Report: Wis. DNR should drop deer goals
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin wildlife officials should scrap local deer population goals, let landowners hold mini-hunts on their property and establish better connections with the public, Gov. Scott Walker's deer trustee wrote in a report released Tuesday.
Texas researcher James Kroll's 136-page study focuses largely on the Department of Natural Resources' shortcomings but takes hunters to task too, saying they expect the agency to maintain a herd so large the landscape can't support it. His plan offers the two sides a chance to compromise and save Wisconsin's hunting traditions from disappearing, he said.
"This is a reset button," Kroll said of his recommendations. "If we're going to continue to have the hunting heritage in Wisconsin, we're going to have to do this."
DNR Lands Division Administrator Kurt Thiede issued a statement saying agency officials haven't reviewed the report yet.
"We are not afraid to face recommendations and critiques that are contained in the report and adjust accordingly," Thiede said.
Deer hunters have been feuding with the DNR over the last decade or so, contending the agency's herd control tactics have become so ham-handed and rigid they're leading to anemic hunts.
Walker, a Republican, tapped into the rancor on the campaign trail two years ago, promising to respond to hunters' complaints. The governor's administration hired Kroll in October for $125,000 to undertake an extensive review of the DNR's policies. Kroll and two other researchers have spent the last nine months studying DNR documents and data and meeting with DNR employees, stakeholder groups, Wisconsin's American Indian tribes and the general public.
Kroll issued preliminary findings in March that were highly critical of the DNR. He picks up where he left off in his final report, picking apart everything from the DNR's population estimates to a lack of easily accessible, computerized maps.
The report says the department's population estimates aren't precise enough to serve as the basis for population goals in individual management zones. Zone goals are crucial to hunters because the numbers determine what herd control strategies, such as antlerless hunts, the DNR might impose on that area.
The agency should do away with zone population estimates and goals, saying most hunters have little faith in them, the numbers are indefensible statistically and the constant argument over the figures erodes the DNR's credibility. The DNR instead should adopt simple goal statements such as increase, stabilize or decrease population density and establish criteria to measure success based on local trends, such as crop damage, forest degradation or car-deer crashes.
The report recommends the DNR start a program that allows landowners and hunting clubs to run hunts on their property after consulting with DNR biologists. At least 20 states already allow such hunts, according to the report.
The hunts would help manage the local herd, build trust between hunters, landowners and the state and provide the DNR with valuable scientific data from the dead deer. The program could yield up to 25,000 deer and cost about $100,000 annually. The money would come from enrollment fees and antlerless permit fees.
Wisconsin Democrats have accused Kroll of favoring private hunting clubs over public lands, pointing to remarks he made to "Texas Monthly" magazine in 2002 calling people who want more public land "cocktail conservationists who are really pining for socialism." They feared Kroll might recommend privatizing public lands.
Kroll dismissed that criticism as politically motivated — it came during the height of Democrats' attempt to recall Walker this past spring — and he insisted his mini-hunt idea could apply across swaths of public land too.
The study also recommends the DNR step up its attempts to connect with the public and stakeholders. Agency biologists should spend more time working with forestry and agricultural specialists and develop local management teams that would include tribal representatives, the agency should involve volunteers in projects as much as possible and involve members of the Conservation Congress, a group of influential sportsmen who advise the DNR, in local deer management decisions.
"You guys almost overnight can go from heels to heroes just by working with people," Kroll said he told agency officials.
Still, Kroll praised DNR employees as competent professionals trying to do the right thing for Wisconsin wildlife. He ended the report by admonishing hunters, saying they want to see more deer than the land can sustain. They want government officials to maintain a herd so large the state's forests would suffer and more motorists will crash into the deer.
"Ironically, by attempting to raise more deer than the land can sustain, they wind up with fewer deer," the report said.
Kroll warned that if the DNR and hunters can't agree on his recommendations the state's rich hunting tradition could vanish. Legislators will step in and start mandating heavy-handed changes, he said. Hunter numbers will decline and the DNR will have to rely on predators to control the herd, he said.
"Everybody's sick and tired of this and they're ready to do something," Kroll said. "The ball's in your court, pure and simple."
Jul 11, 2012 at 12:35 p.m.
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Hunt clubs and private landowner hunts, what he means is pay to play, no more public land. At least the folks that sell high fences should be happy.
Jul 11, 2012 at 8:17 a.m.
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bassman - I also agree with your last post. I have put my time in, hunt hard and have great success because of that. However, that doesn't change the fact that eradication, earn a buck and multiple seasons is hurting one of the greatest traditions in this state and will eventually destroy it if things aren't changed. How ironic that years ago you had to apply for a doe tag or party permit and weren't even guaranteed one by the DNR. Now it's a massacre on does because their past system failed.
Jul 10, 2012 at 6:40 p.m.
