I don't, but to tell people to shoot each other. That was just assinine!

What makes you think you know what I know?

That was just a dumb comment and you know it.

Nice to see censorship is alive and well in Janesville, WI.

Your comment is just plain outright stupid! If people didn't kill deer, you wouldn't even be able to drive down the road! You could have them living in your house. Don't ever tell people to shoot themselves and each other, how old are you, 2?

So janesvillean, I notice that as with all things, you seem to profess a vast knowledge of deer hunting, deer hunters, and deer populations in Wisconsin. Tell me, what have your personal observations in the woods and fields been about the the deer population based on years ago when you hunted, compared to your recent deer hunting seasons?

Being a past deer hunter, why not extend the other 7 days or so AFTER the deer hunting season instead of BEFORE since #1: won't interfer or piss off bowhunters #2: possibility of snow for a change one week later in the hunt vs. 1 week before the regular hunting season better for tracking and visibility #3: I like the extended season ONLY after the regular season also because it allows more time to hunt and not feel rushed and harder to get off work nowadays so it would help in getting a few more days off the work schedule if extended season.

I too agree that in recent years there are a lot fewer deer in the woods vs. say in the 80's when I saw herds of 50 deer all at once and had no problem shooting 2-3 deer per year. Now, lucky if I see 1-2 deer and if I miss, the chances of seeing another are very slim which sucks since such a short season now and if extended, it would help curb the DNR's so-called huge deer numbers. If the DNR wants me to come back to hunting and help lower the deer population, I say lower the license to 15 bucks and offer free doe only bonus tags and get rid of the stupid EARN a buck rule. It just pisses of hunters like myself that if I see a nice 12 point buck opening morning that I rarely ever will see again in my lifetime, I cannot shoot. That just sucks big time. I also don't like the 'trophy' hunters who say let the 5-7 point bucks grow up. I tell them I cannot eat the horns, so what is their problem?

From what I have observed the last two winters have killed off a lot of deer, Iam an avid bow hunter and the deer are just not there, Rock co. You cannot keep up with the dnr the rules are changed as they go along,

Why not shot them all year long?

"Given that the DNR uses different methods at different times of the year"-

What are these different methods? The only method used in Wisconsin for the last 35 year has been based on the number of deer harvested. No other method is economically feasible according to the DNR. The formula for obtaining the numbers has been the only thing that has changed.

"From what I've seen on the highways there are still quite a few left!"-

Yes there are but there's allot more traffic than there used to be as well.

"hunters sure are a whiny bunch, and they have never accepted the DNR's professional conservationists"-

Well it does sometimes feel like we are the only ones who care about our natrual resorces. By the way, I am one of those "professional conservationists", educated at UWSP

I'm I missing something here? I too hunt in the CWD zone. You already have extended hunts. If you bowhunt and gun hunt you can hunt for literally over 3 months. If you just gun hunt you can hunt 17 days. Yes some of those gun hunt days are doe only and the reason for that is the DNR. They want the does shot.
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janesvillean - I've excepted it a long time ago which was my whole point. I've been hunting in an area with extended seasons and earn a buck for almost 10 years. The point is, quit trying to change it and leave it alone. That's what's more frustrating than anything. Constantly changing it. Reject the numbers? Explain to me how you think averaging deer per square mile and comparing to all other areas is accurate? It's not.

spark, sure makes it easy to argue when you can just reject the numbers. Given that the DNR uses different methods at different times of the year, it's hard to believe that the numbers are wholly, as you say, "false". At best some individual estimates may be inaccurate but hardly likely by more than 10%. Clearly the numbers at minimum exceed the goal population of around 700,000 -- probably by several hundred thousand. Hunters have been misled by the last several years of overpopulation, which makes it very easy to get a kill. Adjusting to sustainable populations is going to take some effort at acceptance by hunters.
http://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/2009/10/deer.ht...
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/3...
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I don't actually mind hunters and see the importance of hunting in terms of conservation, but in my experience in Wisconsin, hunters sure are a whiny bunch, and they have never accepted the DNR's professional conservationists as any kind of authority -- legal or scientific. So this is the same old, same old.

In the CWD and herd control zones, we need sixteen days, either sex no restrictions, to reduce the herd. Not state wide. The DNR wants the deer shot, bottom line!

From what I've seen on the highways there are still quite a few left!

Even the DNR now thinks there estimates are off, go figure. The majority of the hunting population echoes kawisixer01's statement about see fewer deer but remember the majority don't own the land they hunt on, you might have a different opion if your hunting on private lands.
Increasing pressure from insurance carriers has at least added to DNR's tendencies to increases bag limits.
Another thing I have noticed is there are fewer hunters in the field. The public woodlands of central Wisconsin pretty much empty out Sunday afternoon where they used to hold hunter until Thanksgiving or beyond. If there aren’t hunter stomping around, the deer don't move as they would if there were more presser. We can even see that affect hunting farms in the southern part of the state. If no one is hunting on the neighbor’s farm, we don't see the same number of deer.
Seems to me that extending the season only adds to that issue.

kawisixer01 - I agree with some of what you're saying, but I see a problem with the extended season starting earlier. Having it go later is one thing. If they start it when they want to, it will be primetime rut with gun hunting and you will see everyone wanting a chance at that. You will also see high buck kill numbers and all's we ever here about is how we need to shoot more does.

janesvillean - That is false information and even the DNR admitted last year that the way they estimate populations was inaccurate. That's what caused a huge uproar with hunters. You should read up more on it.
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The point is, there already is extended seasons like I mentioned. Deer harvest numbers are higher than ever, yet the "control the herd" theory is constantly pushed to keep changing things more and more.

I don't know where you are hunting Janesvillian, the DNR is full of it on their population estimiates and I think you'd be very hard pressed to find any other hunter that would say the opposite. The common theme you will hear from hunters is that they never see half the deer they used to. When I started hunting it was common for everyone in camp to get at least one and commonly two. Heck now you are lucky if you SEE any. The DNR would like everyone to believe that the woods are just teaming with ample deer so everyone will run out and spend their money on permits and hunting, and they can claim they need more grant money to stop the spread of CWD. Ten years ago you couldn't drive down roads like s River or Happy Hollow without almost hitting nuerous deer and now I never even see them down there. The only place there is high deer population is in rural areas where nobody can hunt and idiots are feeding them.
From the sounds of it the only argument is from Bow hunters who want to own the woods or have a sense of entitlement over the woods more than other hunters. I am a bow hunter, but see no reason why a longer gun season would be a bad thing. The bow season does run from mid sept to november which is ample time. I think a longer gun season would cut the number of people rushing to the woods all at once which is never a bad thing in any way whether it be access to good areas to lower chance of accidents. I think people would space their hunting days out and be a little more relaxed if they weren't feeling "rushed" to get done hunting in basically a week.

"Practically eradicating" is not what I would call a population near 1.8 million (versus 50 years ago when it was below 400,000).
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/wild...

They have to keep changing the schedule so they can catch the deer off guard.

i bet the dnr is wringing their hands over this article and the firestorm of comments to follow, hey.

DNR, enough is enough. Leave it alone already. This is a bad idea all around. What herd are you still trying to control? The one you're practically eradicatting? As far as how you present these cases in articles. Half the state already has extended, multiple seasons with unlimited tags and has for years. Yet every time you word this proposition, you make it sound like it's something new. It's not. Just because the days aren't consecutive, doesn't mean it already isn't in place.