Northern Wisconsin Deer Season
- Thread starter Barlow
- Start date
MikeT49
Gold $$ Contributor
Northern Rusk and Price counties also very slow. I got one antlerless tag filled with the xbow on 11/15. Decided to concentrate on getting one of the 8pts or 10pts we have on the game cams. Passed on several small bucks and antlerless deer with the xbow. Bad move. The deer movement pretty much stopped about 11/20. Saw 3 does during gun season, did not provide a shot. One of our bunch of six got a very old 10pt on opening morning. That's it. The boys just down the road (10 guys) got one small doe during gun season. Everybody we talked to said the same thing, no deer movement. There's acorns everywhere, the rut was done. Deer didn't have to move. Somewhat disappointing as far as the harvest goes, but I've had a great time. Got one deer, that's a bonus as far as I'm concerned. Can't wait till next year. Not looking forward to the drive back to the wet side of Washington. Mike
Edit:. I have never heard less gun fire during a Wisconsin gun hunt than I did this year.
Edit:. I have never heard less gun fire during a Wisconsin gun hunt than I did this year.
Last edited:
jackson1
Silver $$ Contributor
Barlow, I hunt Oconto and Marinette counties for 50 plus years. Post timber wolf introduction the quality of the Northern Wisconsin deer heard has suffered. Couple that with my aging and becoming lazier Wisconsin deer have become few and far between. I like to blame all the special deer seasons as another part of the problem. To me the deer heard is becoming increasingly nocturnal. In all honestly, these reasons my be just excuses to cover my declining lack of effort or have some viability, I don't know. My in laws sold the cabin to my brother in law and I am now looking to purchase land and a cabin in the UP. My sons now in their early 30's are finding renewed hunting interest, so private land a and cabin seem like a good idea. Food plots and heated deer stands sound quite appealing today. The hunting may not improve, but the excuse will be limited.
Jackson1, It seems in this area the wolves have won. This was my 60th Wisconsin deer season and I have had the same hunting buddy for all of them. Wolves are a terrible problem, but I think baiting and feeding deer are just as bad. We don't bait and although we are in a no bait (because of cwd) county, every sports shop, gas station, and store sell corn and other goodies. I did hear that a few got busted, but that won't stop it. Baiting makes deer nocturnal, but the light never seems to come on for those who do it. Before wolves and baiting people actually hunted, still hunted, made drives and watched good runways. Years ago during gun season our town and every small town in northern Wisconsin was full of hunters. You can drive thru Crandon anytime during season and it looks abandoned. Baiting and feeding should end now and a bounty placed on wolves. Next year if I'm fortunate enough to be here, I will hunt Michigan and to hell with Wisconsin. Barlow
Flyshooter
Silver $$ Contributor
Adam in WI
Practically lives here
Down in Portage county, didn't see diddly after opening day. Coworker said same for Waupaca county. Squirrels can only keep a guy awake so long...
Did see an ermine though; thought it was a mink at first. Had to get out our daughter's animal encyclopedia to identify it.
Did see an ermine though; thought it was a mink at first. Had to get out our daughter's animal encyclopedia to identify it.
Sundown
Gold $$ Contributor
We had a cabin near Winter WI since the 50's. We would come up Friday night and give the farmers field a quick look as we came close to the cabin. In the early years there would be thirty to forty deer in that field. Through the next decade the deer population dropped somewhat and you'd only see maybe fifteen or twenty. When the Wolf was introduced you never saw anything in the field. Just before we sold the cabin and the 80 acres we had, you could walk the woods and not see a track except for the occasional Wolf or coyote track.
I truly believe the Insurance lobby in WI is the driving force into the reintroduction of the Wolf to keep the deer herd down. Vehicle and deer collision was costly to the Insurance Companies. There was no good reason to bring the Wolf back...None!
