Quotas, permit limits are not immune from politics
Getting ready means getting tags that allow you to hunt for the game animal you desire. In Wisconsin, we are fortunate in that deer hunting allows us to hunt every year simply by purchasing an over-the-counter tag for buck hunting. Not all states are that way. What we need to work at in some areas are antlerless deer tags.
In some areas of the state, getting an antlerless tag is as automatic as buying your license. Those are areas with an abundance of deer. Not all areas have an overabundance of deer anymore and obtaining antlerless tags can become diffi cult.
And, of course, “bonus antlerless tags” are sold on a first come, first serve basis, by zone and classification. Those tags go on sale starting Aug. 16 at 8 a.m. for the first zone. Some areas are going to sell out of tags within 30 minutes, especially for public land tags. The schedule for zones tags going on sale for is as follows:
_ Aug. 16 - Forest Zones (Northern and Central)
_ Aug. 17 - Central Farmland Zone
_ Aug. 18 - Southern Farmland Zone _ Aug. 19 - All zones available. Harvest authorizations can be purchased until sold out or the season ends.
In our areas the forested zones public land antlerless tags will be sold out quickly. In Clark, Wood and Jackson counties you should figure 30 to 60 minutes. The private land tags may never sell out. It is like the private land tags in the Farmland Zones for antlerless deer, so plan accordingly.
The other thing to consider is that, back on June 23, the Natural Resources Board voted to reduce the number of antlerless tags by 50 percent in Bayfield, Douglas, Iron, Langlade, Oneida and Sawyer counties on public lands. What’s even more perplexing is that the DNR secretary has alluded to the possibility that the DNR may not enact this NRB’s order. Who is right and who is wrong is a matter of opinion, just like the action of the NRB on June 23.
Then again, those antlerless quota numbers which were set by the county CDACs and accepted by the DNR are based upon a lot of opinion, in the view of some. So it seems that we have a lot of opinions floating around that “they” all say are based upon science. Isn’t this how we got into this mess about quotas and population estimates in the first place? Just my opinion.
What is clear is that if you hunt in any of those counties — and there are several from around here that do — you are kind of left hanging on as to how all this might break down for your odds of obtaining an antlerless tag or not. And, for some, this just might affect their decision to hunt in those northern counties or hunt some other place closer to home, which means that several tourism businesses in those counties are wondering how all this might affect them. Some claim that those antlerless permit numbers put out by the CDACs are based upon the opinions of those business owners and others say that the vote by the NRB on June 23 is partially based upon the opinion of other tourism based business owners in the same counties. Don’t you just love politics in hunting? Aug. 1 is the deadline to apply for bobcat, fisher and wolf permits. I wouldn’t wait for the deadline to get mine in. A glitch, a thunderstorm, or just plain old getting busy that day and you are out of luck for another year.
And, as I mentioned way back last year when wolves were delisted, there will be some challenges to the wolf hunt and efforts to re-list wolves in the Great Lake States because wolves haven’t recovered in Delaware and the District of Columbia yet.
I stated that the anti’s had these legal challenges planned long before the delisting and they were ready to put those plans in motion. They have already done so and they will put more into motion before this season’s wolf hunt begins. I also stated the anti’s really wanted the delisting to occur because this means millions of dollars from fundraising for them.
And, here is the best part, all of their arguments are based upon opinions that the anti’s claims are based on science. The only part of their arguments that I find accurate is that there are no wolves in Delaware or the District of Columbia.
I wish you all luck in your hunt for tags.
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CHUCK K OLAR LOCAL OUTDOORSMAN
