Doe seasons

[dan]

https://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/blog ... s-dont-lie. Pretty good article here... getting really annoyed by all the Wisconsin doe only gun seasons. I love bow hunting late season and the DNR has pretty much ruined that tradition by having the whole month of december one long doe slaughter... we had a 9 day gun season, followed by a 9 day muzzle loading rifle season, if you cant kill a doe in 4 months of bow, gun, and muzzle loader season. Maybe, just maybe there are not enough does in the 1st place. Now I couldn't bow hunt the last 4 days cause of doe season. Bucks are in hiding from all the gun hunters, and we get a few days to bow hunt the heavy pressured deer then they will have a 10 day doe only holiday hunt... really... it gets better (sarcasm) checking with my local biologist, 38 percent of the "doe" kill during the holiday hunt is made up of button bucks that are displaced after being booted out on there own by mama during the rut... and 11% are shed antlered bucks. Now factor in poaching and mistakes at a about 2% and 50% of the does shot are really bucks...

[dan]

Gotta give deer and deer hunting credit for publishing this.... usually magazines play politically correct with state agencies

[greenhorndave]

The Holiday hunt... Never understood that one following up the antlerless. Scrap both of them as far as I'm concerned, but especially the holiday.

[Denisboyko22]

https://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/blogs/dan-schmidt-deer-blog-whitetail-wisdom/these-deer-harvest-numbers-dont-lie. Pretty good article here... getting really annoyed by all the Wisconsin doe only gun seasons. I love bow hunting late season and the DNR has pretty much ruined that tradition by having the whole month of december one long doe slaughter... we had a 9 day gun season, followed by a 9 day muzzle loading rifle season, if you cant kill a doe in 4 months of bow, gun, and muzzle loader season. Maybe, just maybe there are not enough does in the 1st place. Now I couldn't bow hunt the last 4 days cause of doe season. Bucks are in hiding from all the gun hunters, and we get a few days to bow hunt the heavy pressured deer then they will have a 10 day doe only holiday hunt... really... it gets better (sarcasm) checking with my local biologist, 38 percent of the "doe" kill during the holiday hunt is made up of button bucks that are displaced after being booted out on there own by mama during the rut... and 11% are shed antlered bucks. Now factor in poaching and mistakes at a about 2% and 50% of the does shot are really bucks...

I agree with this , usually I see deer all year , last year was so different . I personally hate using a gun but have nothing against it but I have watched the hunting go to complete crap this year after gun deer aren't where they were before and the flooded beds didnt help either in the swamp

[wjung]

I used to love late season hunting. Wait a week or so until after gun and go out. You would have the woods pretty much to yourself. I think the doe seasons need to go away all together.
Dan, did your biologist say what he thought of the doe seasons?

[DaveT1963]

I am not a fan of late season doe hunting. Personal choice for me after field dressing a few very pregnant does in late Jan (probably bred in Sept/early oct?) - Its just not for me, especially when we get into the recent trend of Feb/March hunts. Like I said, just a personal choice for me.

[bwest21]

Very interesting. Hunting in South Central WI I have noticed a HUGE decrease in the amount of deer over the years. When you hear some people complain about lack of deer, you kind of listen, but when 80% of people in your area complain, there has to be something behind it!

[Jmitch]

I do tend to agree. Especially with the holiday hunt. That one can go as far as I'm concerned. Honestly I have taken advantage of the middle December doe hunt the last 3 years so i do find value in that but can see why others dont. I do agree that it has pretty much ruined or atleast severely limited late archery especially if your county isn't open till 1/31. It doesnt seem like either season gets much participation either. Maybe if you eliminated the holiday hunt it would force people to use the mid December 4 day hunt and it would be a better solution?

But I also think the dnr is in a tough spot trying to figure out how to make people kill does on private. Not sure we have that problem anywhere really on public. Late archery kill numbers are typically pretty low so I'm sure the dnr doesnt mind the trade off.

[dan]

They dont need to make anybody kill anything on private land... that's up to the property owner. if there is so many does that we need to kill them one would think people would have ne problem killing a doe in the regular 4 month season.

[dan]

Did anybody else notice they doubled the free doe tags in wisconsin this year... ? Then when you complain that the deer numbers are dropping sharply and that they need to stop giving out doe tags they try telling you they sold less tags, or stopped sales... well, yes. But you gave every hunter 4 doe tags...

[dan]

With the condition of the herd right now, I would rather people shot young bucks than does... we need a rebuild.

[Jmitch]

With the condition of the herd right now, I would rather people shot young bucks than does... we need a rebuild.

Just like any other year it highly depends where you are at. Some areas are up some are down public or private. From what I see/saw in my local area public and private I would respectfully disagree about needing a rebuild but what the heck do I know?

And as far as "needing" to make people kill does on private I agree with you on principle but the reality seems to be so many hunters are so concerned about horns that they simple will not shoot does when bucks are legal. Again mostly a private problem. Those are also generally the properties that do need a reduction so from the dnrs perspective I'm sure it's a trade off they will make.

Now if you want to argue that the dnr is way off base with their assessments of the herd statewide that's a whole nother discussion altogether. And quite frankly one that this redneck mechanic probably has no place in either

[FRH]

What I don’t get about the holiday hunt is the counties that are offering it but then not have the extended bow season. Seems like a big f u to bow hunters. 3/4 of the late season in those counties is made up of days you would have to wear orange and/or only shoot a doe. And how does a county such as Shawano that gave out 6 antlerless tags not have the holiday hunt? That makes no sense to me.

[Dewey]

I drove around a lot this weekend and didn’t see a single person hunting antlerless deer. Guys didn’t see any deer during the 9 day gun season and the kill was the lowest since 1980. Why would they waste their time sitting in much colder weather to repeat the same result? Very few hardcore hunters left at this stage. This hunt needs to end. Not fair to guys who still want to hunt bucks. Lets have a real late archery season again.

Don’t even get me started on the Holiday Antlerless Hunt. Dumbest thing I ever heard of and only hurts the buck population more with nub bucks and shed bucks getting killed. Glad I live in a county where it’s not happening.

[greenhorndave]

What I don’t get about the holiday hunt is the counties that are offering it but then not have the extended bow season. Seems like a big f u to bow hunters. 3/4 of the late season in those counties is made up of days you would have to wear orange and/or only shoot a doe. And how does a county such as Shawano that gave out 6 antlerless tags not have the holiday hunt? That makes no sense to me.

Agreed