I truly believe the Insurance lobby in WI is the driving force into the reintroduction of the Wolf to keep the deer herd down. Vehicle and deer collision was costly to the Insurance Companies. There was no good reason to bring the Wolf back...None!
jackson1
Silver $$ Contributor
Several valid points have been raised. One take away for me is: life changes and we need to deal with it. The Wisconsin deer heard has moved south in the state. Over the years my resistance to change has probably cost me a number of deer. I like it up north and always will. For the most part have always hunted public land, that is going to change. May not find Valhalla in the UP, but at least will leave a legacy. A long sauna will put my mind right.
Barlow,
I grew up hunting in your exact area, along the Pine river in northern Forest county... We camped at a Nat'l Forest Campground you probably know of. Some of the gang still hunts there although they closed the campground a few years ago I hear. I remember a year or two ago they celebrated pretty big as they had finally killed a buck...it had been several years. When there's a lot of snow and those deer yard up in the cedar swamps, a pack of wolves will kill every single deer. No place for them to go.
I haven't hunted there in 20 years, but I do remember some great hunting and seeing some awesome sights. Deer, Fisher, Pine Martens, even a bobcat one year. It was a great experience and I learned how to 'hunt' there by still-hunting the cedar swamps and maple ridges. Sadly it sounds like those days are LOOONG gone and probably will never be back if the wolves are allowed to stay at their current population. Very sad.
And your right about the baiting...absolutely ruins the hunting. We saw it in the late 80's when more hunters started hunting up there due to increased doe tags. We didn't see the deer wandering throughout the day browsing anymore. Instead is was heavy trails to and from bait sites and the deer went nocturnal. It's even worse now as it concentrates the prey for the wolves.
I grew up hunting in your exact area, along the Pine river in northern Forest county... We camped at a Nat'l Forest Campground you probably know of. Some of the gang still hunts there although they closed the campground a few years ago I hear. I remember a year or two ago they celebrated pretty big as they had finally killed a buck...it had been several years. When there's a lot of snow and those deer yard up in the cedar swamps, a pack of wolves will kill every single deer. No place for them to go.
I haven't hunted there in 20 years, but I do remember some great hunting and seeing some awesome sights. Deer, Fisher, Pine Martens, even a bobcat one year. It was a great experience and I learned how to 'hunt' there by still-hunting the cedar swamps and maple ridges. Sadly it sounds like those days are LOOONG gone and probably will never be back if the wolves are allowed to stay at their current population. Very sad.
And your right about the baiting...absolutely ruins the hunting. We saw it in the late 80's when more hunters started hunting up there due to increased doe tags. We didn't see the deer wandering throughout the day browsing anymore. Instead is was heavy trails to and from bait sites and the deer went nocturnal. It's even worse now as it concentrates the prey for the wolves.
Sounds to me like you need some wolf shooting. I hunted outside of Phillips back in the 80s.
The UP has a pretty healthy wolf population as well. It's up and down as far as the areas that are populated. My camp is in the UP and the last couple years the wolves have been scarse and deer numbers are rising. I'm guessing so will the wolf population eventually when deer get plentiful. It's kinda like a cycle in our area. Maybe one day they'll have another wolf hunt but annually. Some areas along 28 near Seney, the wolves seem to exist every year. Numbers stay high.
pdhntr
Silver $$ Contributor
https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/documents/deer_Prelimgun9day_2018v2019.pdf
If you compare areas in the statistics, you will see the northern forest area declined the most.
I am only commenting on this area, as I haven’t hunted the other areas you guys have this year.
The biggest issue was the timing of gun season. It was the latest in the year that the season can occur. If you look at the percent decrease on those years it was late, compared to a normally timed season, you will see the kill decreased dramatically. The rut was over. From trail cams from many of the guys in this area, the bucks were moving two weeks before the season, and quit shortly before. The DNR predicted a %25 decrease because of the timing of the season.
With the wet summer and fall, the deer had all they wanted to eat. Much of the corn was not harvested and still remains in the fields.
The record rainfall restricted many of the usual deer drives that groups make.
There are many more options for hunting than there used to be. There used to be two seasons. Gun and bow. Now there is bow, crossbow, disabled, youth, special antlerless seasons, muzzleloader and some I may have missed.
