wisconsin’s regular gun deer season, November 20-28, 2010.
The parks will not be open to hunting during any other early or late-season deer hunts, included in herd reduction areas, muzzleloader dates, special youth or disabled hunts, or other special hunting opportunities.
While hunting enhances recreational opportunities in the parks, its primary objective is vegetative and resource management. Once implemented, hunting will continue long-term in both parks.
DNR staff and other natural resources professionals agree that deer over-browsing is a serious problem at these parks. Forest regeneration is severely lacking and even completely absent in some areas. Ongoing deer management is necessary to maintain a healthy and balanced ecosystem. Any attempts to promote forest regeneration will be ineffective until deer browsing is under control.
The parks will allow firearms that are allowed for gun deer hunting in Door County, including rifles, shotguns, muzzleloaders, and handguns. Archery hunting is not allowed.
DNR strongly recommends that hunters review the 2010 Wisconsin Deer Hunting Regulations for restrictions on firearms. All firearms must be unloaded and enclosed within a carrying case when in or on a motor vehicle or within a closed area of the park. Hunters may enter the parks 1 hour prior to opening hunting hours.
Certain areas of the parks will be closed to hunting, and regular park users will still be able to use the parks during the hunting season. In fact, this 9-day deer season framework was chosen to have the least impact on other park users. The DNR recommends that anyone using any areas of these parks during this regular hunting season wear blaze orange as a safety precaution. Park users are in the parks at their own risk.
Hunters are advised to also consult the 2010 hunting regulations for additional information on hunting on state-owned lands. Certain hunting regulations relating to ground blinds, tree stands, casing of weapons, etc. apply when hunting on state property. Hunters may not pursue wounded deer into closed areas or drive deer from closed areas. Remember that any time a vehicle stops in a state park, a vehicle admission sticker is required.
Source: Wisconsin DNR
Site: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=1801
DNA analysis confirms four cougars in state within last two years
Cougars’ elusive nature makes tracking a challenge for state wildlife officials
MADISON -- A few drops of blood, preserved by an alert warden, proves that while one male cougar was tracking through St. Croix and Dunn counties this past December, another male cougar was moving near the Flambeau River, 125 miles to the north.
This cougar, crossing a road, was spotted by a female bus driver east of Park Falls. Warden Dan Michels responded and followed the animal’s tracks into a cedar swamp where he spotted tiny blood drops behind the cougar’s tracks. He collected them in a test tube, froze the contents and submitted them for DNA analysis.
No other sightings of a cougar in that vicinity were reported, and no more evidence was found. Still, the science is irrefutable. The bus driver had seen a wild North American cougar, a male.
The discovery points to just one of the challenges faced by Department of Natural Resources wildlife officials during the past two and a half years as they deal with the first confirmed cougars in Wisconsin since the last cougar native to the state was killed in or around 1908.
A series of incidents in Juneau County during the past several months has proven especially problematic. In May, a hunter reported seeing a cougar attacking a heifer. The cow had to be put down due to injuries. Later, after several sheep were attacked by an animal and killed, and instances of injured horses were reported on two different farms, it was widely assumed to be the work of the same animal, believed to be a cougar.
Later, the hunter was interviewed by a DNR biologist and his descriptions, by his own admission, fall short of a positive identification. The predator he saw was covered with mud and appeared to be less than half the size and length of a young adult cougar.
In Wisconsin, Wildlife Services (WS) – part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture – responds to reports of livestock depredations under a contract with the DNR. WS agents are skilled at responding to predation by other predators, such as bear and wolf, and at trapping predators when necessary. However, despite an ongoing effort by WS and DNR to capture any predator responsible for these animal attacks in Juneau County, none has been located. None have been captured on night cameras at bait sites or by tracking dogs. At this time, no prints that can be definitely attributed to a cougar have been found, no blood, no hair, no scat and no urine. Hunting dogs have failed to pick up a trail.
