link

nice!

Senate Bill 289 – eliminates the requirement for a hunter to wear a back tag while hunting game, and eliminates the requirement for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to provide a hard copy license to hunters.  Authored by Senator Terry Moulton (R – Chippewa Falls) and Representative Joel Kleefisch (R – Oconomowoc), the bill passed the Senate with a vote of 28-4 and was concurred by the Assembly on a voice vote.  It is Act 222.  


Um, OK.... WTF does the part in red mean?

nevermind... it just means the DNR no longer must issue a backtag. It originally sounded to me like they'd no longer be required to issue a paper license, relying on having an electronic copy in your smartphone, or some other dumbass new technology rule with the new "Go Wild" stuff they're trotting out.

Here's what I found: http://wbay.com/2016/02/16/dnr-implements-new-licensing-system/

I discussed this with my friend who is a retired DNR warden, just yesterday. He said he had asked a friend who is still at DNR why they're changing. He was told that a big reason they're getting away from that green, sticky-backed, material used now was that it was getting difficult to obtain, and is quite expensive when they can find enough. He's skeptical about that reason. He said he believes they have too many people just sitting around in Madison with nothing better to do than think up ways to change stuff. It wasn't broke, but they still need to "fix" it.

He also said that what the pencil pushers down in Madison have yet to realize, is that all the modern technology at their fingertips is not readily available everywhere in WI. He envisions a nightmare for wardens in the northwoods, trying to look up a person's license status electronically in the field, with them having no paper documentation. The equipment (computer) in wardens' vehicles relies on the same cell service as everyone else, creating 2 huge problems.

First, about 30-40% of the area he patrolled (Vilas, Oneida, Forest) were "very poor to none" for cell service (still that way, but slowly improving). And when there's no service on a cell, there's no internet connection for his computer. He had to rely solely on documentation his "contacts" had on them when in certain areas.  

Second, even in areas with good cell service, it can be impossible to get a connection on busy weekends in the north, because existing cell towers cannot come close to meeting the demand, with tourists flooding the area and using their cells for internet, games, etc. I have seen this myself. Weekends like Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, my cell phone becomes almost useless, and I can be standing right underneath a cell tower. It can take 30-40 minutes before I can get a call through, simply because the cell sites are overloaded. I've sent text messages to others in my same area that weren't received for hours.

Can the paper licenses be requested?

When someone wants to buy a gun at the store, they need to have something government issued with current address, so if their drivers license address was their old one, as well as their hunting/fishing license,  we used to send them to the licensing counter to get a HIP certification with their current address, which is free.

The system was down at the end of Feb., and when I tried to send someone to get their HIP cert yesterday, they said the system was still down.

If they are not going to issue any paper stuff anymore, I wonder how that's going to work or even if it'll be legal with electronic licenses to use them as an alternate form of ID for gun purchases.

AFAIK, you will be able to print your own paper documents such as hunting/fishing licenses from the DNR website... but you will not be required to do so. I see some complications here, with non-residents on vacation (without a PC & printer) who buy something like a 5 day fishing license. Unless the license vendors can do so for them.

The current system of license vendors was shut down last week, but will be back up by the time the new licenses become necessary on April 1st. In the meantime, I do believe the DNR service centers are still up & running under the old system, and should still be able to print those HIP certificates.

Good.  Back tags are worthless.

All the information needed is on carcass tags anyway.  Waste of time, money, and material for back tags that haven't solved a crime in ever.  Guess what, when people trespass, they take them off....soooo....yeah.  I'm super happy they did this.  I am so sick and tired of having to swap the tag between my pack and my jacket.  So stupid.

Glad they're gone too. Pain in the ass.

When bow hunting, I put the backtag on my backpack and left it there. It never went on my jacket. When I'd climb up in my treestand I'd take the pack off and hang it on a hook, making the tag visible to anyone on the ground...if it was on my back only the tree I was leaning against could see it. That tag holder thing on my back would constantly scrape the tree when I moved, making way too much noise.

Gun season, just the opposite. I'd put it on my jacket, but never on my backpack. I have different packs for the different deer seasons. The pack I use for gun season is more of a glorified fanny pack with shoulder straps. It sits low enough that it doesn't cover the tag (tag up high, in between my shoulders) when I have it on. I don't hunt from a treestand in gun season, I use a pop-up ground blind. As I'm not leaning against a tree, there's no noise worries with the tag holder thing on my back. But all this backtag stuff is now history.

Yeah, I always struggle with the same issues. I rip through the back tag holders cause they constantly rub on the tree and my pack. They're getting harder to find these days. They're loud and not needed, especially when hinting on private land.

I'm happy about this change.

Yay, now I won't have to try and remember where I stuck that cheap little backtag holder and then get pissed off and buy a new one ever again!

Good.

Thanks for the insight from your warden friend, that's pretty interesting, this past fall I hunted from a pop up ground blind, my buddy and I had to put 4 holes in it because we had to attach both of out backtags

I never did that.  Was this a thing?



 

Me either. I always thought they had to be displayed on the person.

I don't ever recall seeing that in the regulations...has to be on the person, even inside ground blinds...Ground blinds on public land requires 144 square inches of orange displayed from all sides...but not back tags.

