Officials say population stability and some increases should make for a successful hunt
By Heather Ruenz
Staff Writer
Area residents will join hundreds of thousands of other hunters throughout the state in pursuit of white-tailed deer as Wisconsin’s annual nine-day gun season opens Saturday.
State wildlife officials are offering an optimistic forecast for the season running through Nov. 30, but those hopes – as always – will be dashed or confirmed by the results of the actual hunt.
Overall, according to a forecast released by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, counties within the Central Farmland and Southern Farmland districts hold abundant deer populations.
In his forecast for the area – the Southern Farmland District, which includes the five counties of Jefferson, Kenosha, Racine, Walworth and Waukesha – Eric Lobner of the DNR predicts many areas will offer hunters an increased opportunity to see and harvest deer, while some areas have seen stable or slightly less deer numbers than in previous years.
“A high level of variation in habitat types and conditions results in local deer numbers that can vary dramatically from one square mile to the next,” Lobner said.
Although the extremely cold conditions experienced last winter throughout Wisconsin proved difficult for many people to tolerate, car-killed deer assessments completed by department wildlife management staff in the district indicated that deer survived the winter quite well.
“Of 125 car-killed deer that were inspected during March and April, body assessments indicated that fat content was at a moderate to high level… In general, deer populations throughout the entire Southern District have stabilized or increased over the last several years,” Lobner said.
Hunters in the district are encouraged to “get out early, take time to scout the land they will be hunting and travel the roads in the area to get a good understanding of the changes in their neighborhood,” according to Lobner, who said deer shift their movements each year according to food and habitat conditions as well as human activity.
Most Southern District deer, according to Lobner, are harvested on private property, which makes up more than 90 percent of the landscape. “However, good deer hunting can also be found on the thousands of acres of county, state and federally owned lands open to deer hunting in the district,” he said, reminding hunters to locate public land available by visiting www.dnr.wi.gov and keyword searching “public lands.”
In his forecast, Lobner also discussed the increase in chronic wasting disease in the Southern District, with a breakdown stating the overall infection rate of adult males is currently 20 percent in the western CWD core area, and 6 to 8 percent in the east.
“It is important for hunters to remember that feeding and baiting deer is prohibited in the CWD-Affected Area. An updated list of locations where hunters can get their deer tested will be posted on the DNR website prior to the season opener,” Lobner said.
Statewide forecast
According to DNR wildlife biologists, the harsh winter of 2013-14 had a minimal effect on local deer herds across the state’s districts, including the West Central District where “deer populations remain healthy,” according to Dave Matheys of the DNR.
“Generally speaking, deer in the WCD Farmland zones are doing well – hunters can expect to see deer numbers comparable to 2013 or better,” Matheys said.
Deer numbers also “seem to be excellent in both counties (Buffalo and Trempealeau) and there should be ample hunting opportunities for archers and gun hunters,” biologist Mark Rasmussen said.
In Pierce and St. Croix counties, according to biologist Ryan Haffele, “car-killed deer assessments revealed that the majority of does in the area carry twins. Good numbers of fawns with does are being observed, indicating that there should be a healthy number of deer to chase.”
And in the Black River Falls area, “while this past winter was very long with above average snow depth and cold temperatures, it seems deer in the Central Farmland Zone counties that occupy good habitat came through the winter in fair condition,” Scott Roepke, a DNR biologist in that area said.
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