Posted: 7/29/2014 6:42:05 AM EDT
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Can someone please explain to me what caused the great state of WI to go full retard with the new deer regulations and how they go about doe tags?
The ONLY good I see is they moved deer management from a state wide level to a county level which makes sense as the people in those areas will be able to better judge the needs of each area, but I don't understand why they pulled a antlerless tag from the archery license... or the requirement to specify public/private land and the future 2015 requirement to get your farmland zone (former heard control) antlerless tags that come with your gun license depending on public/private land as well. This seems to me like a stupid move, maybe someone can clarify. |
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Doe tags will be issued when an area is deemed to have too many deer. Last winter was the most severe winter on record across all of the north (and most of the State as well), and deer took a winter-kill mortality hit, so no tags will be issued until (if) the herd grows too large again.
The bad part about the change from the old management zones to county boundaries, is county boundaries aren't marked. The old zones were clearly evident as they used roads as boundaries, so you always knew what zone you shot a deer in. A good thing was moving away from in-person registration, to telephone/internet registration. But they fucked that up too by changing the deadline for registration from 5pm the day after season ends, to 5pm the day after deer is killed. You cannot hang a deer in camp until registered, nor transport a doe from the county of kill until registered. Not an issue in most areas, but in the more rural areas in the western or northern parts, there's large areas without cell towers (and payphones are extinct). What could've been an improvement for everyone if they left the deadline as is, has become an improvement for most, but a pain in the ass for others in the "no cell service" areas. Although there's no doe tags now but if there are in the future, if you kill a doe in northern Forest County (where I've hunted for 20 years) you're screwed, as there's little if any cell service until you leave the county. I'm sure the DNR wardens will be lenient & understanding in these areas. 
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Are you in the northern part of the state? We are hunting centeral forest zone so there appears to be tags for this year (last year they only reached 1/2 their quota of does in our unit).
I'm not really sure how I feel about this private/public tag... seems more like a push to get people not to hunt who don't have land/know people... I also think the 2015 plan to specify unit and land type for the farmland zone tags (heard control) is stupid... if the goal is to decrease the population in the southern part of the state, why make it more difficult to hunt them over a wide range of places. |
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Are you in the northern part of the state? We are hunting centeral forest zone so there appears to be tags for this year (last year they only reached 1/2 their quota of does in our unit). I'm not really sure how I feel about this private/public tag... seems more like a push to get people not to hunt who don't have land/know people... I also think the 2015 plan to specify unit and land type for the farmland zone tags (heard control) is stupid... if the goal is to decrease the population in the southern part of the state, why make it more difficult to hunt them over a wide range of places. Yup, I'm up north in Vilas County, where I've hunted since 1991, on both public & private land in Vilas, Oneida, & Forest. I hunted near Pembine in Marinette County from 1984-90 on private & county-owned land, near Mercer on paper company & private land from 1973-1983, and near Mauston in Juneau County on family owned land from 1964-72. I've hunted since 14 yrs old, I'm now 64, so I've got some experience on both types of land. 
The reason for the public/private tags is there's a big discrepancy in the amount of deer on each type of land in areas with large amounts of public land. The private lands are either agricultural, or up north where there's little agriculture, people feed them on private land. Either of these situations create "pockets" of heavy deer populations, while adjoining public forest lands in the same zone have much lower deer densities. Under the past one-tag-for-all-areas system, does tags are issued for an entire zone, and the number issued is based upon the overall population in the entire zone. What happens is, the deer on the public land get hammered hard, while the deer on private land have much less pressure because of limited access to that private property, and they overpopulate it. Doe tags do little to bring down that population if hunters can't access the deer there. So under this new system, the number of private land and public land tags issued will depend on where the deer are mostly congregated. This has been a problem up north for years, and this is a solution that should work. If most of the deer are on private land, that's where most of the tags should go. If there's less deer on the public land, there should be less tags used there. I like this change, very much, it's about time! 
