2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

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Dewey
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2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Nov 30, 2017 7:57 pm

Also lowest number of gun hunting licenses sold in 41 years. :o

Northern Forest kill up 28% :? Everyone must have been using silencers on their rifles because we heard way less shots than previous years.

Here are the rest of the details....

https://amp.jsonline.com/amp/900566001


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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby matt1336 » Fri Dec 01, 2017 12:11 am

I’ll bet that people simply aren’t registering deer.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby Ragingun » Fri Dec 01, 2017 1:10 am

Hunting the northern zone(as well as others I know hunting that area)deer population in general was way up. It's been nearly 15 years since my group has seen the number of bucks we saw this year. It's crazy that we also never heard or saw a wolf either, likely a huge factor in combination with the last 2 years of easy winters.

It could be people aren't registering their kills but doubtful since the license sales are down in general as well. Also spending some time hunting in SE WI I can say that there was nearly no shot fired. Hunting my public marsh 2 days in a row and didn't hear a shot. That is really scary being every year this area is a deer hot spot. Couple that with only 2 small bucks and a doe seen for nearly a week of bow hunting prior to the gun season it blows my mind. It seems the ridiculous amount of tags given over the last years is finally showing the predictable results.

It all culminates to show the results of a poorly managed deer herd.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby brancher147 » Fri Dec 01, 2017 1:18 am

matt1336 wrote:I’ll bet that people simply aren’t registering deer.


If people aren't registering deer that should be fairly constant over time and should not affect the kill/license numbers. Most people are legal hunters and register their deer, whether a state has physical check stations, or electronic check, or a card you mail in at end of season.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby Jeff G » Fri Dec 01, 2017 1:31 am

Ragingun wrote:Hunting the northern zone(as well as others I know hunting that area)deer population in general was way up. It's been nearly 15 years since my group has seen the number of bucks we saw this year. It's crazy that we also never heard or saw a wolf either, likely a huge factor in combination with the last 2 years of easy winters.

It could be people aren't registering their kills but doubtful since the license sales are down in general as well. Also spending some time hunting in SE WI I can say that there was nearly no shot fired. Hunting my public marsh 2 days in a row and didn't hear a shot. That is really scary being every year this area is a deer hot spot. Couple that with only 2 small bucks and a doe seen for nearly a week of bow hunting prior to the gun season it blows my mind. It seems the ridiculous amount of tags given over the last years is finally showing the predictable results.

It all culminates to show the results of a poorly managed deer herd.


We hunt SE WI, this year we have seen more deer than in the past on public. During gun season we were the only ones shooting, didn't hear much from anyone else shooting.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby Ragingun » Fri Dec 01, 2017 1:56 am

Jeff G wrote:
We hunt SE WI, this year we have seen more deer than in the past on public. During gun season we were the only ones shooting, didn't hear much from anyone else shooting.


Could be very area specific. I can attest and so can the other "regulars" that the Sheboygan marsh area has been a dive this year. Even sign is rare if found at all. I've never done as much in season walking/scouting as this year. Even miles in the waders to try to find where the sign is but they are just not there this year. It could simply be because most of the summer a lot of the marsh that is typically usable was submerged. Not sure.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby perchsoup » Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:13 am

Some people are not registering their kills. Or shooting more deer for their one tag. I’ve also heard some stories about people that were going to call it in but procrastinated and missed the “by 5 pm the day after deadline” and figured they were already in the wrong for being late and decided not to register the deer. I talked to a lot of people rifle season and these seemed like not so isolated incidents.

With all the rule changes for hunting and registering, aside from the damages I think it’s done for hunting all around, I’ll take all of the DNRs hunting info and harvest stats with a grain of salt.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby Islandhunter » Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:22 am

I expected to see a slightly lower harvest for the part of Northern WI I hunt, based on lack of shots heard. Surprisingly, the reported harvest was slightly higher than last rifle season, only by the narrowest margin. The increase was seen mostly in antler less killed.

