MONROE - Green and Lafayette counties saw a significant drop in harvested deer numbers but were still above the statewide average, which tallied 15 percent fewer deer killed in the nine-day gun season compared to last year.
Green County saw a 12 percent drop in harvested deer, and Lafayette County had an 11 percent decline from last year.
Southern District Wildlife Supervisor Eric Lobner keeps track of wildlife in the 18 counties of the southern district including Green, Lafayette, Dane, Milwaukee and others. He said harvest numbers this year are "extremely variable" due to the inclement weather, lack of deer movement and fewer tag sales, all of which combined to help bring deer kills down. Lobner got his numbers from call-ins of all the registration stations in each county, which were compiled with the pilot e-registration program that tasked 100 hunters per county to register their deer online.
Opening weekend saw heavy dense fog and later rain that eventually froze, making backroad traveling difficult and perhaps contributing to a lack of hunter effort. Lobner said after opening weekend, Lafayette County had a 6 percent increase in buck harvest and a 23 percent decrease in doe kills. Green County had a 16 percent decrease for bucks and does. After the fog and rain lifted, deer kills picked up, and Lobner said he suspects that the combination of bad hunting weather and little deer movement contributed to such low numbers opening weekend.
Hunters in Green County registered 1,236 deer for the nine-day gun season with 482 bucks and 754 antlerless. Lafayette County hunters fared a bit better tagging 2,133 deer this season with 899 bucks and 1,234 antlerless. Both counties saw about 200 fewer deer tagged this year compared to 2013, with Lafayette County at 2,401 total deer last year and Green County at 1,407 total deer in 2013. Statewide preliminary figures show a little more than 191,500 deer were taken compared to about 226,600 deer from last year, with the largest drop-offs in the north.
Department of Natural Resources Conservation Warden Ryan Caputo said the numbers are just one way of looking at the nine-day gun season.
"Why people shoot or don't shoot is a very complex issue and it starts with the weather; with that fog and rain you couldn't really see anything. If the deer aren't pressured to move because no one can see them, then it all just snowballs," Caputo said.
Caputo said he spent the nine-day season around Green County checking in with hunters, and he said there appeared to be far fewer hunters out this year compared to last.
"It seemed like there was a lot less participation of hunting on private land and instances where the pressure in public land ended up kicking the deer onto private land," Caputo said.
Caputo said it was a pretty safe season, with no accidents, though he did pass out some tickets for loaded firearms in vehicles, improper licenses and tagging issues. He said hunters who have concerns or questions about the season this year can attend the final County Deer Advisory Committee hosted at the Argyle Rod and Gun Club at 7 p.m. Tuesday, giving hunters the opportunity to speak with wildlife management officials. Statewide, there were three shooting-related incidents, an all-time low for Wisconsin.
Lobner said that though the weather made for difficult hunting, the deer herd ended up being maintained to a healthy size despite fewer deer killed. He said the extreme winter in 2013 didn't disrupt deer populations in the southern district like they did up north, using information gleaned from fat samples of vehicle-killed deer.
"What we found were really high fat contents and also high fawn per doe counts, at least two fawns per doe, so in the area the winter didn't really have much of an impact," Lobner said.
Though licenses issued dropped by about 3 to 4 percent statewide, Lobner said killing deer isn't the chief goal of deer management.
"We're not out to set records every year, our goal is to have a healthy herd," he said.
-The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Green County saw a 12 percent drop in harvested deer, and Lafayette County had an 11 percent decline from last year.
Southern District Wildlife Supervisor Eric Lobner keeps track of wildlife in the 18 counties of the southern district including Green, Lafayette, Dane, Milwaukee and others. He said harvest numbers this year are "extremely variable" due to the inclement weather, lack of deer movement and fewer tag sales, all of which combined to help bring deer kills down. Lobner got his numbers from call-ins of all the registration stations in each county, which were compiled with the pilot e-registration program that tasked 100 hunters per county to register their deer online.
Opening weekend saw heavy dense fog and later rain that eventually froze, making backroad traveling difficult and perhaps contributing to a lack of hunter effort. Lobner said after opening weekend, Lafayette County had a 6 percent increase in buck harvest and a 23 percent decrease in doe kills. Green County had a 16 percent decrease for bucks and does. After the fog and rain lifted, deer kills picked up, and Lobner said he suspects that the combination of bad hunting weather and little deer movement contributed to such low numbers opening weekend.
Hunters in Green County registered 1,236 deer for the nine-day gun season with 482 bucks and 754 antlerless. Lafayette County hunters fared a bit better tagging 2,133 deer this season with 899 bucks and 1,234 antlerless. Both counties saw about 200 fewer deer tagged this year compared to 2013, with Lafayette County at 2,401 total deer last year and Green County at 1,407 total deer in 2013. Statewide preliminary figures show a little more than 191,500 deer were taken compared to about 226,600 deer from last year, with the largest drop-offs in the north.
Department of Natural Resources Conservation Warden Ryan Caputo said the numbers are just one way of looking at the nine-day gun season.
"Why people shoot or don't shoot is a very complex issue and it starts with the weather; with that fog and rain you couldn't really see anything. If the deer aren't pressured to move because no one can see them, then it all just snowballs," Caputo said.
Caputo said he spent the nine-day season around Green County checking in with hunters, and he said there appeared to be far fewer hunters out this year compared to last.
"It seemed like there was a lot less participation of hunting on private land and instances where the pressure in public land ended up kicking the deer onto private land," Caputo said.
Caputo said it was a pretty safe season, with no accidents, though he did pass out some tickets for loaded firearms in vehicles, improper licenses and tagging issues. He said hunters who have concerns or questions about the season this year can attend the final County Deer Advisory Committee hosted at the Argyle Rod and Gun Club at 7 p.m. Tuesday, giving hunters the opportunity to speak with wildlife management officials. Statewide, there were three shooting-related incidents, an all-time low for Wisconsin.
Lobner said that though the weather made for difficult hunting, the deer herd ended up being maintained to a healthy size despite fewer deer killed. He said the extreme winter in 2013 didn't disrupt deer populations in the southern district like they did up north, using information gleaned from fat samples of vehicle-killed deer.
"What we found were really high fat contents and also high fawn per doe counts, at least two fawns per doe, so in the area the winter didn't really have much of an impact," Lobner said.
Though licenses issued dropped by about 3 to 4 percent statewide, Lobner said killing deer isn't the chief goal of deer management.
"We're not out to set records every year, our goal is to have a healthy herd," he said.
-The Associated Press contributed to this report.