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Yup, I'm up north in Vilas County, where I've hunted since 1991, on both public & private land in Vilas, Oneida, & Forest. I hunted near Pembine in Marinette County from 1984-90 on private & county-owned land, near Mercer on paper company & private land from 1973-1983, and near Mauston in Juneau County on family owned land from 1964-72. I've hunted since 14 yrs old, I'm now 64, so I've got some experience on both types of land.
The reason for the public/private tags is there's a big discrepancy in the amount of deer on each type of land in areas with large amounts of public land. The private lands are either agricultural, or up north where there's little agriculture, people feed them on private land. Either of these situations create "pockets" of heavy deer populations, while adjoining public forest lands in the same zone have much lower deer densities. Under the past one-tag-for-all-areas system, does tags are issued for an entire zone, and the number issued is based upon the overall population in the entire zone. What happens is, the deer on the public land get hammered hard, while the deer on private land have much less pressure because of limited access to that private property, and they overpopulate it. Doe tags do little to bring down that population if hunters can't access the deer there. So under this new system, the number of private land and public land tags issued will depend on where the deer are mostly congregated. This has been a problem up north for years, and this is a solution that should work. If most of the deer are on private land, that's where most of the tags should go. If there's less deer on the public land, there should be less tags used there. I like this change, very much, it's about time! Quoted:
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Are you in the northern part of the state? We are hunting centeral forest zone so there appears to be tags for this year (last year they only reached 1/2 their quota of does in our unit). I'm not really sure how I feel about this private/public tag... seems more like a push to get people not to hunt who don't have land/know people... I also think the 2015 plan to specify unit and land type for the farmland zone tags (heard control) is stupid... if the goal is to decrease the population in the southern part of the state, why make it more difficult to hunt them over a wide range of places. Yup, I'm up north in Vilas County, where I've hunted since 1991, on both public & private land in Vilas, Oneida, & Forest. I hunted near Pembine in Marinette County from 1984-90 on private & county-owned land, near Mercer on paper company & private land from 1973-1983, and near Mauston in Juneau County on family owned land from 1964-72. I've hunted since 14 yrs old, I'm now 64, so I've got some experience on both types of land.
The reason for the public/private tags is there's a big discrepancy in the amount of deer on each type of land in areas with large amounts of public land. The private lands are either agricultural, or up north where there's little agriculture, people feed them on private land. Either of these situations create "pockets" of heavy deer populations, while adjoining public forest lands in the same zone have much lower deer densities. Under the past one-tag-for-all-areas system, does tags are issued for an entire zone, and the number issued is based upon the overall population in the entire zone. What happens is, the deer on the public land get hammered hard, while the deer on private land have much less pressure because of limited access to that private property, and they overpopulate it. Doe tags do little to bring down that population if hunters can't access the deer there. So under this new system, the number of private land and public land tags issued will depend on where the deer are mostly congregated. This has been a problem up north for years, and this is a solution that should work. If most of the deer are on private land, that's where most of the tags should go. If there's less deer on the public land, there should be less tags used there. I like this change, very much, it's about time! I also hunt in the north country and I disagree with the public/private differences in tags. We hunt mostly public land. In one of the Polk Cty Forests where we hunt is the border with private land that allows no hunting. On opening morning, you set up on that fenceline and ambush any deer heading there when the gunfire starts. The deer know it is a safe zone. After opening morning, it is rare to see a deer in the public land. You can look from the public land to the private and see all kinds of deer. With the new rule changes, there will be no more ambushing them before they get to sanctuary. Changing the borders of the hunting zones was just dumb. The borders that you mentioned before were very important and now are moot. If the DNR thinks (oxymoron, I know) that these changes will get more people out to hunt I believe they are sadly mistaken. Duck season goes over deer season this year, I may be doing that instead. |
| You're giving the deer way to much reasoning credit. They don't know where there is a safe zone or not. They will not abandon their home range just because there is shooting or human activity in it. They might get run out of it if something is hot on their tail but they will return ASAP because their home range is all they know. But after they sense a lot of activity they hunker down and you don't see them, with less activity on the private land they go about their normal life. |
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Of all the changes - the public / private land one is the one that pisses me off.
