Culling in Oshkosh

[Goose]

Heres an update on the culling going on in Oshkosh.
 
Doesn't look like its going as planned. Should've gotten some bowhunters in there!
 
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990130137

[mtnman]

paying sharpshooters 125.00 for each deer killed? Heck, after this years seasons...locals would have done it for free!

[buckhunter21]

Yea, that's ridiculous!  Why don't they have a special bowhunt....Doesn't make any sense!?

[wack]

Living near Oshkosh I've been following this story for some time now and it's been quite confusing. They've been at it for 2 years trying t come up with a plan and this is what they came up with......

 The plan was to hire this company to bait the deer. WHAT?  Yes bait. While they bait the deer, they tell everyone when, where, who, so that the day they load the guns to shoot the baited deer, everyone who disagrees can surround the kill zone with demonstrations to make as much noise and confusion as possible and come to the deers rescue! This way it looks like they at least tried but nothing got done. They got 3 deer. O BOY!

 Now I would have volunteered to quietly kill a few deer with my bow, with out bait, but if they're going to tell everyone where, when, how, FORGET IT! Nothing against the company hired, but the city of Oshkosh put this company in a very difficult and dangerous situation and $125 per deer whether it's 3 deer or 40 isn't nearly enough if that's the way they're going to do it. I wonder how many concerned citizens went through that woods prior to and during the hunt to try to drive the deer out. There's just no way to safely do this with all the anti's protesting in the area at the same time.

 The sad thing is it gives hunters a bad name in the eyes of the kids who just like seeing the pretty deer and don't understand why bambi needs to go. The press covered it like 8 year olds too, sad little girl on TV almost made ME cry.  As much as I'd love to take my bow in and help them out, it would only hurt hunters in the long run. We'd be better served volunteering to drive the deer into a pen and ship them up north so we can hunt them in the woods (and feed the wolves. [:D].). There was even an offer of transportation equiptment to haul the deer and I believe the company hired also transports wildlife if I'm not mistaken.
 
They could take them to the public hunting grounds in Winnebago county, not far away, except the fact that the deer have more food in Oshkosh then on public grounds nearby. Why do you think they choose to live there? I have never killed a deer with an empty stomach and they aren't there because they like people, cars, dogs and city life. Public hunting grounds are planted with cash crops and harvested in the fall. Come winter, no food, no deer. The deer are forced to farm fields and back yards, and then killed in the name of culling and agriculture damage tags.

[gunther89]

They did that in my hometown of Middleton in our conservancy.  They said there were around 45 deer and they ended up taking 10 deer out.  They went in the middle of the conservancy and shut it down so nobody could walk through it so we couldn't protest or anything.  I haven't heard anything about this year but all the deer were donated to the local food pantry.

[wack]

They just had the 2nd attempt at culling the Oshkosh deer Friday the 13th. lol They didn't draw as many protesters this time around but the sharp shooters again only got 3 deer.
  From this whole ordeal  the local media showed it's true colors. Fox 11, Oshkosh Northwestern and the like sure seemed ((to me) to do there best to charge up protesters and make this a much bigger deal than it really is.  Balanced coverage my eye!
  They kept reporting the reason for the hunt is deer crashes and yet no reports on the number accidents or any facts and as it was reported it gave the impression that deer car crashes isn't a valid reason for the hunt. They reported another reason for the hunt was property damage yet no footage or pictures showing how some backyards are getting destroyed.
 Airtime went to mostly protesters, cute little girls who love to watch deer and the idiot last night on Fox 11 crying " they're massacring the deer! They're slaughtering the deer, it's murder, it's a blood bath, it's not fair......" BLA BLA BLA, What an IDIOT! Dude, seek profession help, you're Prozac isn't working.
 The media also kept the fire going by NOT reporting WHY capturing the deer and moving them was out of the question. Department of Agriculture's ban on transporting deer and elk. I still think after 2 years of debate that the public still doesn't know about the ban and still believe it's legal to trap and move the deer and it's still an option. That's balanced reporting?  Crying little girls, mentally ill and ignoring the facts? This morning on WBAY they reported that yesterdays hunt only KILLED 3 deer. No mention of protesters, but also no mention of how many homeless and hungry the 3+3 deer will feed in Oshkosh. They couldn't use the term harvested, because the deer were killed and tagged.
 Watching some of the news blogs of the Northwestern and Post Cresent, it's pretty obvious that the people most upset over the deer cull are the people least informed. I had to explain to a few people that you can not capture a deer, test it for CWD and release it to the wild. For some reason a deer doesn't do very well when you cut off it's HEAD! I've tried to explain the ban on transporting deer, CWD, draw attention to public ground and how there are more deer in Oshkosh than on public land in Winnebago county, ect and doing what I can to turn some of the miss guided towards a more positive productive approach to wildlife managment.
 I figured by the responses that maybe I've opened some eyes but some are going to take more than others. We need more hunters chiming in on public local news blogs and anywhere hunters can influence public opnions.