Wisconsin Deer Kill Down 25 percent?

[tim]

I don’t think people kill deer like they use to. The early 2000s taught us a lesson. The herd is fragile and can’t sustain killing does with little or no limits. A lot of people, not all lay off the trigger more than they use to.
I’m not saying my digger is the sole reason for the reduced numbers, but I do believe it could have something to do with it.

That's a really good point. I have areas I hunt where I am reluctant to shoot a doe on, mainly because I don't see a ton of deer there. Other properties I would have no problem to shoot a doe off of.

Just because I have 4 or 5 doe tags doesn't mean I need to fill them.

Agree with this as well, more trophy hunters as well. But those years of killing 600k+ I believe had lasting effects on the heard. People finally realize they shouldn’t kill every deer possible just because they have the tags to do so. Now as far as the taxidermist thing brought up I have my own opinion on that Lol just like most other businesses if you are good you will do just fine in business

[Buckbreath]

Twice during the season I took a 20+ mile drive through the chequamegon national forest in Price county.
First was on the Monday of rifle season in the late afternoon. I saw 3 vehicles that I assumed were hunters.
Second was Thanksgiving day. I didn't see any vehicles.
After that, the roads were next to impassible with all the snow. Some of the roads were finally plowed yesterday(Wednesday after season).
I have a pretty good idea why the kill numbers were down.

[fishlips]

Shooting seemed about the same as it has since we changed up spots for opening weekend. I was surprised to see the county we hunt in was down almost 50% from last year and most seemed to say that deer numbers were up.

For the areas I traditionally bowhunt, there seems to be a good number of deer, but the more visible ones are on private that no one seems to be hunting. If only someone would bust some of those deer out!

[peteherbst]

In my opinion, this is an incredibly complex discussion. There are so many factors at play, and the real story is different depedning upon where in the state you are and whether hunting public or private. Just a smattering of the issues, many have already noted.

1. Many more people waiting on big bucks and passing young bucks.
2. Less and less people reliant on game meat as a primary source of food, so less people filling tags no mater what it takes
3. Locking up private land in leases or to smaller groups for better hunting and hordeing deer herds, for lack of a better way to put it.
4. Tagging system. Its not the only issue, but I think it is an issue. It does make it easier to violate, and the easier it is, the more likely the margins are to do it. Violators will violate no matter what, when its this easy, folks who may not have been willing to risk it, may now.
5. Less and less driving going on.
6. Season generally post-rut (late as it can be)
7. Generally pleasant weather for opening weekend. Deer and people didn't have to move.
8. General loss of hunters and overall laziness of the populations
9. etc. etc. etc.

I have no doubt there are areas of the state (North of Hwy 8 for certain) that the numbers are WAY down. Generally I think numbers on public have been trending down across the state for 20 years. That said, the overall harvest continuing to decline for that and many of the reasons above is not the least bit surprising to me.

I think the step to County based management and some distinction in tags between public and private were good steps. I also think we as hunters need to understand that we are part of the deer management discussion, but not the only voice. There are many other voices in this conversation, and many of them have different goals than we do. A resources management agencies goals aren't necessarily lots of deer and big bucks, and that's probably ok in many cases.

I agree with a lot of this. The “hoarding deer” aspect is interesting because I would pair that with hunter decline. Seems like there are the same amount of guys if not more on public every year. Makes me wonder where the decline is coming from. Landowners, family farm not hunting or ???. Idk. Either way I could see the deer finding those unpressured areas on private and living within that safe area.

[rochester coops]

I don't live in Wisconsin but one thing I see here in NY that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is loss of habitat. Everywhere around here (big ag area of western ny) hedgerows are being ripped out, whole woods are being bulldozed and planted. Everything is being tiled so it is well drained and tillable. Less buffer/edge areas for deer, or any other animals. We also have a lot more coyotes than 20 years ago.

[greenhorndave]

I don't live in Wisconsin but one thing I see here in NY that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is loss of habitat. Everywhere around here (big ag area of western ny) hedgerows are being ripped out, whole woods are being bulldozed and planted. Everything is being tiled so it is well drained and tillable. Less buffer/edge areas for deer, or any other animals. We also have a lot more coyotes than 20 years ago.

Maybe more coyotes, but I only see the remnants of small does, never anything larger. And I haven’t seen any of the habitat loss like you mentioned. Not saying it might not be an issue, but nothing I’ve seen. I almost think it’s successive wet years that has altered previously established patterns. At least for the southern part of the state . But that’s just my uninformed guess.