We have 40 acres in Vilas county - but with 4 (sometimes 5!) of us, we like to branch out on to the public land surrounding us sometimes. The public land is pretty much 'landlocked' anyways - in order to get to it you either have to cross a swamp or get to it through someones' private property. With the way the changes are written, now if any of us want an antlerless tag we need to buy one of each - since we could harvest on one or the other. |
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I also hunt in the north country and I disagree with the public/private differences in tags. We hunt mostly public land. In one of the Polk Cty Forests where we hunt is the border with private land that allows no hunting. On opening morning, you set up on that fenceline and ambush any deer heading there when the gunfire starts. The deer know it is a safe zone. After opening morning, it is rare to see a deer in the public land. You can look from the public land to the private and see all kinds of deer. With the new rule changes, there will be no more ambushing them before they get to sanctuary. Quoted:
I also hunt in the north country and I disagree with the public/private differences in tags. We hunt mostly public land. In one of the Polk Cty Forests where we hunt is the border with private land that allows no hunting. On opening morning, you set up on that fenceline and ambush any deer heading there when the gunfire starts. The deer know it is a safe zone. After opening morning, it is rare to see a deer in the public land. You can look from the public land to the private and see all kinds of deer. With the new rule changes, there will be no more ambushing them before they get to sanctuary. I fail to see your point, on why the separation of tags will make any difference. 
There will always be more hunters who do not own, or do not have access to, private land (and hunt on public) than there will be those who do have the private land priveleges. If the doe tags are given out generically, you'll wind up with more hunters with doe tags on the public land, where there are less deer (especially after the shooting starts... you DID make that point very clear). So you'll have more does killed, percentage wise, from the lower deer populations on public land. If a county or zone has 50% public land and 50% private land, half the tags should be used on private, half on public. In reality, you'll have 75-80% of the hunters in that zone hunting on public land, and you'll likely have 75% of the deer on private land where the feeding is better, before the shooting even starts. If the tags are given out equally amongst private land hunters and public land hunters, the numbers don't add up. You'll have 75% of the tag holders hunting does amongst 25% of the deer. In my area, public land deer populations have plummeted from being hammered by doe tags, while private land populations have stayed steady or even increased. I know it sucks if you only have public land to hunt, but the deer on that public land cannot stand all that pressure from too many does being killed out of proportion. Personally, I don't shoot does. I hunt bucks only, but having more does around on public land means more fawns being born... half of which will be bucks.
Changing the borders of the hunting zones was just dumb. The borders that you mentioned before were very important and now are moot. I agree. If the DNR thinks (oxymoron, I know) that these changes will get more people out to hunt I believe they are sadly mistaken. Duck season goes over deer season this year, I may be doing that instead. Me too. I duck hunted on 42 days last year (not including 10 days during early goose), and spent only 5 days in the deer woods (all on private land, with no doe tag). I never left the house on opening weekend... first time in 49 years I didn't hunt opening day. I gave up bow hunting in 2007. I'd be sitting in a tree stand, not seeing a deer in days, and watching ducks fly over every afternoon. I finally said "screw this", and put the bow away, and grabbed a shotgun and went to the duck blind instead.
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Of all the changes - the public / private land one is the one that pisses me off. We have 40 acres in Vilas county - but with 4 (sometimes 5!) of us, we like to branch out on to the public land surrounding us sometimes. The public land is pretty much 'landlocked' anyways - in order to get to it you either have to cross a swamp or get to it through someones' private property. With the way the changes are written, now if any of us want an antlerless tag we need to buy one of each - since we could harvest on one or the other. Most public land isn't landlocked, and gets triple the hunting pressure. In your case, who is gonna know where you shot a doe? There won't be any doe tags issued in Vilas this year, and probably several years to come, so it's a moot point.... for now.
I'm in a similar situation. Our private land borders 80 acres of county land and controls access to 2 sides, a 3rd side is lake/cattail swamp, the 4th side is also private. You either trespass or navigate semi-frozen bog, from a boat, to get to that 80. We've got another parcel of 35 acres private (with a "primitive" cabin, meaning no electric nor phones etc, and a wood stove), totally surrounded by Nicolet Nat'l Forest.... and there's 8 of us. Half of us won't shoot does (the older half), other half will. |
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So I picked a fucked up time to start killin' Bambi, huh? Maybe I'll just start with 'yotes and never get into deer. So does this mean you guys have to buy tags now to hunt in November? Is there any kind of lottery or something where if I haven't bought a tag by now I'm SOL?