I don't know....   I always thought they were a handy way to identify other hunters if things went sideways in the woods - trespassers, etc...  The back tag is how they found that mong guy who killed all those hunters several years ago.  

I always thought it was a minor inconvenience.  But, I won't cry about it being gone.  

they don't have time to pass school carry but we can now hunt in pink without backtags.......

You'd be better off yelling about passing the 'blaze pink' crap...at least removing back tags helps the vast majority of hunters

snip



The problem I always had with them was the fact that anyone wanting to get your info off your back tag without the use of  binoculars was using the scope on their loaded rifle to try and read it.
I sure don't need to get shot because someone is pointing their rifle at me to check my back tag.

That's excellent news! That noisy backtag holder scraping on the tree was a PITA. Good going! Now, about those wolves up by the lake...

Is this a bad thing to have them feel the pain that hunters feel when they try to register in that area?

That makes no sense.  
Never did back tags have to be attached to a ground blind. Where did you get this idea from?

Where do people come up with these ideas?  A backtag on your blind - LOL!  If you hunt out of your house (which I'm sure some people think is also illegal) do you need to put your backtag on your house?

I have to sell all my stock in the company that mags those back tag holders....

Local Walmart has a whole rack full in the clearance section.... 25 cents each.

Stupid is stupid.  Not having a back tag won't cure stupid.  Unfortunately, I've seen way too many people using their rifle scopes to identify people in the woods.

Hope the electronic thing works.  Just picked up a fishing license, got a 8.5x11 paper copy.  That won't last long folded up in my wallet.

On a related note, I just now bought my sportsmans license. I too, wonder how long it'll last in my wallet. I intend to cut it down to the license itself, and put the buck tag with my hunting gear for now.
The license, I will fold up and put it into an internal pocket sandwiched between other stuff in my wallet. That should keep it decent from anything but a direct dunking.

ETA: I was surprised to see my boat safety course on the list of certifications. I took that 34 years ago,in high school. I didn't realized they did the data entry for that far back. The date was listed as 2008, and in milwaukee county, so I guess that's when and where they did the data entry.

It occurs to me-what do you do with the federal duck stamp with this paper license?? Stick it on the back, sign it, and hope it doesn't get wet?

I read that they want you to put it in a ziploc sandwich bag to keep it dry.  We built a great hi-tech system that still relies on a cheap plastic bag to work.  I love it!  

And a pen.  Don't forget your pen that works in the cold and wet woods.



 

My hunting partners and I discussed this... and we came to the conclusion that after we sign our stamps, we'll stick them to our foreheads on opening morning.


Seriously.... yep, stick it to the back of a goose tag printout or hunting license printout. Unless you fall out of the boat, or go into the water above your wader top, it should stay dry in your wallet. Or... you can just sign it and leave it on the paper it came with and stick that in your wallet.

I also get an early season goose tag and an exterior zone goose tag, and in addition to having the "Go Wild" card, I printed out a copy of my small game-state duck stamp-fishing-turkey licenses and have that in my wallet (all that fancy electronic crap doesn't work in several areas where I typically hunt... no cell service. So I have 'something' to show a warden if stopped by one).

http://www.wjfw.com/storydetails/20160509174708

"But scanning the licenses in remote areas gave DNR wardens some problems.

"We had some challenges with reception is the biggest thing we're dealing with," said Walz. "In order to get that app to read and go through and connection to our system, we have to have a connection."


Duh. The geniuses in Madison who dreamed up this crap should've known this would happen, with the crappy cell service up north. Even in areas that have good cell service, it disappears on busy weekends like Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, when the crowds from down south invade the north...and bring all their electronic toys with them, and overload the capabilities of the local cell towers (which were not designed to handle that much traffic). You can sit right under a cell tower, have 5 bars on your phone, and not be able to make or receive calls for hours at a time. It can take hours for a text to be sent too.

eta: you can also purchase your federal duck stamp through the DNR, in which case that will show up on your "Go Wild" inventory and you won't need to carry the actual stamp.

I wasn't offered the option of the federal duck stamp, just the state, when I bought my license online.

An option might be to print the liscence on a piece of photo paper as it would last longer - just a thought.

In my experience, the ink on photo paper is more likely to run when wet, unless you use a waterproof ink. Maybe it depends on which paper you use, too.

I did save the PDF of the license, so I can always reprint.

I didn't see it either. But it might not be available until later this summer, when the actual stamps become available at USPS (usually about Aug 1st).

Under the previous system, you could buy the federal stamp at a DNR license vendor, but you didn't get an actual stamp, just a receipt for it that was valid for hunting. If you wanted an actual stamp for collecting, the DNR would mail you one for a few dollars extra, but all you needed to hunt legally was the DNR receipt. I know collectors of duck stamps, who also hunt and need the stamp for hunting, who got their stamps this way as they did not have to sign, and carry, the actual stamp. An unsigned stamp is more desirable to collectors than a signed one. I don't see why they would discontinue this practice, probably just not up on the site until later.  

I only buy a fishing and small game license.  I printed a paper copy, trimmed it and laminated it.  It should probably hold up in my wallet for the year that way.  Also have it on my phone.  Some people I know never bothered to print the license.  Said they have it on their phone and all a warden really needs is a driver's license/ID to check all the licenses/credentials/stamps you purchased.  I still feel more comfortable with a paper copy in my wallet.