grandview-
I'd long been a proponent of the WI DNR as their role is certainly not without complexity and rationalize that they should be better equipped on wildlife biology than I. I've changed my tune in recent years because the level of arrogance and inability to listen has reached epic proportions.
They are no longer afforded the benefit of the doubt. They're a recurring PR nightmare of their own doing. And it's time the state of WI adds a helping of reality to its science and that comes from actually listening to hunters across the state instead of constantly citing science and talking down to them.
I'm in a much different frame of mind. I have studied deer management in Wisconsin and neighboring states for close to 10 years. Everything available in public-accessible media.
There isn't 3% of the hunters in Wisconsin that have done the same and can tell you how goals and estimates are derived in this state. Nor can they tell you (or admit) how hunting and private land management/private wildlife management practices have changed over the last 10-15 years. Basically their major reaction to warden observations of these practices in that time span has been...."They're labeling us as lazy hunters!!!!")
The DNR isn't perfect. They don't always get it right. No state management entity is perfect....nor right all the time. But they are nowhere near as imperfect as the presently aroused hunter population tries to portray.
I've listened and read virtually every complaint, observation, analysis, and proposed corrective action from this "disenfranchised" hunter population. As is typical of anything in the public arena........this voice is largely selfish, ignorant to any other factors other than their own, and largely myopic and self-centered. It's how things work in this day and age..........argue your own specific issue from an extreme position.
There remains a large difference between "wildlife management" and "hunter management". Aldo Leopold recognized it..........and probably was the first to place it in the public arena.