For something as simple as killing shit to eat it, government sure does make it difficult. |
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So I picked a fucked up time to start killin' Bambi, huh? Maybe I'll just start with 'yotes and never get into deer. So does this mean you guys have to buy tags now to hunt in November? Is there any kind of lottery or something where if I haven't bought a tag by now I'm SOL? For something as simple as killing shit to eat it, government sure does make it difficult. Depends on where you intend to hunt. The deer populations up north have been in a steady decline for about 10 years now. The "good old days" of deer hunting up north were the 1990s. Combination of too many doe tags being used mostly on public land, too many predators (coyote & wolf numbers have soared), and last few winters were a bitch. There'll be no doe tags issued in 14 northwoods counties this year. Deer numbers are higher in the central & south, where there's more agriculture for deer to feed on, and less predation. It's not too late to buy a doe tag in areas where they'll be issued. http://dnr.wi.gov/permits/bonusavailability.html |
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So I picked a fucked up time to start killin' Bambi, huh? Maybe I'll just start with 'yotes and never get into deer. . It is not all gloom and doom. There is still plenty of venison in the north woods waiting for you to harvest it... 
It will turn out far better for you if you enjoy the hunt and not just the kill. You should enjoy kicking back in the woods waiting for your game to reveal itself or you will be disappointed in the whole experience. |
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So I picked a fucked up time to start killin' Bambi, huh? Maybe I'll just start with 'yotes and never get into deer. So does this mean you guys have to buy tags now to hunt in November? Is there any kind of lottery or something where if I haven't bought a tag by now I'm SOL? For something as simple as killing shit to eat it, government sure does make it difficult. Mainly because of greed....in the old days I have seen semi trucks loaded with deer carcasses underneath corn sent to Illinois. Big poaching operations. Not a fan of government but do to the nature of man... the other choice I guess is probably worse. |
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Quoted: Mainly because of greed....in the old days I have seen semi trucks loaded with deer carcasses underneath corn sent to Illinois. Big poaching operations. Not a fan of government but do to the nature of man... the other choice I guess is probably worse. Quoted: Quoted: So I picked a fucked up time to start killin' Bambi, huh? Maybe I'll just start with 'yotes and never get into deer. So does this mean you guys have to buy tags now to hunt in November? Is there any kind of lottery or something where if I haven't bought a tag by now I'm SOL? For something as simple as killing shit to eat it, government sure does make it difficult. Mainly because of greed....in the old days I have seen semi trucks loaded with deer carcasses underneath corn sent to Illinois. Big poaching operations. Not a fan of government but do to the nature of man... the other choice I guess is probably worse. If you can find a good place to hunt with some friends and family deer hunting is still an enjoyable pastime.
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I'm in SE Wisconsin and I might have access to private land a few minutes from my house. Otherwise there is the Kettle-Moraine... wait I don't want to get shot.
Eric, that is why I wanted to start with 'yote - it is REAL hunting, not sitting in a tree in the cold and rain waiting for an animal to wander by...  
Thanks for the line on tags, I'll look at the doe tag situation here. |
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You're giving the deer way to much reasoning credit. They don't know where there is a safe zone or not. They will not abandon their home range just because there is shooting or human activity in it. They might get run out of it if something is hot on their tail but they will return ASAP because their home range is all they know. But after they sense a lot of activity they hunker down and you don't see them, with less activity on the private land they go about their normal life. Any time you want to witness it, I will invite you to hunt my area. I always thought the same way, then I saw it with my own eyes. By season end there is not a single deer in the public land except for stupid fawns and you can look across the pasture into the small stand of trees and it is full of deer. They have everything they need, water, food and shelter and they don't leave that private land. I suppose in your area they don't go nocturnal when the shooting starts either? |
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Just reading the reg changes for a refresher and came upon this gem.
