The WDNR will not admit their DMU over winter goals are based on sound data. It is arbitrary.
The goal setting is hardly arbitrary. It is based on specific management units. It is derived from the size of the DMU, the physical habitat of the DMU, the hunting pressure of that DMU, and the tolerance of deer population to car/deer accidents and habit destruction.
There are necessary things to consider far beyond what the typical hunter wants.........what they consider "enough" deer to kill. Any reasonable analysis of Wisconsin's deer population over the last 40 years will prove that. I've been hunting deer in this state since 1961. A bit over half of that in Columbia County......the last 22 years in Bayfield County.
In your internet paper analysis did you seek out just where the deer kill occured within the DMU? Was the harvest heavy in the north, south, east, west or central portion of the DMU? Is it not possible to have low deer density in certain areas within a DMU? What does the registration stations data tell you?
It is certainly possible to have deer inequitably distributed across a single DMU. In fact it is a dead certainty that they are. Which is one of the reasons that hunter reactions to "low deer densities" in the area they hunt is of questionable practical value in relationship to the area the herd is being managed to.
There is way more problem with deer distribution across this state than there is in population numbers. And that goes for individual DMU's also.
What percentage of the DMU harvest record occured outside of the DMU zone?
Hunters would intentionally incorrectly record their harvest? Say it isn't so!
In closing, thank you for the congratulations and the enlightened "GrandView" of my backyard.
You have defined 4K acres of area within a 158K acre DMU that you don't think has enough deer. The history of population and harvest for that 158K acre management unit shows deer population escalating over goal and a commensurate harvest.
So you believe the DNR should manage to your unique 4K acreage. Is that about it?
That's not the worst scenario I've heard expressed. A lot of people think the statewide herd should be managed to their specific 20 acre parcel.
