Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 2009 Wisconsin Gun Season - Let's hear it ...

This was my season in Oconto county.

Day one- no deer
Day two- 8 pointer 20 minutes before legal shooting had to pass nice buck about 15-17" spread. 3 does 2 fawns and a 2" spike.
Day three- Worked
Day four- Worked
Day five- no deer
Day six- 2 doe, 2 fawn
Day seven- no deer
Day eight- 1 doe
Day nine- no deer

We will give a another try over the weekend with the muzzy.

It it's light enough to see points and spread.....I'm shootin'.

To many pain in the #*% neighbors that would make a call.

No officer, I didn't hear a thing. And we was in the shack making breakfast, grab yourself a plate...cakes are still hot.



or something like that.

Dunn and Pepin counties (Durand area), public land.

I drive back nearly every year to hunt with friends, I grew up in Rock Falls but moved away when I joined the Navy in 1971. We do pretty well each season and I don't ever recall not getting our deer as adults. (We were dumb as stumps when we were young hunters.)

Day 1 - Saturday (2 - hunters - 2 deer down)

We saw three deer, two does and a decent 10 point (152 lbs at the weigh station).

Day 2 - Sunday (2 - hunters, 1 - deer down)

We saw four deer, all does.

Day 3 - Monday (2 - hunters, 0 - deer down)

No deer seen this day (different area and tactics).

Day 4 - Tuesday (2 - hunters, 2 does down)

We saw 6 deer, 2 of which were bucks.

Day 5 - Wednesday (No hunting)

Rain - we butchered deer.

Day 6 - Thursday (No hunting)

(Thanksgiving day - my son flew in from Fort Lewis, WA for hunting and to visit. Venison roast for Thanksgiving.)

Day 7 - Friday (3 hunters - 3 does down)

(We saw 5 deer, all does.)

Day 8 - Saturday (no hunting)

We are done hunting for the season - all deer "orders" are filled.

Day 9 - Sunday (no hunting)

Back to the Minneapolis to drop my son off for the flight back to Fort Lewis.


All told, we saw about 15 does and 3 bucks.
It was nice to be able to use rifles all season instead of switching between shotgun and rifle.
We didn't see as many hunters as usual. There was one party of eight recovering from a "drive" but other than that we saw a few pairs of hunters. We may have come across 10 or 12 hunters while moving about in the woods.
I saw a few nice bucks at the local "big buck" weigh stations (community bars).
Something I thought quite unusual was that I dodn't come across any Hmongs. Usually I see a few groups but this year none. I kind of enjoy meeting and chatting with them about their ethnic cuisine but they were missing this year, sort of a let down.

Well, here's a link to the numbers from this year.

[email:http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/news/pdf/2009_9_day_table.pdf]http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/news/pdf/2009_9_day_table.pdf[/email]

Another report from area 41, between K and Z on Marek Rd. Nine guys opening weekend, five deer seen in total. One forkhorn and one doe on the pole. Mon-saturday four guys hunting, two deer seen, a rather large buck that is still very much alive, and a doe that was running lickity-split away from him.

Been hunting there every year beginning in around 1970. Never have I gone a season without seeing a deer, until this one. (Well, every year that the govt didn't have me in a furin country)

TTS, I heard the same rumor that Waupaca County was going rifle in 2010.

I could handle that. Have my fill of using shotguns. Emailed the DNR earlier this fall concerning that. Was told that the decision to limit us to shotguns wasn't decided upon by the state but by residents in the shotgun areas. Since that was before my time, cannot verify one way or the other, but I have my doubts... DNR has come out publicly stating that shotguns are not any safer than rifles, based on that study that was done out east. He went on to say that to change it, we would have to go through our consevation congress. Whatever that all involves? Tom

Not too sure I want to get into this - but, after seeing the preliminary results of the '09 harvest with their staggering downward numbers ---
Why, in a recent post, were 1 buck and 7 does killed?
You just eliminated the fawn factories! This is probably the basic root of Wisconsin's problems.
V

This is really no suprise, the population as it stands is very near where the over winter goal is required to be by law. This number, 700 to 800k deer hasn't changed since the early 80's (I may be wrong, but all the information that I can find seems to point to this being correct.). If you look at historical harvest numbers, this year ranks right near 1983 & 1984, coincidence?

The next big question is whether or not the DNR will keep to the herd reduction path or one that stabilizes the herd alittle more evenly across the state. I can see where they think that the herd needs to be reduced, afterall habitat has not expanded since the 80's.

I don't want to get into a pi$$ing match, but maybe the DNR has actually done what they have been trying to do for a decade and most people agreed with when this started. Now that we are at what they consider a sustainable population, we have to wait and see how they continue to make regulations.

I got word from Bayfield today. Everyone was skunked except my friend's daughter who got her first deer, a doe. Even his wife who is a deer killing machine didn't get a shot.

1sgLunde

It is a fair question and one that is asked often.

I don't feel that it is my place to manage the deer herd in WI; I leave that to the WI DNR biologists.

The three folks in our hunting party had 16 tags total 3 of which were for antlered.

We shot 50% of the deer the WI DNR authorized us to shoot.

Each deer will be eaten, none go to waste. Four deer were given to folks that could not hunt for themselves due to advanced age or infirmity.

The question of "why shoot does" is not uncommon from hunters. I have been a regular crop damage deer shooter for more than a decade and am asked that question a lot. The answer is, I shoot what is authorized and leave the management to folks that are the experts.

In the area I live the deer eat a percentage of the farmers' crops, some farmers find it difficult to share an ever increasing percentage of their crops with deer. The hunters that hunt the farm land enjoy a large deer herd; it makes for easier hunting and a perceived higher quality of antlers. Many of these hunters (here locally) have no desire to decrease the herd size, the loss the farmers suffer is not of their concern and in fact many will admit if the loss is too great the farmer should fold up and sell but leave the deer alone.

Note also that we hunted public land, exclusively. I saw what I believed to be far fewer hunters this year than in years past; I don't know the reason for this apparent decline.

"I don't know the reason for this apparent decline."

IT IS BECAUSE OF PEOPLE SHOOTING THE DOES. SIMPLE.

We shot 6 bucks and 4 does during gun season. Two are going on the wall and two others were shooters, but not quite wall worthy. One was a little year and half old 5 pt and shot by my little cousin as his first buck. The last was an oops by my uncle.....didn't see the spikes behind the ears.


Here is one I shot opening day with a Browning A-Bolt 7mm WSM and 160gr Accubonds. Complete pass through of both shoulders from about 70 yards. Did the old crappie flop upon getting hit.
I did a rough score and his just gets in the 140's with 9 points and 19.75 inside spread.

I am told that the WI bear population is much higher than originally estimated. Makes me think that the bear population along with the wolves may be responsible for some of the decline in deer. I have nothing against bears, they need to be hunted more though; I have serious doubts about wolves in a state with a healthy people and livestock population.

The issue is they don't manage with biologists...they manage with politics. Plain and simple.

They share the ag tag with friends who want to shoot more deer. I'm sure to an extent there is some crop damage, but not as much as their getting tags for.

You get ag tags....you should become public hunting. That would stop that crap in a hurry. I live in the midddle of farm country, and it is not a big problem because there aren't that many deer.

Preaditors be damned...it's becuase people find the need to fill every doe tag they have. Sure there are wolves, but they kill probably 15-20K deer/year. Not really all that much in the grand scheme of things.

I think a lot of people saw less deer due to the large amount of standing corn this year. I think a lot of deer were in their permanent blind watching us idiots in orange walk past.