65b DMU Meeting

[Goose]

Well last night a buddy and I went to Wautoma and attended the DMU meeting for one of our units.
I don't know for sure but I would guess there were 150 to 200 hunters there along with 7 or 8 DNR representatives.
They started out by saying that they are very well aware of the fact that most hunters are not satisfied with this past season and want to burn EAB at the stake. They were commonly interrupted by people laughing and yelling that they do not know what they are doing.
Several people got up in the middle and walked out. The meeting was even threatened to be stopped at one point by the DNR rep.
Despite all of this the DNR and biologist for each unit gave presentations on herd estimates,goals,and reasons.After each section they would answer questions from the floor.
They also brought up the DMU consolidation plan and asked for input. They came out and said it really does not bother them if it is passed or not.
The pro's of it would be that it would eliminate some of the confusion amongst hunters on what unit they are in. They said that some people have hunted areas for 15 years and cant remember what unit they are in.
The other pro would be that the auditors of the SAK model recommended larger units for more accurate counts.
The major con would be that some units that are not in EAB right now would be in EAB after they were combined with other units that are in EAB.
Some of the questions/comments were laughable but there where some good questions asked and I thought they were answered well for the most part.
There where some members of the old Congress there that brought up some questions/comments on unit goals.

Some stuff you might find interesting:

In EAB units the SAK model is not used. The model they use was described like a checkbook and how it is balanced.(and they even said:"do you ever make mistakes with your checkbook?"

Alot of the unit goals are set at numbers that have not changed in many years despite many changes to landscape/deer herd.

Insurance companies have no say in Management, they just up your rates.

In unit 65b the goal is set at 1.9 deer per 40 acres.

EAB is not well liked.

More people attended this meeting than they have ever seen at a single spring hearing.

In CWD units they flew over a deer enclosure 4 different times to count the deer inside on different days they got different numbers, some varied as much as 40%. So using counts from choppers is a poor way to estimate a herd and cannot be used to compare to the SAK model.

SAK is an ESTIMATE that can go 20% either way.

The 2008 pre-hunt estimate is 1.5 million

After the meeting was over we stayed a while and talked to Steve Hoffman who is the biologist for 65b. Obviously he is against baiting but did not have the same feelings towards foodplots. His major concern with foodplots was the fact that deer will still browse on everything between their bedding and the food plot and having a food plot might increase the browsing in that area making it difficult for the surrounding area to regenerate.
When I questioned him about WI future on foodplots in regards to regulating them he laughed and said he has never heard talk of it and it would be all but impossible to regulate it with it being agricultural. So I asked him: Do you think WI will ever regulate foodplots? He said NO. He went on further to say that if you want to do good by the land you will have good feed for the deer and control the numbers and buck to doe ratio.

My buddy who was along owns land and hunts in Price County by Ogema and he asked the biologist about the deer up there. The biologist stated that that area is below goal and with it being that, it's almost impossible to hunt deer there unless you still hunt or get lucky.

I'm sure I am forgetting stuff and now wish I would've taken notes but this is my summary.

[Bigfoot]

i disagree with food plots cant be regulated

it's real simple, in December when the unharvested food plot is still their,the person that owns the land gets a ticket equal to the baiting fine

our neighbor every other year plants a 2-3 acre corn plot,and it's fairly obvious come January when the corn is still out their what the corn was used for

[bigwisconsinbucks]

I don't believe that food plots can be regulated that easily. Many food plots are not still standing during winter and are a late summer-early fall plot which are hammered by the deer and nothing is left by the time December rolls around.
 
Goose- Thanks for all the info. It is very interesting to hear all of that from the meeting. I guess I would like to now attend one of these meetings. Hopefully I can find one within a short distance of my home.

[gunther89]

Goose- thanks for posting all the info.  Glad to know hunters are showing up at the meetings and that the DNR knows that we are not happy with what is going on.

Bigfoot- In the area that I hunt we have 3 farmers that every year have corn fields that haven't been harvested by the time spring comes.  1 of those farmers actually goes out in January and February and harvest the corn even with over a foot of snow on the ground.  Another farmer hunts deer but doesn't have time to go out in the late season and is just lazy as I know the guy.  Does it attract deer yes because it's an easy meal.  But it doesn't pull all the deer in the surrounding area away because we had a corn field that was about 2-3 acres in size about a mile away and we had at least 7 deer stay on our land.  They fed on bitter nuts and buds from tree's. 

[buckhunter21]

Thanks for the great info Goose!  Does anyone know where I can find out where and when these meetings are?  or, better yet know when one is in west-central WI (hudson area)?

[buckhunter21]

ORIGINAL: Bigfoot

i disagree with food plots cant be regulated

it's real simple, in December when the unharvested food plot is still their,the person that owns the land gets a ticket equal to the baiting fine

our neighbor every other year plants a 2-3 acre corn plot,and it's fairly obvious come January when the corn is still out their what the corn was used for

 
There are quite a few farmers in my area that do not hunt that leave their crops up later in the season for one reason or another.  Sometimes they just can't get in because of a wet fall, etc etc, many reasons.  I don't have anything against food plots and actually I'm all for it.  These are just like ag crops.  What's the difference?  I don't see any.

[mtnman]

ORIGINAL: buckhunter21

Thanks for the great info Goose!  Does anyone know where I can find out where and when these meetings are?  or, better yet know when one is in west-central WI (hudson area)?

The information can be found here
https://grouseridgesports.com/whu/viewtopic.php?t=85

[Centralwisconsinland]

I attended the DMU meeting for 62A, 62B, in Stevens Point, on Wednesday night.  It was not run as a meeting.  They had hand outs and the DMU survey put out by the DMU Stakeholders.  Ask you to fill out the survey.  Biologists were there, along with wardens to answer your questions.  The hand outs had information from the SAK model, Number of deer in deer range, goal, ect...  I was not there to cause touble, but to fill the survey and ask that the deer goal be raised in my area due to the predators. bear, coyotes, ect... and to have my say in keeping the DMU as is NOT larger units. I did question the biologist on the SAK model and deer numbers. Their answers followed the hand out numbers and the SAK.  When I questioned that I understood that the SAK is not used in DMU, EAB units, they sounded like Obama with out a teleprompter.  I do appreciate the fact that I was able to vioce my opinion though the DMU Stakeholders Survey.  April 13 throughout the state are the conservation congress meetings all hunters should go to and vote, there is one near you. 

[DoeEyed]

I could'nt go to my DMU meeting for 80b in Algoma because of work. But I heard it got pretty heated and they had to call in police officers for crowd control. Did anyone attend this meeting?

[Goose]

I could be wrong but I believe all the meetings are already done. You may want to double check your area though.