If a hunter with a valid private lands tag shoots a deer on private land and the deer runs onto public land but does not die, may the hunter shoot that deer when found and if so, what type of tag is required, public or private lands? It is not legal to hunt and/or shoot a deer in a unit or on a land-type for which one does not have a valid tag, even if they first wounded that same deer in the unit or on the land-type their antlerless tag was valid. Doing so could be considered hunting deer without the appropriate approval. To allow this would be to allow anyone to hunt in the wrong area and simply claim that they wounded the deer earlier in the area their tag was actually valid. If the deer is still alive when they find it, and if gun deer hunting and no other member of the hunting party has a tag for the unit and land-type the deer is now located in, the hunter should contact the local warden for advice on what to do. If the deer is already dead when the hunter finds it in an adjacent unit or property type, it would be legal and the hunter must immediately validate and tag the deer with the tag that was valid for the areas where the deer was shot. This is no different than what could have happened in the past when someone was hunting near the boundary between two Deer Management Units. |
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Doe tags will be issued when an area is deemed to have too many deer. Last winter was the most severe winter on record across all of the north (and most of the State as well), and deer took a winter-kill mortality hit, so no tags will be issued until (if) the herd grows too large again. The bad part about the change from the old management zones to county boundaries, is county boundaries aren't marked. The old zones were clearly evident as they used roads as boundaries, so you always knew what zone you shot a deer in. A good thing was moving away from in-person registration, to telephone/internet registration. But they fucked that up too by changing the deadline for registration from 5pm the day after season ends, to 5pm the day after deer is killed. You cannot hang a deer in camp until registered, nor transport a doe from the county of kill until registered. Not an issue in most areas, but in the more rural areas in the western or northern parts, there's large areas without cell towers (and payphones are extinct). What could've been an improvement for everyone if they left the deadline as is, has become an improvement for most, but a pain in the ass for others in the "no cell service" areas. Although there's no doe tags now but if there are in the future, if you kill a doe in northern Forest County (where I've hunted for 20 years) you're screwed, as there's little if any cell service until you leave the county. I'm sure the DNR wardens will be lenient & understanding in these areas. I hope this helps, Runs From Bears... How long will a hunter have after harvesting a deer before they are required to register it? All deer must be registered by 5 p.m. the day after the animal is recovered and the carcass tag is validated, EXCEPT during the period that covers the November 9-day gun deer season, hunters have until 5 p.m. the day after the season closes to register ALL deer harvested during that period, including deer killed with bows or crossbows. |
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I hope this helps, Runs From Bears... How long will a hunter have after harvesting a deer before they are required to register it? All deer must be registered by 5 p.m. the day after the animal is recovered and the carcass tag is validated, EXCEPT during the period that covers the November 9-day gun deer season, hunters have until 5 p.m. the day after the season closes to register ALL deer harvested during that period, including deer killed with bows or crossbows. Quoted:
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Doe tags will be issued when an area is deemed to have too many deer. Last winter was the most severe winter on record across all of the north (and most of the State as well), and deer took a winter-kill mortality hit, so no tags will be issued until (if) the herd grows too large again. The bad part about the change from the old management zones to county boundaries, is county boundaries aren't marked. The old zones were clearly evident as they used roads as boundaries, so you always knew what zone you shot a deer in. A good thing was moving away from in-person registration, to telephone/internet registration. But they fucked that up too by changing the deadline for registration from 5pm the day after season ends, to 5pm the day after deer is killed. You cannot hang a deer in camp until registered, nor transport a doe from the county of kill until registered. Not an issue in most areas, but in the more rural areas in the western or northern parts, there's large areas without cell towers (and payphones are extinct). What could've been an improvement for everyone if they left the deadline as is, has become an improvement for most, but a pain in the ass for others in the "no cell service" areas. Although there's no doe tags now but if there are in the future, if you kill a doe in northern Forest County (where I've hunted for 20 years) you're screwed, as there's little if any cell service until you leave the county. I'm sure the DNR wardens will