SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – It is still about seven months until the start of the 2019 Gun Deer Season, but managers in Shawano County are looking at options for the upcoming hunt.
Some of the ideas include longer seasons and more tags to harvest antlerless deer.
In a clearing in western Shawano County, whitetail deer are on the move.
“This time of year, there’s deer basically almost in every field,” said Brian Heins, Shawano County Deer Advisory Council Chair.
Heins says he sees it every day.
“Just covered with deer, 20 in this field. 30 in that field. There’s a lot of deer,” he said.
To put it in perspective, U.S. Census information puts Shawano County’s human population at about 41,000. Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Biologist Kay Brockman-Mederas says there about 50,000 bucks and does in the county, which is about 72 deer per square mile.
“No matter what it is, it’s too high. When we’re looking at a really healthy population, we really don’t want higher than 30,” said Kay Brockman-Mederas, DNR Wildlife Biologist.
Brockman-Mederas says recent mild winters, combined with relatively static deer harvest numbers are some factors which allow the herd to grow.
“What we’re seeing though, with the impacts of higher populations, is the productivity of the does are going down. Because they’re not as healthy, there’s too many. There’s less fawns that are surviving, there’s not enough food for the does to produce enough milk to keep the pairs, most of them twins, going,” she said.
Just down the road, evidence may not be hard to find. Deer take cover in the woods near what’s known as the browse line.
“Deer is a huge issue in this part of the county. You can pretty much walk through any stand of northern hardwoods or cedar swamp, and you can see the actual level of deer browse,” said Nick Hovda, DNR Forester.
Hovda says deer can decimate acres of saplings in a matter of days, leaving new growth in the forest at an unhealthy level. He says people are protecting their trees, by putting up barriers like deer exclosures.
“This is a mesh fence, that landowners have here in Shawano County, and it’s a temporary fence. We usually keep it up for about five years. And once the aspen is coming up high enough so the deer can’t munch on the tops, we remove this fence, and we can put it somewhere else,” said Hovda.
“We got to do something to the herd. If it still spirals out of control, what’s going to be the next step? They’re already eating themselves out of house and home,” said Heins.
Heins is also the chair of the Shawano County Deer Advisory Council, or CDAC. The group makes recommendations to the DNR for things like hunting season structure and harvest quotas. This year the CDAC’s recommendations include an antlerless-only Holiday Hunt, extending the archery/crossbow season a couple of weeks until the end of January, and for the first time, six free antlerless tags will be offered with each buck license purchased.
“Is that going to work? We’re not sure, but it’s the only tools we have to use, to choose from,” said Heins.
So what do hunters think? People at the DNR-Conservation Congress Spring Hearing in Shawano had mixed opinions.
“You can see 20-30 deer within a mile of where we live, but if you see two or three big bucks, you’re in luck. Most of them are small deer,” said Jeffrey Piastowski, Split Rock.
“Last year we got three tags with every license. Now they’re proposing six tags, which would be fine if people would shoot deer, but most people won’t shoot three deer, they’re not going to shoot six deer. And if you can believe our biologist who says we have 72 deer per square mile, I have a bridge I want to sell you,” said Jerry Krueger, Tigerton.
“This six tags or whatever they give, some people aren’t going to use them, some will. So hopefully a lot of them will. If not, they’re going to have a doe season,” said Warren Schmidt, Pella.
Meanwhile, deer continue to move around the forest and fields. Deer managers say the time to act is now.
“The biggest message we want to get out is to educate hunters, that you don’t have to wait for trophy buck every year. It’s ok to shoot the does. It’s actually good, it’s beneficial. It makes for a healthier herd,” said Heins.
The County Deer Advisory Council will meet again on Wednesday, April 17 to discuss, and review its recommendations. That plan will then go to the State Natural Resources Board for approval.
