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DNR: Proposed changes would simplify deer season rules

JANESVILLE — Deer hunters joke about needing a lawyer to understand all the rules.

Confusion about so many regulations in different chronic wasting disease zones is one of the biggest hunter complaints heard by Tim Lizotte, a wildlife supervisor with the state Department of Natural Resources.

“That’s why the majority of the (proposed) season dates are going to be the same as the rest of the state,” he said. “But we also have to recognize that this area of the state is very different because we have this really important disease, and that’s why we want to have a very liberal season framework to encourage deer harvest.”

Among the proposed changes is combining the disease eradication zones and herd reduction zone into one zone, called the CWD management zone. The outer boundary would be the same as the current herd reduction zone.

Lizotte presented the proposed changes to more than a dozen hunters Wednesday night before a public hearing at Blackhawk Technical College.

Although biologists still believe the best way to slow the spread of chronic wasting disease is to reduce the size of the deer herd, the DNR apparently has given up on its goal of cutting the number of deer by 85 percent in parts of Rock and Walworth counties.

In the disease eradication zone, which stretches from the Rock River in Rock County to east of Lake Geneva, the goal has been to cut the deer herd to five animals per square mile of habitat. Over winter in 2006, however, the area had 34 deer per square mile of habitat.

The new goal being proposed is to cut the herd in that area to 15 or 16 deer per square mile of habitat.

“Getting deer populations to these goals would be a significant accomplishment,” a DNR memo reads.

Throughout the proposed CWD management zone, the goal would be to cut the deer herd to 20 percent of the 2001 target.

Other proposed changes include:

-- Authorizing the use of rifles within the new zone, excluding metro units.

-- Restricting hunters from taking a whole carcass from the diseased zone to elsewhere in the state. The change wouldn’t go into effect until Sept. 1, 2009.

-- Allowing hunters to shoot white and albino deer in the new zone. It is currently restricted to the disease eradication zone.

-- Allowing the shooting of a deer from a farm tractor or implement of husbandry in the new zone. It is currently restricted to the disease eradication zone.

-- Change the seasons to be more similar to the rest of the state.

The DNR felt it was time to revaluate its strategy in monitoring CWD since it was discovered in 2002, Lizotte said. The proposed changes developed out of an advisory group, which included farmers, hunters and other groups.

Hunters at the public hearing Wednesday night voiced support for simplified rules, but several spoke against the unlimited earn-a-buck rule, which requires hunters to shoot an antlerless deer before shooting a buck.

Dennis Jones of Jefferson said he enjoys bow hunting, but he doesn’t see enough deer, which forces many hunters to quit. If the state got rid of the earn-a-buck rule, more young hunters would be in the woods, he said.

Don Davis, a town of Newark supervisor, said he sits for hours and doesn’t see deer he can shoot.

“All I see is bucks,” he said.

He suggested an earn-a-deer program in which a hunter would have the option to shoot a buck, then be forced to shoot a doe first the next year.

Ed Mulrooney of Lima Township suggested hunters be allowed to shoot three deer a day each.

“If they want the herd reduced, that’s the way to do it,” he said. “Earn-a-buck is the dumbest thing I’ve heard of in my life. When you let deer walk by you—you can’t shoot them—you’re not killing deer. All your doing is making people mad, and they’re quitting buying licenses.”

Proposed season

Proposed 2008 hunting season in chronic wasting disease management zone

-- Archery season: Sept. 13-Jan. 4

-- Youth hunting: Oct. 11-12

-- Antlerless-only: Oct. 16-19

-- Gun season: Nov. 22-30

-- Muzzleloader season: Dec. 1-10

-- Antlerless-only gun: Dec. 11-14

-- A holiday hunt from one of these three firearm season options:

-- Antlerless only: Dec. 26-Jan. 4

-- Earn-a-buck: Dec. 15-Jan. 4

-- Earn-a-buck: Dec. 24-Jan. 4

-- Unlimited earn-a-buck regulations with ability to pre-qualify

To comment on the proposal

The state Department of Natural Resources wants to hear what the public thinks of its proposed rule changes for this year’s hunting season. It is taking comments through Tuesday.

You can mail your comments to Alan Crossley at Wisconsin DNR, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707, or via e-mail to alan.crossley@Wisconsin.gov.