I am hunting a very small unit, which sees very little fluctuation from year to year. The most noticeable observation has been the lack of mature bucks compared to years past. The 2 buck only seasons definitely had a short term impact on the buck population, but was obviously necessary. It is my opinion more yearling bucks were harvested those 2 years. The increase in the antlerless harvested this rifle season is consistent with historical data, most hunters I talk to in the area prefer to pass on the yearling bucks and will take a doe if they want meat and are unsuccessful in shooting a "better" buck.

I was most surprised by the lack of hunters in the woods from Thanksgiving to the close of the season.

Daytime deer movement, after opening day, was a slow as it gets.....
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby Kraftd » Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:34 am

I wasn't in the woods much over the season so can't speak too much to those observations, but where we hunt in central WI the overall deer numbers were definitely up.

Also, keep in mind folks, that the decision to eliminate tagging and go to call-in registration were legislative decisions, not WDNR decisions. Wildlife management with limited resources is a difficult thing to accomplish. I worked at WDNR in college as an engineer, and everyone there I met cared A LOT about the resources we value. Good harvest data is critical to management in just about every established system.

I do think the reporting system as currently framed, especially without needing to tag your deer, is a poor way to gather that information. Most hunters are reasonably honest. However, the more that is given back, the more likely laziness and cracks in ethics will show. Much easier to have an untagged deer laying around legally and say, well, no one has stopped me, might as well just get this thing butchered, or call it in on someone's tag who wasn't hunting with you at the time , since it would be really hard to prove, or just decide not to call it in. My guess would be there was a larger percentage of non-registered deer this year than in the past, but no way at all to quantify that.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby Islandhunter » Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:43 am

.....I should have noted. From my observations the overall deer numbers where I hunt and all along highway 13, along the south shore of lake Superior, are improving. What the "new normal" becomes is yet to be known. It is reassuring to see multiple doe "groups" again where for a couple years I was only seeing single deer at a time in places.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby llcooljames » Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:44 am

Heard Just as many shots when I was hunting in Dane and columbia county opening weekend. Activity definitely slowed down after thanksgiving.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby Islandhunter » Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:45 am

I am from the school of thought that cheaters are going to cheat(or poach in this case) no mater what the rules and laws are for tagging deer.

Truthfully, I could have NOT registered any number of the deer I killed this year, both in WI and MN, if I chose, but I choose to follow the rules because it is the right thing to do. It does take extra motivation, so there will be likely less deer registered out of laziness.

I believe the majority of hunters who take the time to by a license still register their kills. If anything more folks are "fudging" the date of harvest to abide by the 5:00 pm cut off.

There are always going to be bad apples and those exceptions to the rule, but I don't think the change in deer registration requirements are going to have a large percentage, profound affect on yearly harvest totals...but maybe I am naive.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby strutnrut716 » Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:52 am

I think we need to watch the Crossbow final numbers once the season is over. Crossbow harvest numbers are way up in Wis this year.

In my opinion there are some who are avoiding the crowds during gun season and using crossbows to get their deer.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby Kraftd » Fri Dec 01, 2017 3:33 am

strutnrut716 wrote:I think we need to watch the Crossbow final numbers once the season is over. Crossbow harvest numbers are way up in Wis this year.

In my opinion there are some who are avoiding the crowds during gun season and using crossbows to get their deer.


Very good point. I'm seeing more and more people out during the archery season and while I don't often get visual confirmation, I suspect a lot of these may be cross bow related.
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Re: 2017 WI Gun Deer Kill second lowest in 35 years

Unread postby DaHunter » Fri Dec 01, 2017 3:48 am

I'm expecting the same for MI. Rainy weather on opening day and opening weekend kept hunters at home. I heard far fewer shots than years prior and didn't see as many vehicles at public spots. Both archery and firearm. I saw less does, but more bucks than usual. A good sign!


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