be lenient & understanding in these areas. I hope this helps, Runs From Bears... How long will a hunter have after harvesting a deer before they are required to register it? All deer must be registered by 5 p.m. the day after the animal is recovered and the carcass tag is validated, EXCEPT during the period that covers the November 9-day gun deer season, hunters have until 5 p.m. the day after the season closes to register ALL deer harvested during that period, including deer killed with bows or crossbows. You better read that again. Those are the rules for 2014. Electronic registration does not go into effect until 2015 or 2016, when more changes will be made. Beginning this year, you cannot hang a deer and leave it unattended by the person who tagged it until AFTER it's registered. Not 5pm the day after the season, not 5pm the day after it's been killed, but as soon as it's tagged it cannot be unattended by the person who owns the tag until that person registers it. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/WardenWire/WardenWire_Lookup.asp?id=380. Question 4: What is the requirement for transporting registered deer? Answer: Beginning this year, a person may not possess another hunter’s deer while afield, even if the deer is tagged and registered without the tag-holder being present, except that anyone can possess and transport another person’s registered deer on a public highway for purposes of transportation to, and possession at, a dwelling or a business without the tag-holder being present. A dwelling includes both permanent and temporary residences, and would include hunting cabins and camp sites. This allows a person to leave their registered deer at a hunting camp, meat processor or someone else’s residence when they are not there. Question 5: Can I leave my tagged deer hanging in a hunting camp or at someone else’s dwelling and go home, to work, to school, etc.? Answer: Until electronic registration is in place, a person may leave their legally tagged deer at another person’s dwelling until they can come back and bring it to an in-person registration station. When electronic registration is in place, it will be necessary for a person who tags a deer to register that deer before they leave that deer in the possession of another person at someone else’s dwelling (residence, campsite or cabin). |
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I'm in SE Wisconsin and I might have access to private land a few minutes from my house. Otherwise there is the Kettle-Moraine... wait I don't want to get shot. Eric, that is why I wanted to start with 'yote - it is REAL hunting, not sitting in a tree in the cold and rain waiting for an animal to wander by...
Thanks for the line on tags, I'll look at the doe tag situation here. That's what I want to do, hunt coyotes. Seems however, there's some gun season or another going on from November through December, requiring blaze orange. I suppose I could set up some kind of blind to hide behind while wearing blaze orange, but what a pain it would be. |
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Huh? Coyote hunting is open excepting the gun deer season I thought? Since that is the only time you'd be required to wear orange I didn't think it applied?
I started looking at the prices on blaze orange shit that is the same as or similar to my normal outdoors gear and I think I might just not do the whole deer hunting thing ever. |
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Coyote is open all year round. I would just prefer to hunt them in late fall/winter in case I decide to sell any pelts.
ETA: just to be clear, there several gun deer hunts last year (youth, muzzle loader, regular, antlerless. have not seen this years regs), and I don't trust the general public, so I'd be wearing blaze for my safety, not just regs say so, if I want to hunt anything during any gun deer. |
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Huh? Coyote hunting is open excepting the gun deer season I thought? Since that is the only time you'd be required to wear orange I didn't think it applied? I started looking at the prices on blaze orange shit that is the same as or similar to my normal outdoors gear and I think I might just not do the whole deer hunting thing ever. I just wear a blaze orange vest over my camo cold weather gear. Much cheaper and I don't have to spend all that extra money on yeat another set of gear. |
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Huh? Coyote hunting is open excepting the gun deer season I thought? Since that is the only time you'd be required to wear orange I didn't think it applied? I started looking at the prices on blaze orange shit that is the same as or similar to my normal outdoors gear and I think I might just not do the whole deer hunting thing ever. Up until 2 or 3 years ago, coyote was closed during gun deer, but only north of about US highway 10. Not any more, now open 365, 24/7, statewide. Ooops... I think it's still closed the day BEFORE gun deer, so make that 364 days.
Do what Clairnath says for deer hunting, or other times you need blaze. Just buy a vest and a hat, wear it over whatever you got. But don't buy a blaze camo vest. Blaze camo is legal, but you must be at least 50% blaze above the waist. Without sleeves, blaze camo vest won't give you 50% blaze coverage above the waist. |