The 2009 gun deer season opened to chilly, wet weather conditions Saturday as more than 625,000 hunters tramped through the fog to their favorite white-tailed deer haunts. Conditions grew even worse during the first few hours of the hunt as the fog thickened and temperatures dropped.
The weather might explain to some extent the dramatic decline in the number of deer harvested during the opening weekend. Hunters registered a preliminary count of 100,330 deer statewide, compared to a 2008 opening weekend harvest of 133,828.
"We want to remind folks that these preliminary numbers came from a staff call-around to deer registration stations this morning," said DNR Wildlife Management Director Tom Hauge. "The final opening weekend tally will likely be somewhat larger when all the registration stubs are entered into the data base over the next couple of months."
The South Central Region harvest was down more than 20 percent, according to the DNR. The Green County total of both bucks and antlerless deer was 747 this year compared to 914 in 2008. A similar decline occurred in Lafayette County with a total harvest of 1,227, down from 1510 in 2008.
Our hunting party enjoyed a moderately successful hunt having taken two nice bucks and a doe by noon, thanks to unused buck tags left over from 2008. Hunting companion Aaron Marty shot the bigger of the two bucks, an 11-pointer with a 20-inch spread and good mass. He was within a few minutes of coming in for the traditional late morning "big country breakfast" when the buck emerged from the fog-shrouded riverbank at 30 yards.
Finding the deer was a challenge, however, as the trail gave out a few dozen yards away. Brian and I joined in the recovery effort, which went nowhere until someone discovered the buck had reversed course and headed for the river.
The mystery continued as the trail petered out at the river's edge with no evidence of the deer reaching the other side. Then, a sharp-eyed tracker noticed an antler protruding from the water 50 yards down stream. Mystery solved.
By then, a highly motivated crowd of fellow hunters had gathered to help with the recovery effort. Everyone, it seemed, had a great idea as to how to extricate the deer from the river, but there were no volunteers to enter the 40-degree water.
With the exception of Marty, all agreed that he should be the one to don hip boots and accomplish that part of the task. The rest of us kindly offered to assist with the heavy lifting once the rope was attached to the buck's antlers.
Jason ended a five-year drought by taking a nice nine-pointer from the grassland north of the river. Always the careful and accurate shooter, he dropped the buck with a single shot at 100 yards, which made for an easy recovery.
Other hunting parties around the area were also successful. Dan Gelbach and several friends and family members hunt along County Hwy. N north of Monroe. Despite the adverse weather conditions, the group of five hunters took six deer.
"They were all does except for one nine-pointer," Dan said, who has been hunting deer since the age of 12.
"I had a nice chat with him about the family's hunting history. "I was one of the first ones to take the hunter safety course in 1966," he recalled. "I've never missed a deer season since."
His 79-year old father, Gerry, gave up the hunt this year for the first time since 1952 when he got back from the Korean War. In the past, he has traveled up to the Hayward area to hunt with Dan Weber of Albany and a few other friends and relatives.
While he didn't buy a license this year, he paid occasional visits to the Gelbach cabin north of Monroe.
"I went out to see how the boys were doing and walked around a little," he said.
"I've lost interest in going up north," Gerry said. "I didn't see a deer last year, and I'm not sure I saw any the year before."
This year, registration station officials asked several questions relating to each hunter's experience. In addition to questions about the number of deer seen, they were asked to report on weather conditions.
According to DNR Wildlife Biologist Alan Crossley, thoughts on the weather depended on whether the hunter had gotten a buck.
"It's kind of funny. If hunters shot a nice buck they tended to rate the weather as a 10."
- Lee Fahrney is the Monroe Times outdoors writer and serves on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress Executive Council. He can be reached at (608) 967-2208 or at fiveoaks@mhtc.net.#
The weather might explain to some extent the dramatic decline in the number of deer harvested during the opening weekend. Hunters registered a preliminary count of 100,330 deer statewide, compared to a 2008 opening weekend harvest of 133,828.
"We want to remind folks that these preliminary numbers came from a staff call-around to deer registration stations this morning," said DNR Wildlife Management Director Tom Hauge. "The final opening weekend tally will likely be somewhat larger when all the registration stubs are entered into the data base over the next couple of months."
The South Central Region harvest was down more than 20 percent, according to the DNR. The Green County total of both bucks and antlerless deer was 747 this year compared to 914 in 2008. A similar decline occurred in Lafayette County with a total harvest of 1,227, down from 1510 in 2008.
Our hunting party enjoyed a moderately successful hunt having taken two nice bucks and a doe by noon, thanks to unused buck tags left over from 2008. Hunting companion Aaron Marty shot the bigger of the two bucks, an 11-pointer with a 20-inch spread and good mass. He was within a few minutes of coming in for the traditional late morning "big country breakfast" when the buck emerged from the fog-shrouded riverbank at 30 yards.
Finding the deer was a challenge, however, as the trail gave out a few dozen yards away. Brian and I joined in the recovery effort, which went nowhere until someone discovered the buck had reversed course and headed for the river.
The mystery continued as the trail petered out at the river's edge with no evidence of the deer reaching the other side. Then, a sharp-eyed tracker noticed an antler protruding from the water 50 yards down stream. Mystery solved.
By then, a highly motivated crowd of fellow hunters had gathered to help with the recovery effort. Everyone, it seemed, had a great idea as to how to extricate the deer from the river, but there were no volunteers to enter the 40-degree water.
With the exception of Marty, all agreed that he should be the one to don hip boots and accomplish that part of the task. The rest of us kindly offered to assist with the heavy lifting once the rope was attached to the buck's antlers.
Jason ended a five-year drought by taking a nice nine-pointer from the grassland north of the river. Always the careful and accurate shooter, he dropped the buck with a single shot at 100 yards, which made for an easy recovery.
Other hunting parties around the area were also successful. Dan Gelbach and several friends and family members hunt along County Hwy. N north of Monroe. Despite the adverse weather conditions, the group of five hunters took six deer.
"They were all does except for one nine-pointer," Dan said, who has been hunting deer since the age of 12.
"I had a nice chat with him about the family's hunting history. "I was one of the first ones to take the hunter safety course in 1966," he recalled. "I've never missed a deer season since."
His 79-year old father, Gerry, gave up the hunt this year for the first time since 1952 when he got back from the Korean War. In the past, he has traveled up to the Hayward area to hunt with Dan Weber of Albany and a few other friends and relatives.
While he didn't buy a license this year, he paid occasional visits to the Gelbach cabin north of Monroe.
"I went out to see how the boys were doing and walked around a little," he said.
"I've lost interest in going up north," Gerry said. "I didn't see a deer last year, and I'm not sure I saw any the year before."
This year, registration station officials asked several questions relating to each hunter's experience. In addition to questions about the number of deer seen, they were asked to report on weather conditions.
According to DNR Wildlife Biologist Alan Crossley, thoughts on the weather depended on whether the hunter had gotten a buck.
"It's kind of funny. If hunters shot a nice buck they tended to rate the weather as a 10."
- Lee Fahrney is the Monroe Times outdoors writer and serves on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress Executive Council. He can be reached at (608) 967-2208 or at fiveoaks@mhtc.net.#
