Has anyone else noticed that snow or lack of snow excuse gets used every year? When sales are slow or the harvest is high its because of the snow cover. When the harvest is low its because hunters had a hard time seeing deer.
The number is always a moving target, but has never recovered from the CWD fear factor in '02. Dramatic crash, and never anywhere close since. That said, I believe it's something in the neighborhood of a million different individuals purchasing deer hunting licenses over the past five years or so, showing there's always turnover or shall we say "part-timers" who hunt one year and not the next, then maybe go again some day.
DNR has always been firm on snow: stating some on the ground is good, but heavy snow "in the air" reduces visibility/deer movement and deep on the ground reduces access/hunt effort. Brown seasons (we've had many) are also tougher to see deer/tracks. Ideally, temps in 20s/30s, light winds and clear skies …. but we all know it's rarely ideal. It will be what it will be, and contrary to the many who say there are no deer (and many of them have said the same for 15 years), Wisconsin will still be among the national leaders in harvest and will again be at or near the top in quality. Give us 2-3 mild winters and with no/low antlerless kills, watch the herd explode.
I'm with November. Some people go hunting to put meat in the freezer. With the money saved between the license and EVERYTHING else you spend at deer camp, you can certainly afford some groceries. No doe? No go!
Took a closer look at the license/permits numbers sold so far. Sales of bonus antlerless deer permits are down more than 10,000 from last year.
Strepp also stated that the harvest may be down in the north due to the snow. I could see that to some degree where 4ft has been dumped lately. Overall impact I doubt will be from the snow.
Never once in the interview was a low population in the north. Cited as a potential cause for lower harvest numbers, imagine that!!!
If not a washout, should be an increased buck kill for sure, but far from a record (gun). On the other hand, bow/xbow, even with all the rain this fall, has a good shot at a buck record. Some will say you can't include the crossbow bucks, but there were xbow deer included before (those with disability permits, and those age 65 and over). No way to track it then. Am guessing that bow/xbow buck kill percentage will be 80/20, give or take 5 points.
Anyone can bowhunt thru the 9 day gun and the following 14 days of ml/gun as well.
Nope, not from the numbers I've seen.
Actually that fawn would cost .80/lb for a resident and $5/lb for an NR unless we can now buy an antlerless tag without a general license let alone gas, food,lodging,ect. The farmland antlerless harvest will be down due to the $12 money grab.
Imo the trustee process was and Nrb is a rubber stamp for a preset DNR agenda.Paul Smith was part of this process like You were and He realized he was a pawn in an article he wrote. With antlerless tags being reduced greatly have they all sold out? Nope, because they went from $2 to $12/$20. The antlerless harvest will be reduced in the farmland zones due to the fee hike.That's not what the Dnr wants from a harvest standpoint. Simple law of diminishing returns. Money grab? How about the wolf tags? Pay for the draw, sell 1200 tags@$50/tag for a quota of 150 which was virtually filled in 8 days.
What's strange — bizarre, really — is the continued deception trying to pretend you're someone else.
Lake Michigan-area weather forecast is changing slightly, but still looks like a very windy opener with overnight southwest gales gradually diminishing Saturday to 15-25 mph. Chance of freezing rain/light snow in a.m., chance of rain/drizzle in afternoon with overnight fog. Sunday switch to south/southeast 10-20 mph wind and rain likely. Monday southwest gales, chance of snow or rain.
Novemberforever's Link
Thanks! I dont know why I didnt think of this. I passed this along to a friend that doesnt bow hunt. He went out and bought a bow license for the doe tag that he will use with his gun.
Also, Howatt +1. I dont know why these guys are arguing with you. You explained it pretty well.
The vast majority of zones where bonus tags are available are CWD and other zones that used to have the "herd control" designation. Many folks bought plenty of $2 "extras" …. I have no problem with $12 on an extra antlerless should I feel the need to shoot another, but many apparently do. Look at year 2000…. no EAB, and TWO free tags with each license sold … an all-time record antlerless harvest.
