16-day gun deer season for 2009 proposed
A 16-day gun deer hunt starting the Saturday before the Thanksgiving holiday will be the basis of a proposed 2010 deer season framework presented to the Natural Resources Board for consideration at its Dec. 8 meeting in Madison.
“The special committee formed by the Natural Resources Board to develop effective alternatives to earna buck discussed dozens of ideas and season structures,” said Department of Natural Resources secretary Matt Frank.
“They ended up recommending a 16-day gun hunt with either an early or a traditional start date. At public hearings we heard sentiment overwhelmingly against an early start date so we are recommending a traditional opening date to the board at this time.
“This was one of the most heavily attended public hearing schedules in recent history. Public involvement in this decision process is invaluable,” Frank said.
If approved, the 16-day season would be an alternative to the use of earn-a-buck in areas outside the chronic wasting disease management zone beginning with the 2010 season.
The season would open on the Saturday before the Thanksgiving holiday. Numerous Wisconsin hunting and conservation organizations have registered preference for the Saturday before Thanksgiving opener.
For more information, call Keith Warnke at 608-264-6023 or Bob Manwell, 608-264-9248.
OPENING WEEKEND
Warm temperatures and heavy fog in many areas greeted hunters on the opening weekend of Wisconsin’s 158th gun deer hunt. Hunters participating in the traditional November nine-day gun deer hunt registered a preliminary tally of 100,330 deer for Saturday and Sunday combined.
The 2009 preliminary count compares to a similar opening weekend count of 133,828 from 2008. The Buck harvest statewide in 2009 was 49,583 (52,477 in 2008) and the antlerless harvest was 50,478 (81,351 in 2008).
Standing corn in several areas, which provided cover for deer, and a lack of snow, which made it difficult for hunters to track them, were the key factors in the lower harvest total this year.
In Sheboygan County for the opening weekend, the total harvest was 440 – a 23.5-percent decrease from 2008 (575). The 2009 buck harvest was down 9.3 percent at 186, compared with last year’s 205. This year’s antlerless numbers decreased 31.4 percent with a 254 total, compared with 370 in 2008.
