Wisconsin Conservation Congress meets to discuss deer populations "for only educational purposes"

By montrealwill

  • Focus on Spread of CWD heavy in first meeting

    The Congress spoke about the DNR developing a more effective way to limit the spread of Chronic-Wasting Disease. While they were concerned about the sudden levels of infection, they also know that a potential solution to this problem could take years due to the long process of the disease. They came to the conclusion that the best way to slow the spread would be to outlaw feeding and baiting in areas where there isn't CWD.

  • The WCC discusses important numbers to determine future action

    The meeting focused on statistics that had been gathered over the last couple of months including the 2015 Deer Season Wrap Up from the DNR. The DNR also discussed the new GoWild System that had been recently introduced and how that would work in the state. An update in regards to the amount of deer killed from law enforcement officials shows that the numbers were increasing.

  • Increasing cross bow season and the Earn-A-Buck idea

    The discussion started with a potential extension to cross bow season, which has no difference in success rate against vertical bow. Introducing cross bow season did not really increase the number of hunters, but it did increase the amount of woman hunting. A resolution was discussed to bring back Earn-A-Buck, which would be used as a herd management tool. However, this idea lead to public outcry in the past due to the belief that it puts hunters in a negative light.

  • Private Property in regards to hunting laws

    This meeting discusses the idea of creating two zones for hunting and to give counties the ability to create their own laws in regards to the deer population and hunters. The issue came up regarding private property, and how that would be handled during hunting season. One idea was to create incentives for property owners to allow access to hunters. These could include tax breaks, tax deductions, or flat free deductions.

  • Follow-up to installed plans shows success, but also some problems remain

    The follow-up to the previous year shows the congress the progress that is being made in the programs that were installed over the last couple of years. Women are hunting more, and bow hunting is rising while gun hunting is declining. The Congress talks about how both the deer and elk plans have gone well so far but they want to discuss an easier way to get the deer surveys. It was also including that CWD is scaring some hunters away and finding a solution to this problem is very important.