MORE DEER COVERAGE • 2004 Deer Outlook, Part 1 • 2004 Rut Report in North American Whitetail Forums

By Gary F. Martin

When the Department of Natural Resources issued a preliminary deer-kill report after opening weekend of the 2003 regular nine-day firearm season, the numbers were up slightly compared to the previous year. The DNR expected higher kill figures, but poor hunting weather, including heavy rain and strong winds, affected much of Wisconsin. DNR officials hoped for better weather for the remainder of the season so that hunters would get out and drop the deer population down to avoid putting more deer management units (DMUs) into earn-a-buck (EAB). At the end of the nine-day gun hunt, 324,460 deer were registered. That was 46,501 more than in 2002, but it was not enough, and hunters were warned to expect EAB in some units for the 2004 season.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) units were already in the EAB program, which requires deer hunters to kill an antlerless deer before they take an antlered deer. In 2004 the DNR added Zone T DMUs 3, 5, 6, 13, 14, 19, 20, 47, 51A, 51B, 54C, 59D, 61, 62B, 63A, 63B, 65B, 66, 67A, 67B, 68A, 72, 78, 80A, 80B and 81 to EAB. The EAB programs for the CWD management zones and Zone T units are separate. In other words, you cannot earn the authority to shoot a buck in a CWD unit by killing an antlerless deer in a Zone T EAB unit.

Three more DMUs were added to the CWD list for 2004. The current CWD Units include DMUs 54B CWD, 70 CWD, 70A CWD, 70B CWD, 70C CWD, 70D CWD, 70E CWD, 70F CWD, 70G CWD, 71 CWD, 73B CWD, 73E CWD, 75A CWD, 75B CWD, 75C CWD, 75D CWD, 76 CWD, 76A CWD, 76M CWD, 77A CWD, 77B CWD and 77C CWD.

In 2003, over 15,000 deer were tested for CWD, and 114 were positive. All but four of those positive cases were from the disease eradication zone. Two were found in the herd reduction zone and two from the remainder of Wisconsin. Parts of Kenosha and Walworth counties (DMU 77B) are now within the CWD management zone because of the two cases of the disease found outside of the 2002 CWD area. That unit is now designated DMU 77B CWD.

The CWD management zones, as well as some metropolitan areas, offer special extended seasons, bag limits and hunting regulations. If you plan on hunting in any of the above DMUs, check with the local DNR Service Center for season dates, bag limits and special hunting regulations.

In addition to the Zone T earn-a-buck units listed above, 48 DMUs are classified as regular Zone T units for 2004. Last year, 47 DMUs were Zone T. This year, the total is 74 DMUs. As with last year, only the Zone T and EAB units south of U.S. Highway 8 will have the December four-day antlerless-only hunt.

Photo by BillKinney.com

DMU 38 is notable because last year fewer than 1,000 hunters applied for Hunter's Choice tags, and this year there are nearly 12,000 bonus tags available. Last year hunters only killed 1,734 deer during the nine-day firearm season in DMU 38. Nearby DMU 39, on the other hand, is one unit with fewer tags available than hunters applying for them.

This year the Northern Forest Region has eight DMUs (3, 5, 6, 13, 14, 19, 20 and 78) under Zone T EAB, and it has an additional 14 Zone T units in non-EAB. Most Zone T units in this region are north of U.S. Highway 8 and do not have the December Zone T herd-control hunt.

The northern region's best DMU in 2003 was DMU 13. This unit ranks in the top 20 for 2003 with 4,103 dead whitetails. Of those deer, 42 percent were antlered, which is near the statewide buck-kill percentage of 43 percent. DMU 2 was second with 3,721 registered deer during the nine-day hunt, with 54 percent being legal bucks. Third was DMU 3, where gun hunters bagged 3,365 whitetails, of which 1,640 were antlered.

The Northern Forest Region is the best bet for deer hunters who want to hunt big-woods whitetails. Public land is abundant and consists of hardwood forest, pine plantations and coniferous swamps. Deer hunters looking for solitude and a chance at a trophy buck will find it here.