Faced with this mystery, DNR officials collected all the reports, photographs and other evidence from the Juneau County investigations and submitted them to a panel of four internationally recognized cougar experts through a scientific organization called the Cougar Network.
None of these experts could confirm the presence of a cougar, based on evidence collected so far. The experts acknowledged that their opinions were based on reports, and not on field investigations.
DNR officials, acting on reports from Juneau County residents, including unconfirmed sightings, are proceeding on the belief that the presence of a cougar is possible. Efforts to trap or to locate and kill the animal causing these injuries will continue.
In the meantime, the DNR has formed a cougar working group that includes a Wildlife Services supervisor and a Conservation Congress delegate from Juneau County. The group is collecting information from cougar experts elsewhere and is preparing a detailed protocol for how the DNR will respond to cougar sightings in the future.
DNR biologists have been sent to the Black Hills for hands-on training with cougars, taking part in operations to immobilize cougars and fit them with radio collars. The top cougar biologist from the Black Hills, John Kanta, came to Wisconsin two weeks ago to assist Wisconsin’s cougar working group. He calls these elusive cats mountain lions.
“We’ve never had anyone fatally attacked by a mountain lion,” Kanta said. “Your chance of even seeing a mountain lion, in mountain lion country, is a million to one.”
The Wisconsin group will not be working on a cougar management plan. The cougars detected so far have been young males seeking new territory. They probably originated in the Black Hills of South Dakota. No females have been detected in Wisconsin and there is no evidence of a breeding population.
Female cougars tend to migrate no more than a couple hundred miles. Breeding populations east of the Black Hills would have to be established, scientists believe, before female cougars could be expected to arrive in Wisconsin, a process that could take 10 or more years, if it happens at all.
In the meantime, the DNR will continue to take all reports of cougar attacks on livestock seriously and to work with Wildlife Services to investigate any reports.
DNR officials emphasized that citizen observations are critical to this effort and they are asking landowners and outdoor enthusiasts to become familiar with the “rare mammal observation form” on the DNR’s website. This and much more can be found by typing “cougar” into the search box on the home page.
Although the DNR has been collecting reports of possible cougar observations since 1991, biologists were never able to confirm the presence of a cougar, or to find a single decent cougar track in the state, until January 2008 when a cougar observation near Milton was confirmed by prints and DNA tests of a blood sample. That cougar was killed by Chicago police in April 2008.
In March 2009, a cougar was treed by hunters just west of Spooner. Attempts to capture the cougar were unsuccessful and it disappeared, its fate a mystery. In late May 2009, a Pepin County farmer discovered tracks near his livestock pen and Wydeven confirmed they belonged to a large cat.
Then in December, a cougar that likely crossed the frozen St. Croix River from Minnesota moved through St. Croix, Dunn (and probably Eau Claire and Clark counties) where tracks show it turning north. Tests reveal this same cougar, now dubbed the “Twin Cities cougar,” was tracked near Cable in Bayfield County in February.
Since this cat appeared in December, there have been more than 10 confirmed cougar or cougar sign observations in western Wisconsin and one near Lena in northeast Wisconsin. A half dozen of these are believed to be the Twin Cities cougar.
Using DNA tests processed by the federal Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Montana, DNR biologists have been able to confirm the presence of four individual cougars in Wisconsin, all males, counting the one killed in Chicago. Whether these four account for all the observations is not known.
One thing is clear – cougars have proven to be very adept at covering large distances in Wisconsin without being noticed. DNR biologists say these cougars tend to move 5 to 7 miles a day. A DNR biologist tracking the cougar in Dunn County reported it stopped in one area for at least two days after killing and caching a fawn buck, returning at least once to continue its meal.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Adrian Wydeven - (715) 762-1363
Source: Wisconsin DNR
Site: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Lookup.asp?id=237#art1
MADISON -- A few drops of blood, preserved by an alert warden, proves that while one male cougar was tracking through St. Croix and Dunn counties this past December, another male cougar was moving near the Flambeau River, 125 miles to the north.