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I will say one more thing ,this day and age us true hunters that do our homework and hunt hard always have success in most cases ,today unfortunately ther are huge numbers of deer hunting warriors that walk into the woods once a year and also they walk in 50 to 100 yards and sit on their butts and wait, do some get a deer ? well yes but,very few. I witness this on a regular basis,where I hunt. The State land in Lafayette County has great deer harvesting opportunities but, when you travel around the area it looks like a construction zone,every where you look there is orange and it's all within 100 yards from the road. My opinion hunters in general these days are lazy ! The tradition in general is going away and,it's very sad. If you want success do your homework .
Jul 10, 2012 at 4:26 p.m.
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bassman said "because there are more cars ,and crops than there ever has been."
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Yes, there is more cars, but if you double the deer numbers, there WILL be more car hits.
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Also, you say there is more crops? If anything there is less cropland because of urban expansion. You can't just MAKE more cropland. Think about it>
Jul 10, 2012 at 3:54 p.m.
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gonfo5 - I couldn't agree with you more on every aspect you touched on. Well said.
Jul 10, 2012 at 3:50 p.m.
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My personal opinion is to eliminate all the extra hunts and go back to the standard 9 day gun hunt with muzzle loader after that. One of the reasons you are not seeing the deer on public land is starting in Oct., mass amounts of hunters at all times of the day are entering the woods leaving human scent everywhere, already driving the dear nocturnal and onto private non-pressured land for safety. Get rid of the CWD zones and the unnecessary killing for the purpose of pleasing the auto insurance companies. I know a lot of hunters that have been angry about the multiple gun hunting dates since it started and are not seeing the deer like it once was. The current way of estimating the heard is about like taking your boat out 30 miles into the Atlantic Ocean, putting your line in the water and whatever you catch in the first 30 minutes is what is in every square mile of the ocean. I'm also not jumping on this guys bandwaggon for fixing the issue of what our DNR has caused, but at least Wisconsin is listening to the majority of the hunters and doing something about it. I look forward to hopefully a common sense solution to this issue.
Jul 10, 2012 at 1:58 p.m.
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The public lands get hit so hard by hunters that the private lands become havens for the herd to grow away from hunters. Opening private lands could spread the population a bit, BUT people buy PRIVATE HUNTING LAND for the reason of it being private. The CWD eradication zone has the most dense population in the state and people should hunt there if they want to take a nap after lunch.
Jul 10, 2012 at 1:37 p.m.
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"The report recommends the DNR start a program that allows landowners and hunting clubs to run hunts on their property after consulting with DNR biologists."
There you have the main thrust of this guy's beliefs.
People in WI were so used to being able to pull their 4wheeler up to the bottom of the tree stand, shoot a deer opening morning that they started squawking when it actually took some effort to hunt.
I don't know anybody that had difficulty filling tags, but then they aren't lazy hunters.
Jul 10, 2012 at 1:20 p.m.
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While I am uncertain what their idea behind letting people hunt on their property is going to solve, not to mention it will never happen, I do agree there is major issues with how this situation has been handled for the last 12 years. The way deer are estimated and counted per square mile is seriously flawed and creates an imaginary number that is inconsistent from one area to the next. I still see a fair amount of deer on our property, however having earn a buck for decades has decimated the herd. My biggest complaint is the CWD excuse for earn a buck. Fact: CWD is not sex specific to deer. Using that as a crutch for population goals is bogus. If CWD is your reasoning behind earn a buck, there would be no limitations to which sex is harvested. You want to start getting hunters and those that spend billions in this state to trust you, start being honest and listen.
Jul 10, 2012 at 12:44 p.m.
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Yes woody, because there are more cars ,and crops than there ever has been. Not being a smart @## but think about it.
Jul 10, 2012 at 12:31 p.m.
Jul 10, 2012 at 12:31 p.m.
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Wisconsin should drop the DNR.
Jul 10, 2012 at 11:47 a.m.
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Also, the more deer we have, the more deer/car accidents and crop damage we will have.
Jul 10, 2012 at 11:32 a.m.
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Younger hunters today think deer hunting should be like a TV show or video game...a deer behind every bush.
The real world is boring to them...and they think they are "entitled" to millions of deer (and pheasants, ducks, etc.)
Jul 10, 2012 at 11:23 a.m.
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Welcome back Mouse .... Thought maybe you had given up posting ... have not noticed a post from you for several weeks but then only seldom look.
Jul 10, 2012 at 10:28 a.m.
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"Deer hunters have been feuding with the DNR over the last decade or so, contending the agency's herd control tactics have become so ham-handed and rigid they're leading to anemic hunts." that's funny.
how bout the fact that we are paving over all the easily accessible (for both hunter and deer) land.
Perhaps the deer can hear your 4 wheeler and see that living room you call a tree stand.
I do not hunt anymore, but my 65 year old father does, both bow and shotgun. He walks in, no tree stand, and carries out. Fills his tags every year.
Jul 10, 2012 at 10:14 a.m.
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Local land owners letting people hunt on their property,Thats the funniest thing I've read in a long time.
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