The best DMU in the Eastern Farmland Region last year was DMU 62B, where the nine-day season ended with 7,201 deer being registered. Of those, 2,902, or 40 percent, were antlered deer. Unit 63A came in second with a total nine-day kill of 6,013 whitetails, and 2,558, or 43 percent, were bucks. Third place is held by DMU 65B with a 2003 firearm kill of 5,577 deer, with 45 percent sporting "horns."

Deer habitat in this region is a mixture of wood lots and farmland, but some wood lots are large enough to almost be classified as small forests. The deer are well fed and grow large, but hunters are sometimes handicapped by the weather, which when too wet doesn't allow a corn harvest. Corn is a major agricultural crop. If it's standing during the November hunt, deer use it for cover and don't need to move about.

All the Eastern Farmland Region's Zone T DMUs are south of U.S. Highway 8, which means a second herd-control hunt will be held in December after the regular nine-day season.

Nearly all the DMUs in this region are classified as Zone T for 2004. Two exceptions are units 16 and 60A, which have regular deer regulations. But both units have an abundance of bonus tags available. The DNR is selling 13,700 bonus tags for DMU 13 and 4,850 in DMU 60A. In both cases, this is thousands more tags than the number of hunters who applied for Hunter's Choice permits in 2003.

The other two exceptions are DMUs 61 and 59D. Both are Zone T EAB in 2004. DMU 61 covers a large portion of Buffalo County, which is Wisconsin's and the country's best trophy-buck-producing area. It will be interesting to see if the EAB regulations affect the buck kill this year, and in fact, if it does result in a higher antlerless harvest as the DNR hopes.

This year DMUs 55, 56 and 58 have regular firearms seasons, while DMUs 53 and 54A are non-EAB Zone T units. The Central Forest Region is the only region without any DMUs under EAB for this year.

DMU 71 CWD was the No. 1 deer-kill unit in this region in 2003 with a total of 7,263 dead whitetails, of which 2,338, or 32 percent, wore antlers. But note that for the CWD management zone, the DNR's nine-day firearm season harvest numbers include the animals killed during special gun hunting seasons in October and November. No other CWD unit made the top 20 list, although there was a good deer kill in each of them.

Unit 67A was the region's second-place DMU with 6,052 deer falling to hunters, and 2,750 of them were tagged with buck tags. Third was DMU 72, where 5,308 deer died during the nine-day gun season, and 2,564 of those were antlered.

Deer hunters will need to do their part outside of the CWD zone as well, because herd reduction is also a priority. Although the 2003 kill increased over 2002's numbers, it wasn't enough. For those who refused to shoot antlerless deer in the past, the EAB program now forces them to shoot a doe before they can take a buck. By early next year the DNR will know whether the 2004 EAB was a success or failure. If successful, there may be more units under the program in 2005.

Hunter cooperation also entails taking part in the special Zone T antlerless-only herd-control hunts, and purchasing bonus tags and filling them. Zone T and bonus tags can be filled during any deer season, but the greatest number of deer hunters focus on the nine-day firearm hunt.

Deer hunters who fear they may end up with too much venison need only stop in at their local DNR Service Center and find out where they can donate the carcasses or processed meat. You can also log on to www.huntforthehungry.com and find out information about the Hunt For The Hungry program and other deer donations programs around the state, or call Lee Dudek at (920) 498-1522. Whole deer donations - in the hide - are accepted by Hunt For The Hungry so long as the deer has been properly field-dressed, tagged and registered. If the temperature is above 40 degrees, please place one bag of ice in the chest cavity and one between the hindquarters to help preserve the venison before processing. There is no cost to make this donation of venison. Frozen, packaged wild game from previous hunts will be accepted all year long if the meat is in good condition.

For more information and statistics on deer hunting and chronic wasting disease in Wisconsin, log on to www.dnr.wi.gov.