This is serious shit. This area is an hour from my house and my hunting area. I don't know if I will hunt this year or not.
I agree with what they are doing, but they sure aren't doing it because it makes sense!
The only reason political correctness has gone out the window is because if nobody hunts deer in Wisconsin, the DNR will loses buckets and buckets of money. So, since leaving the deer to spread the disease would remove millions of dollars going to a government agency, killing them is ok and to hell with PETA and anybody else!
Our DNR is not concerned with preserving land, habitat, or wildlife. All they want to do is collect money from everybody.
Pheasants=rather than take hard steps to improve habitat, they plant thousands of stupid ass farm raised birds (which thins the hardiness of the native bloodline) and collect big dollars in "pheasant stamps".
Deer=collect buckets of money upholding "the Wisconsin tradition".
Turkey=Well, they did get the turkey population up....more revenue!
Fish=I can't think of a lake around here anywhere that the fish you catch aren't a result of yearly DNR stocking, since the habitat in most lakes doesn't support native gamefish anymore. No stocking=no fish.
In my area, they are filling in marshes and lowlands that I used to play in, hunt, etc. left and right and building on them......DNR protection just means you pay them money for an assessment and/or permit, and then start dumping your fill! More revenue!
Our wardens "have authority to enter any lands, at anytime, in performance of their duties". They also have basically unlimited powers of confiscation. And they are real assholes with no respect for people, it's like they assume since you bought the license, you agree to submit to being treated like a criminal.
I got stopped by DNR wardens one time in an UNMARKED truck, with NO clothing insignia, just BDU's, t-shirt, and sidearm for one guy and jeans, flannel, and ball cap for the other. They didn't even greet us, just cut me off to stop me on this county highway, walked back and inspected the deer in the back of the truck, then asked for our hunting licenses. I demanded ID. The BDU guy had a distinct USGI aura about him, complete with buzztop and whitewalls, and glasses with a safety strap. Sidearm was a SIG 9MM. Maybe a volunteer MP from Fort McCoy?
Although I haven't "met" them, the two wardens who fly the plane and ALWAYS turn and swoop down low over us when my father in law and I are trying to enjoy a quiet morning of bird hunting of earned my disrespect as well.
They are good for harrassing my father in law too, the local warden caught him burning paperplates and styrofoam cups after his retirement party....pissed him off enough that he was a gettin' ready to take a swing. And he's a pretty calm man. He likes to say that if you don't want to be harrassed by the DNR JBT's, the only thing you can do is not hunt or fish.
Wow! Sorry to hijack your thread!
Anyway, yeah, the DNR only cares about ensuring "opportunities" for people to hunt and fish so they maintain that all important REVENUE!