Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
PO Box 7921
Madison WI 53707
(608) 267-7517
Fax: (608) 264-6293
E-mail address: paul.holtan@wisconsin.gov

Dec. 6-9 statewide antlerless hunt set to open

MADISON –Wisconsin’s deer hunters’ next big opportunity takes place the second weekend of December during the statewide antlerless gun deer hunt. Mark your calendars for Dec. 6 through 9.

State wildlife officials say more than 110 of Wisconsin’s 130 deer management units need strong hunting pressure put on antlerless deer to control population size. These units are designated as either Herd Control (HC), Earn-a-Buck (EAB) or Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Antlerless deer carcass tags in HC and EAB units are available in unlimited numbers at $2 each.

In regular deer management units hunters will need a unit specific $12 antlerless carcass tag. These are limited in number but are still available in 13 of 16 regular units in this year’s hunt.

The December antlerless hunt was created in 2006 following hunting groups’ request for additional opportunity to hunt antlerless deer without interrupting the early bow deer hunting season. Hunters also requested, and the Department of Natural Resources made available, a limitless supply of $2 antlerless deer carcass tags in Herd Control and Earn-a-Buck units.

Customer Service Call Center

Most questions regarding the antlerless hunt can be answered by the 2007 Wisconsin Deer Hunting Regulations pamphlet or by the online Customer Service Center through the DNR Web site [dnr.wi.gov], or hunters can call the toll-free DNR Customer Service Call Center 1-888-WDNR INFo (1-888-936-7463) anytime between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., seven days per week and speak to an operator who either will have the answer or can access it quickly. During the recently completed nine-day gun deer hunt, the call center received thousands of calls from hunters in the field asking questions about properly tagging a deer, where was the closest registration station, and to report game law violations.

CWD Zones – Unlimited Earn-a-Buck

Hunters can continue to shoot bucks with either gun or bow under unlimited Earn-a-Buck rules in the CWD Disease Eradication Zone (DEZ) and the CWD Herd Reduction Zone (HRZ) as follows:

Unlimited Earn-a-Buck means that hunters may harvest as many bucks as they wish as long as they first harvest and register an antlerless deer for each buck.

CWD Zone Landowners

Landowners owning at least 5 acres of land within the Disease Eradication Zone (DEZ) and hunters listed on a landowner’s permit may continue to hunt deer with a gun on the landowner’s property through March 31. For details on obtaining a landowner’s permit or a hunter’s permit see page 8 in the 2007 Wisconsin Deer Hunting Regulations or go to the DNR Web site [dnr.wi.gov].

“With the number of EAB units across the state, the antlerless harvest appears to be up over last season,” said Keith Warnke, DNR deer and bear ecologist, “and I want to congratulate hunters on the efforts they are making. But we still need a solid December antlerless season to begin to put the brakes on a growing deer herd. It’s going to take several years of effort to bring the herd down to a size that matches habitat and social tolerance, but it can be done.”

Hanging in the balance is a return to an October statewide antlerless hunt, say wildlife officials. The two-year moratorium on October gun hunting is set to sunset unless hunters kill two antlerless deer for every buck in herd control and EAB units over the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons.

Harvest records show that the four-day October gun hunt has produced around 70,000 antlerless deer in past seasons.

Earn-a-Buck Prequalification

Another reason to get out and shoot an antlerless deer, Warnke said, is to prequalify for a buck harvest sticker in units that may be under EAB rules in the 2008 season. The prequalification program was launched in 2005 and more than 70,000 hunters took advantage of it this year, hitting the woods on opening day with a buck sticker already in their pocket. A list of EAB watch units for 2008 is on the DNR Web site.

“If your freezer is full, consider hunting for the venison donation program,” said Laurie Fike, donation program coordinator. “Fifty-one counties have participating meat processors in 2007. A list of participating processors is on the DNR Web site and you can also locate the closest processor by calling a DNR Service Center.”

Since 2000, hunters have donated more than 35,000 deer and 1 million pounds of venison to this program. There is no cost to the hunter other than transporting the registered carcass to a participating processor.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Warnke - (608) 264-6023