RHINELANDER, WI (WSAU-WXPR) Public land in several Northwoods counties will see a reduction in the number of antlerless deer taken during the fall deer hunts.
The DNR and the County Deer Advisory Councils had recommended allowing only Forest county to have a ‘bucks-only’ designation. But Natural Resources Board vice-chair Greg Kazmierski proposed in Vilas County a 50 percent reduction along with Florence, Langlade, Oneida and Lincoln counties.
Marinette and Oconto counties would have no antlerless permits in the northern forested portion of those counties. Kazmierski says most people he spoke with wanted fewer antlerless deer taken. “For decades we’ve had an over harvest on public land which (has) in my opinion decimated the population. If you talk to people [in the Northwoods] even people in the forest industry say browse isn’t an issue, we can’t even find a track, much less browse.”
But the relatively short discussion upset some board members who felt this major change in antlerless permits hadn’t been fully examined before being proposed. They also felt it flew in the face of CDAC and DNR recommendations. DNR Secretary Preston Cole felt this change needed more public input. “You ought to offer more public testimony because you’re changing what the CDAC’s had recommended and no one is appearing before the board to counter any of the notion that you have before us.”
But a 5-2 majority tossed the idea of delaying the vote and approved the change.