This cougar, crossing a road, was spotted by a female bus driver east of Park Falls. Warden Dan Michels responded and followed the animal’s tracks into a cedar swamp where he spotted tiny blood drops behind the cougar’s tracks. He collected them in a test tube, froze the contents and submitted them for DNA analysis.
No other sightings of a cougar in that vicinity were reported, and no more evidence was found. Still, the science is irrefutable. The bus driver had seen a wild North American cougar, a male.
The discovery points to just one of the challenges faced by Department of Natural Resources wildlife officials during the past two and a half years as they deal with the first confirmed cougars in Wisconsin since the last cougar native to the state was killed in or around 1908.
A series of incidents in Juneau County during the past several months has proven especially problematic. In May, a hunter reported seeing a cougar attacking a heifer. The cow had to be put down due to injuries. Later, after several sheep were attacked by an animal and killed, and instances of injured horses were reported on two different farms, it was widely assumed to be the work of the same animal, believed to be a cougar.
Later, the hunter was interviewed by a DNR biologist and his descriptions, by his own admission, fall short of a positive identification. The predator he saw was covered with mud and appeared to be less than half the size and length of a young adult cougar.
In Wisconsin, Wildlife Services (WS) – part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture – responds to reports of livestock depredations under a contract with the DNR. WS agents are skilled at responding to predation by other predators, such as bear and wolf, and at trapping predators when necessary. However, despite an ongoing effort by WS and DNR to capture any predator responsible for these animal attacks in Juneau County, none has been located. None have been captured on night cameras at bait sites or by tracking dogs. At this time, no prints that can be definitely attributed to a cougar have been found, no blood, no hair, no scat and no urine. Hunting dogs have failed to pick up a trail.
Faced with this mystery, DNR officials collected all the reports, photographs and other evidence from the Juneau County investigations and submitted them to a panel of four internationally recognized cougar experts through a scientific organization called the Cougar Network.
None of these experts could confirm the presence of a cougar, based on evidence collected so far. The experts acknowledged that their opinions were based on reports, and not on field investigations.
DNR officials, acting on reports from Juneau County residents, including unconfirmed sightings, are proceeding on the belief that the presence of a cougar is possible. Efforts to trap or to locate and kill the animal causing these injuries will continue.
In the meantime, the DNR has formed a cougar working group that includes a Wildlife Services supervisor and a Conservation Congress delegate from Juneau County. The group is collecting information from cougar experts elsewhere and is preparing a detailed protocol for how the DNR will respond to cougar sightings in the future.
DNR biologists have been sent to the Black Hills for hands-on training with cougars, taking part in operations to immobilize cougars and fit them with radio collars. The top cougar biologist from the Black Hills, John Kanta, came to Wisconsin two weeks ago to assist Wisconsin’s cougar working group. He calls these elusive cats mountain lions.
“We’ve never had anyone fatally attacked by a mountain lion,” Kanta said. “Your chance of even seeing a mountain lion, in mountain lion country, is a million to one.”
The Wisconsin group will not be working on a cougar management plan. The cougars detected so far have been young males seeking new territory. They probably originated in the Black Hills of South Dakota. No females have been detected in Wisconsin and there is no evidence of a breeding population.
Female cougars tend to migrate no more than a couple hundred miles. Breeding populations east of the Black Hills would have to be established, scientists believe, before female cougars could be expected to arrive in Wisconsin, a process that could take 10 or more years, if it happens at all.
In the meantime, the DNR will continue to take all reports of cougar attacks on livestock seriously and to work with Wildlife Services to investigate any reports.
DNR officials emphasized that citizen observations are critical to this effort and they are asking landowners and outdoor enthusiasts to become familiar with the “rare mammal observation form” on the DNR’s website. This and much more can be found by typing “cougar” into the search box on the home page.
Although the DNR has been collecting reports of possible cougar observations since 1991, biologists were never able to confirm the presence of a cougar, or to find a single decent cougar track in the state, until January 2008 when a cougar observation near Milton was confirmed by prints and DNA tests of a blood sample. That cougar was killed by Chicago police in April 2008.
