Keep politics out of deer season

Wisconsin needs to trust its boots on the ground in managing the deer herd rather than seeking to impose a Madison-driven political blanket solution.

Wisconsin’s deer harvest numbers were down last year. This is especially true in the most northern parts of the state.

According to the Department of Natural Resources, hunters harvested 14.7% fewer bucks in the zone during November’s nineday gun season compared to the five-year average. The doe harvest in the zone was down 27.2% from the five-year average.

A group of Wisconsin lawmakers including representatives Chanz Green, Angie Sapik, Rob Swearingen, Calvin Callahan, and Sen. Romaine Quinn want to address this issue on the state level by imposing a multi-year ban on hunting does in the Northern Forest Hunting Zone. This move, they believe, will allow the herd numbers to rebound.

The proposal represents the blanket topdown approach to problem solving that has become the norm across the state in recent years. While the legislators are to be commended for recognizing there is a problem that needs to be addressed, their solution is to take away any local control or input.

Instead of seeking to override local deer advisory councils and wildlife biologists with the Department of Natural Resources who set the harvest quotas and seek to manage the deer herd, the legislature should allow the system of local input and control to work.

Management of the state’s deer herd is a complex process with numerous factors including winter weather conditions, a delayed start to the spring warm up and hunting pressure. It is also not possible to overstate the impact of predator pressure on deer populations. While the political attention focuses on wolves, the state is home to an estimated 20,000 coyotes, whose numbers are expected to grow, and who are highly effective predators especially against fawns.

A state-imposed region-wide blanket ban on doe hunting does nothing to address these other factors, which can vary in intensity and impact from one area to another. While it is admirable for the legislature to want to do something, the best solution is to let the process that is in place work the way it was intended to. Let local stakeholders have their input and make their recommendations.

Local stakeholders have a better understanding of the factors in their areas impacting overall herd health and the state legislator would do best to simply stay out of their way and allow the system to work.

The Central Wisconsin Publications Editorial Board consists of publisher Kris O’Leary and editor Brian Wilson.