August 10, 2007
2007 deer hunting regulations available
Earn-A-Buck stickers will not be re-issued or replaced if lost
DNR News
MADISON – The 2007 Wisconsin Deer Hunting Regulations are available on the Wisconsin Hunting and Trapping Regulations page of the Department of Natural Resources Web site. Printed regulation pamphlets will be available at DNR service centers and license vendors around mid-August.
There are several new features in the 2007 regulations, including overviews of deer hunting regulations in both Spanish and Hmong languages.
Also new this year is a multi-lingual DNR information line featuring Spanish and Hmong language speaking customer service representatives. The toll free number 1-888-WDNR-INFO (936-7463) is staffed 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.
“Hunters should find the regulations easy to use,” said Scott Loomans, DNR wildlife regulations specialist. “By following a couple easy steps described on page three of the pamphlet they should find the most important information they need to have before heading to the woods.”
“The first thing to do is look up your deer management unit on the ‘centerfold’ map and determine if it is a regular, herd control (HC), earn-a-buck (EAB) or chronic wasting disease (CWD) unit in 2007. With the correct unit-type designation in hand, go to pages 20 through 25 to find the season dates, which carcass tags can be used, and the harvest limit for the various deer hunting seasons in your unit.
October gun hunt
Wisconsin is entering its second year of a two-year trial moratorium on October gun deer hunting,” explains Keith Warnke, DNR big game ecologist. “There is a benchmark two-to-one average harvest ratio of antlerless deer to bucks needed over the two years of the trial. Unfortunately, only one of Wisconsin’s five deer management regions made the two-to-one ratio in 2006. The October antlerless deer gun season will return in 2008 unless the harvest ratio in herd control units is significantly higher than two-to-one in most regions of the state.”
Earn-a-Buck prequalification
Hunters who registered a deer in 2006 in a unit that was not EAB in 2006 and is EAB in 2007 should check on line to determine if they are in the pre-qualification database.
Registering an antlerless deer in one of the following DMUs last fall, means a hunter should be in the pre-qualification database and will receive an EAB sticker in the mail later this summer: 22A, 23, 24, 27, 47, 54C, 57B, 64, 64A, 68B, 77C, 77D, 80A, 80C, 81 and all CWD DMUs (units or portions of DMUs 54B, 70, 70A, 70B, 70C, 70D, 70E, 70F, 70G, 71, 73B, 73E, 75A, 75B, 75C, 75D, 76, 76A, 76M, 77A, 77B, 77C which are located in the CWD eradication and herd reduction zones).
Of the DMUs with EAB requirements in 2007, DMUs 46, 54B, 59B, 59C, 59M, 60M, 61, 61A, 62A, 62B, 63A, 63B, 64M, 65B, 66, 67A, 67B, 68A, 74A, and 80B were EAB last year. Hunters who registered an antlerless deer in one of these DMUs last year, should have received an EAB sticker upon registering that deer last fall. If they did not use that sticker last fall, it is valid again in fall 2007. That sticker is labeled as a 2006-2007 Earn-a-Buck Unit Buck Authorization. Prequalification stickers that were mailed out in 2006 were labeled as a 2006 Earn-a-Buck Unit Buck Authorization and are not valid for the 2007 season.
If a hunter used all buck stickers earned last fall or did not register any antlerless deer in these units last fall, they need to register an antlerless deer in an EAB unit this year to get a buck sticker. EAB stickers will not be re-issued or replaced if lost. Information on antlerless deer registered for these DMUs is not contained in the EAB prequalification database at this site.
Youth Hunt
Also found in the regulations is information on the Oct. 6-7 Youth Gun Deer Hunt. This is a weekend hunt set aside for youth accompanied by a nonhunting adult mentor. It takes place statewide except in state parks and non-quota units.
“The future of hunting and fishing in Wisconsin is in our youth,” says Warnke. “If we are going to pass on the traditions of hunting and hunter conservation we need to get youth involved. The number of Wisconsin deer hunters has remained relatively constant over the last 10 years but is shrinking as a percentage of our growing state population. Even if you don’t have a son or daughter, niece or nephew to take out, consider another youth that may be a friend of the family. There’s a lot of things competing for kids’ time these days and studies show that if introduced early in life kids are more likely to maintain our conservation traditions later in life.”
Archery tags
In 2007 archery deer licenses will come with one buck specific tag and one antlerless specific tag instead of the either sex tag as in past years.
Gun Tags
Again this year, gun deer licenses will come with one buck tag good in any unit and one free antlerless deer tag good in any herd control or EAB unit statewide. Hunters are reminded that they must have a buck sticker along with the buck tag in earn-a-buck units in order to harvest a buck deer.
“Every year hunters prove their commitment to conservation through their hunting activities,” says Warnke. “In 2006, hunters registered more than a half million deer in a great effort at bringing down herd size. Moving the deer herd towards population goals will take several years to get where we need to be but I have confidence that it can be done if we set our minds to it.”
© 2007 Outdoors Weekly Corporation