In March 2009, a cougar was treed by hunters just west of Spooner. Attempts to capture the cougar were unsuccessful and it disappeared, its fate a mystery. In late May 2009, a Pepin County farmer discovered tracks near his livestock pen and Wydeven confirmed they belonged to a large cat.
Then in December, a cougar that likely crossed the frozen St. Croix River from Minnesota moved through St. Croix, Dunn (and probably Eau Claire and Clark counties) where tracks show it turning north. Tests reveal this same cougar, now dubbed the “Twin Cities cougar,” was tracked near Cable in Bayfield County in February.
Since this cat appeared in December, there have been more than 10 confirmed cougar or cougar sign observations in western Wisconsin and one near Lena in northeast Wisconsin. A half dozen of these are believed to be the Twin Cities cougar.
Using DNA tests processed by the federal Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Montana, DNR biologists have been able to confirm the presence of four individual cougars in Wisconsin, all males, counting the one killed in Chicago. Whether these four account for all the observations is not known.
One thing is clear – cougars have proven to be very adept at covering large distances in Wisconsin without being noticed. DNR biologists say these cougars tend to move 5 to 7 miles a day. A DNR biologist tracking the cougar in Dunn County reported it stopped in one area for at least two days after killing and caching a fawn buck, returning at least once to continue its meal.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Adrian Wydeven - (715) 762-1363
Source: Wisconsin DNR
Site: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Lookup.asp?id=237#art1
Monday, August 16, 2010
Hunters with disabilities are reminded that it is up to them to contact a hunt sponsor
Sept. 1 is deadline to secure sponsor for disabled gun deer hunt
Weekly News Article Published: August 3, 2010 by the Central Office
MADISON – Qualified hunters with disabilities have until Sept. 1 to line up a sponsor so they can participate in a special gun deer hunt this October.
A sponsor list for the 2010 gun Deer Hunt for Hunters with Disabilities is now available. Hunters with disabilities must contact sponsors directly and get signed up by Sept. 1, 2010.
Hunters with a valid Class A permit, a long-term Class B permit that authorizes shooting from a vehicle, or a Class C Disabled Hunting permit are eligible to participate in this special hunt, which will take place Oct. 2-10.
The disabled hunt is the first gun deer hunt of the season and is scheduled to provide hunters with disabilities easier access and fewer weather-related difficulties. The only other deer hunters in the woods during the Oct. 2-8 time period are archery deer hunters. There will be a statewide youth gun deer hunt on Oct. 9-10.
Find more information on the 2010 gun Deer Hunt for Hunters with Disabilities web page.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Olver - (608) 261-7588
View all articles in this issue or check our previous Weekly News Issues.
Source: Wisconsin DNR
Site: http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8756861334818625252
Weekly News Article Published: August 3, 2010 by the Central Office
MADISON – Qualified hunters with disabilities have until Sept. 1 to line up a sponsor so they can participate in a special gun deer hunt this October.
A sponsor list for the 2010 gun Deer Hunt for Hunters with Disabilities is now available. Hunters with disabilities must contact sponsors directly and get signed up by Sept. 1, 2010.
Hunters with a valid Class A permit, a long-term Class B permit that authorizes shooting from a vehicle, or a Class C Disabled Hunting permit are eligible to participate in this special hunt, which will take place Oct. 2-10.
The disabled hunt is the first gun deer hunt of the season and is scheduled to provide hunters with disabilities easier access and fewer weather-related difficulties. The only other deer hunters in the woods during the Oct. 2-8 time period are archery deer hunters. There will be a statewide youth gun deer hunt on Oct. 9-10.
Find more information on the 2010 gun Deer Hunt for Hunters with Disabilities web page.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Olver - (608) 261-7588
View all articles in this issue or check our previous Weekly News Issues.
Source: Wisconsin DNR
Site: http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8756861334818625252
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