[Tennhunter3]

Late gun season.

Increase in bow hunters causing deer to be pressured earlier then normal.

Too many young bucks-doe harvest in previous years leading to a future decline of the herd. Hunters are our own worst enemy and bad regulations not protecting younger deer lead eventually to herd. decline possible extinction. . In 2 of the 3 areas the state Dnr is to be blaimed. If they can't manage a herd properly they have no business being in Wildlife Resources to began with. They will always say the higher ups made the regulations and never accept reality that they did a bad job.


Dnr could have put gun season at the proper time.
And put restrictions in place to protect the future growth of the herd with limited doe harvest during the firearm season. . Having a full open season on does is a future deer apocalypse. Those that do survive fawns face wolves bears coyotes cars.

Its basic economics spend more then is made leads to a decline of savings. Same applies to deer. What's went on the past 3 years the state is now feeling. And regulations today impact several years from now.

I'm sure all 3 of these are happening.

[Tennhunter3]

Online check in may also be having a large negative impact.
Theirs a small group that figures hey if I don't get seen I can shoot as many as I want. The harvest in previous years were probably higher then reported. While this happened before online check in.

It now gives criminals a out.
Well I was going to check it in later if questioned.

[KRONIIK]

Online check in may also be having a large negative impact.
Theirs a small group that figures hey if I don't get seen I can shoot as many as I want. The harvest in previous years were probably higher then reported. While this happened before online check in.

It now gives criminals a out.
Well I was going to check it in later if questioned.

I don't believe that's a significant factor, at least not around here.
Very few people shoot as many does as they have can get free tags for. There''s no reason to fail to register anything if you aren't going to fill all your free tags anyway.

I know dozens of guys who have a half a dozen free doe tags each but only a couple of them have even bothered to fill two or three at the most of their doe tags.

At some point cutting up more deer than you have freezer room for is a hassle.

[jchang3]

I don’t think people kill deer like they use to. The early 2000s taught us a lesson. The herd is fragile and can’t sustain killing does with little or no limits. A lot of people, not all lay off the trigger more than they use to.
I’m not saying my digger is the sole reason for the reduced numbers, but I do believe it could have something to do with it.

That's a really good point. I have areas I hunt where I am reluctant to shoot a doe on, mainly because I don't see a ton of deer there. Other properties I would have no problem to shoot a doe off of.

Just because I have 4 or 5 doe tags doesn't mean I need to fill them.

Tell that to the hmongs that hunt the public land around here with crossguns. I know of 6 that have killed at least 5 deer, mostly this years fawns and does. I asked a couple of them if they really have to kill everything that walks and they said "we have to fill our freezers" and then one said "wait 'til gun season". I don't gun hunt but my buddy next door gun hunts the same property and he said there were at least 20 of them at the parking area with a fire going as if it were thier home. This is a piece of property that's only 430 acres.

Do you have problems with Hmong people hunting? Why are you specifically calling out an ethnicity and blaming them for the low deer numbers on a property that you hunt?

Asking someone “if they really have to kill everything that walks” is rude. If they are legally harvesting the animal there is nothing wrong with it.

The property that you hunt might be 400acres public but have 1000’s of private land around where deer hide out and survive once pressure sets in on that public.

Not trying to call you out but this kind of mentality should not be accepted on this forum.

[Dewey]

I don’t think people kill deer like they use to. The early 2000s taught us a lesson. The herd is fragile and can’t sustain killing does with little or no limits. A lot of people, not all lay off the trigger more than they use to.
I’m not saying my digger is the sole reason for the reduced numbers, but I do believe it could have something to do with it.

That's a really good point. I have areas I hunt where I am reluctant to shoot a doe on, mainly because I don't see a ton of deer there. Other properties I would have no problem to shoot a doe off of.

Just because I have 4 or 5 doe tags doesn't mean I need to fill them.

Tell that to the hmongs that hunt the public land around here with crossguns. I know of 6 that have killed at least 5 deer, mostly this years fawns and does. I asked a couple of them if they really have to kill everything that walks and they said "we have to fill our freezers" and then one said "wait 'til gun season". I don't gun hunt but my buddy next door gun hunts the same property and he said there were at least 20 of them at the parking area with a fire going as if it were thier home. This is a piece of property that's only 430 acres.

Do you have problems with Hmong people hunting? Why are you specifically calling out an ethnicity and blaming them for the low deer numbers on a property that you hunt?

