VILAS COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – The 2016 gun deer hunt is still four months away.
But before you head out to bag that trophy buck, there are some changes to the upcoming season.
John Huff, D.N.R. Area Wildlife Supervisor says the winter in the Northwoods was one of the mildest in decades.
“It actually followed after another fairly mild winter. So, we’ve had back-to-back mild winters. That’s the recipe increasing your deer herd”
But Huff says recovery takes time.
In 2014, the D.N.R. implemented a bucks-only season for portions of the Northern Forest Zone.
That area has shrunk almost 50 percent.
“It’s shrinking, and it’s shrinking away from the fringes of the places where there is significant farmland”
It’s a different story in other parts of the state. In the Central Famland Zone, biologists say there are plenty of deer.
Jeff Pritzl, D.N.R. District Wildlife Supervisor, says hunters will be asked to take more does this year.
“What we need to see in some of the farmland counties, is for every buck that’s harvested, two antlerless deer need to be taken”
Meanwhile, biologists like Huff say hunting in the Northwoods will slowly improve.
“They should see a rebound, and we’re pretty optimistic about the prospects for the northern forest”
The State’s Natural Resources Board approved the changes.
County Deer Advisory Councils recommended how season structure works on a local level.
Councils will have the chance to update their three-year management plan at the end of the 2016 season.
