how do you guys feel about the new deer management proposal?

[Casey Witt]

So from what i hear WI is proposing a new 2 million dollar deer hangmen overhaul. I like the idea of more satellite imagery because i use a lot of that for my scouting and preparation during the off season (im not sure if this would be available to the public or not) . So any comments or concerns you guys may see in this? Also if you guys are interested you should check out wired to hunt, its a blog dedicated to deer hunting and its been one of my favorites ever since it got started

[X Factor]

Don't think the aerial overhaul has anything to do with a new scouting tool. It's supposed to be for estimating winter deer cover to more reliably figure out how much quality habitat is out in a particular unit, county or region. Been about 20 years since estimates were last made so in theory at least it should let us know is our areas have more or less good cover than they did back then. One of the biggest complaints from some in the past was that DNR wasn't counting enough habitat when figuring out how many deer should be in a unit if it were at its overwinter goal. But if the state is going to do away with its current method of estimating deer populations anyway, seems odd that they'll be spending the money on it now. Would have been better spent a decade ago.

[Casey Witt]

I don't about you guys but it just seems that hunting is slowly dying in our state. I'm not sure if license sales show any truth to this but its just really sad that people are not enjoying hunting like they used to. I know many people are discouraged by the lack of deer they have been seeing in recent years and the shear stupidity and lack of respect from some other hunters but its up to us to keep it going.

[Jslotter]

I don't understand why we just can't go back to the old school way back in the 80's and 90's when you had to apply for a doe tag, and not go buy them by the dozen for a few bucks a pop nowadays. I think we are killing too many deer with this CWD scare across the state. Thats all it is too, a scare tactic. Hunters were happier before this EAB, T-zone, CWD crap started.

[Casey Witt]

Very true i think CWD is blown way out of proportion and it is scaring many people away. When i was younger i can remember hunting as something everyone looked forward to whether they were a bow or gun hunter but now it just seems like people could care less

[hot tamale]

Times have changed my friends,

People did more family things back in the 70's 80's and 90's. what changed? well, computers played a big roll in less people i think. Kids are more apt to play a hunting game at home instead of sitting in a snow covered woods a half hour before sunlight waiting for a deer.
No, people today want the instant gratification that they get with their games, computers and life in general. Think about it----

if your computer doesn't download a page within mili-seconds, you get a little annoyed and think there is a problem. You go through the drive thru at Mc Donalds and get ticked off when your food isn't instantly in your hand right after paying for it.

Kids are involved in more school sports and parents have a heck of a time driving them from one activity to another. Most of these sports practice not only monday through friday, but on the weekends as well.

I have to say, I think it's the instant gratification thing. Whether we want to blame it on computers and video games or whatever, we have taught the young ones that they can get whatever they want right away.

just my 2 cents worth

[Casey Witt]

I couldn't agree with you more. I'm 20 years old and a junior in college and i can say that i know very few people that are passionate about hunting. Sure people still do it but after opening morning when they don't see a deer they just give up and complain when they put no effort towards scouting or even just preparing their things for the upcoming season. Where i hunt is about 5 hours from where i attend school but i still go up every other weekend from early August through gun season and thats not including the time im up there for the spring and some weekends in the summer. Im a full time student and work part time and it kills me when kids my age say they "hunt" dont have time to preparing .for hunting. We just need to come together with others who are just as passionate about hunting and keep the tradition of Wisconsin deer hunting strong.

[X Factor]

Very true about the instant gratification but it's up to adult hunters to bring new ones into the fold, and some are too selfish they don't even want to share a spot with anyone. Don't get me wrong, there are many good mentors out there taking kids and newbies afield but a lot of older guys could care less if there are fewer hunters. It means more space to them. However, bowhunting numbers are very strong in Wisconsin, close to all time highs, and I believe the gun license sales increased quite a bit this year though still not close to what it was before CWD came along. As for deer numbers, I would say with the recent easier winters, more wolves being shot and no earn a buck for quite a while, we're right up there again in many areas. I don't want to see it go back to the old party permit system but do agree there should be a limit on antlerless tags per hunter or per unit. If you need to shoot more than one or two does a year on your land, let someone else on and trim the herd that way. Don't be so selfish.

[bullwinkle]

Now the govenor is talking about adding a "Mini Hunt" for DMAP participants. It will be interesting to see how this goes over.

[Schmidt]

Are you interested in implementation of the Deer Trustee Report but can't make it to this Saturday's public meeting? You can now view the meeting live on the Web.

Though Department of Natural Resources officials encourage in-person participation at the Saturday, March 9, public meeting kicking off implementation of the Deer Trustee Report, the general session of the meeting will now also be available for viewing live online.

The live Webcast of the meeting will be viewable at http://dnrmedia.wi.gov/main/Viewer/?pei ... ba372a861d.

The meeting will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at UW-Stevens Point’s Lee S. Dreyfus University Center, Alumni Room (350). It is the first of seven meetings to develop action items for moving recommendations in the 2012 report forward with the intent of enhancing deer management in the state.

“Participation of the public, tribes, stakeholders and other partners is essential for creating plans that will transform the recommendations of the report into action on the ground,” said Eric Lobner, DNR Deer Trustee Report implementation coordinator. “We encourage people to attend the meetings in person and join an action team, but we want anyone interested to be informed on the process even if they can’t make the meetings.”