Asking someone “if they really have to kill everything that walks” is rude. If they are legally harvesting the animal there is nothing wrong with it.

The property that you hunt might be 400acres public but have 1000’s of private land around where deer hide out and survive once pressure sets in on that public.

Not trying to call you out but this kind of mentality should not be accepted on this forum.

Sorry we missed this. I agree that comment was uncalled for and not at all appreciated here. It’s not what we are about. We have a number of Hmong members here and it’s not fair to single out a group like that. They love hunting and doing the right thing just as much as we all do. Plenty of our own that slaughter piles of deer only because they can so to point fingers at one group is just wrong. Please refrain from this type of bashing in the future. Thank you.

[kurt]

I don't think 25% of the hunters decided to not register there deer all of sudden this year to take advantage of the same system we had for a few years and the same system used in most other states.

If you hunt long enough you will see good years and bad. More often the good years come after a year a bad when a few more deer made it.

[Dewey]

WI deer kill history not including the 2019 results.

https://dnr.wi.gov/wideermetrics/DeerSt ... estHistory

Looks like we’re back to 1980’s numbers and down almost 60% since the 2000 peak just before CWD was discovered.

[Jmitch]

WI deer kill history not including the 2019 results.

https://dnr.wi.gov/wideermetrics/DeerSt ... estHistory

Looks like we’re back to 1980’s numbers and down almost 60% since the 2000 peak just before CWD was discovered.

Things have changed that's for sure. I think cwd changed things more than people will admit. I remember hunting the western dane county area before cwd and it always sounded like a war zone. Multiple large groups all driving almost every day and tons and tons of shooting. Lots of multiple shot volleys and clip emptying too. Cant even imagine how many deer died that way. Also that area in particular was insane with the amount of deer before the eridaction stuff hit. Like 75 to 100 deer per square mile. They were everywhere but it's not like that anymore. Every one of the groups i used to know of that drove doesnt hunt that way anymore. Most never hunt in that group setting or drive anymore at all.

I hunt a different area now but still see the same changes. People quit driving and the properties that used to account for a ton of dead deer may only see a few die now. I can think of 2 large groups that used to hunt together as recently as 5 years ago. That would account for 15 to 25 kills within a mile of two of each other now those same properties may kill 5 combined but not because the deer arent there just the people hunting them hunting differently and are waiting for a big buck instead of killing anything. Not sure where we go from here but I dont think it's a sky is falling situation either. Personally I'm looking forward to a good 2020 because I know locally atleast lots of bucks made it thru rifle season successfully and most people are done for the year now.

[KRONIIK]

WI deer kill history not including the 2019 results.

https://dnr.wi.gov/wideermetrics/DeerSt ... estHistory

Looks like we’re back to 1980’s numbers and down almost 60% since the 2000 peak just before CWD was discovered.

Things have changed that's for sure. I think cwd changed things more than people will admit. I remember hunting the western dane county area before cwd and it always sounded like a war zone. Multiple large groups all driving almost every day and tons and tons of shooting. Lots of multiple shot volleys and clip emptying too. Cant even imagine how many deer died that way. Also that area in particular was insane with the amount of deer before the eridaction stuff hit. Like 75 to 100 deer per square mile. They were everywhere but it's not like that anymore. Every one of the groups i used to know of that drove doesnt hunt that way anymore. Most never hunt in that group setting or drive anymore at all.

I hunt a different area now but still see the same changes. People quit driving and the properties that used to account for a ton of dead deer may only see a few die now. I can think of 2 large groups that used to hunt together as recently as 5 years ago. That would account for 15 to 25 kills within a mile of two of each other now those same properties may kill 5 combined but not because the deer arent there just the people hunting them hunting differently and are waiting for a big buck instead of killing anything. Not sure where we go from here but I dont think it's a sky is falling situation either. Personally I'm looking forward to a good 2020 because I know locally atleast lots of bucks made it thru rifle season successfully and most people are done for the year now.

I think you have a pretty good perspective on the overall situation.
It seems that a lot of guys recall the 1999-2001 peak years because they remember a lot of action, etc. and tend to use that as their metric for what deer numbers should be.
But those years were an anomaly, and not really a healthy situation for the deer herd in general.
I recall the 80's as being a pretty good balance of reasonably healthy deer numbers coupled with decent chances of success for hunters willing to put in any amount of effort at all.
We're evidently pretty close to that now, and I for one think that's a pretty good thing.
We're going to have some pretty decent deer hunting in much of Wisconsin in the years ahead.