For instance: late this summer, there were five bucks in the area that were 8 point or better (that I knew of). One of them I shot with my bow. One was taken during the disabled hunt a quarter mile from me. Another was taken during the deer gun season, also a quarter mile from here. No other bucks were shot in this area that I know of. So two of the five were gone before the gun season ever started. Talk to any deer processing outfit that has been in business for over 10 years and they will tell you their archery deer processing is growing every year.
Along with the 5 bucks, 8 or better, there were half a dozen smaller bucks, and eleven does.
And nature (in this area) still has a say in what is going on. Two miles to the east of me there is an active pack of wolves. Most nights, just after dark, you can step outside and hear the coyotes calling to the north. The bears took several of the fawns this spring even though I tried hard to stop them. We have a couple feet of snow right now and almost all of the winter to go. Mother nature could easily use her crude way of thinning the herd to the point we won’t be deer hunting at all next year.
Jim
If you compare areas in the statistics, you will see the northern forest area declined the most.
I am only commenting on this area, as I haven’t hunted the other areas you guys have this year.
The biggest issue was the timing of gun season. It was the latest in the year that the season can occur. If you look at the percent decrease on those years it was late, compared to a normally timed season, you will see the kill decreased dramatically. The rut was over. From trail cams from many of the guys in this area, the bucks were moving two weeks before the season, and quit shortly before. The DNR predicted a %25 decrease because of the timing of the season.
With the wet summer and fall, the deer had all they wanted to eat. Much of the corn was not harvested and still remains in the fields.
The record rainfall restricted many of the usual deer drives that groups make.
There are many more options for hunting than there used to be. There used to be two seasons. Gun and bow. Now there is bow, crossbow, disabled, youth, special antlerless seasons, muzzleloader and some I may have missed.
For instance: late this summer, there were five bucks in the area that were 8 point or better (that I knew of). One of them I shot with my bow. One was taken during the disabled hunt a quarter mile from me. Another was taken during the deer gun season, also a quarter mile from here. No other bucks were shot in this area that I know of. So two of the five were gone before the gun season ever started. Talk to any deer processing outfit that has been in business for over 10 years and they will tell you their archery deer processing is growing every year.
Along with the 5 bucks, 8 or better, there were half a dozen smaller bucks, and eleven does.
And nature (in this area) still has a say in what is going on. Two miles to the east of me there is an active pack of wolves. Most nights, just after dark, you can step outside and hear the coyotes calling to the north. The bears took several of the fawns this spring even though I tried hard to stop them. We have a couple feet of snow right now and almost all of the winter to go. Mother nature could easily use her crude way of thinning the herd to the point we won’t be deer hunting at all next year.
Jim
Hunted in Douglas County. Terrible. Wolves eating everything. Also, the late opener was far beyond the rut, so deer movement was lacking. Hunting up North is becoming a non-starter anymore. I stopped deer hunting in Northern Minnesota for the same reason... Wolves.
Guys, I watched closely this year as hunting seemed to be lousy all over the country with Missouri and Illinois was no exception. Seems like the season wasn’t lined up well with the rut or weather. Many excellent hunters didn’t succeed here and the ones that did settled for anything legal. Your state is just another example of this...
Poor in my neck of the woods this past season (NE-IA). Our group got a total of 15 deer. Last year we had 25...in years past over 30. We have the blue-tongue problem here.
MikeT49
Gold $$ Contributor
Have any of you deer hunters heard of PRD (Post Rut Depression)? Before I headed back to the Left side of Washington after the rifle hunt back home in Wisconsin I stopped down to see my step mom. While I was there I read an article in the Marshfield paper. The outdoor reporter/editor was commenting on how everybody was whining about the low gun season harvest. He recalled how years back a DNR wildlife biologist he knew had a term for the total lack of movement of deer after the rut. He called it PRD. The does are tired of being harassed by the bucks and lay low by a food source. The bucks need to recover from chasing and not eating much for a month or so. They also find a secure food source and don't move much to rest up.
I have lived in Bayfield county for 75 years. The hunters now are just lazy. We used to get up at 3:30 in the morning to do chores & milk cows. Would start making drives at day break the first morning. We hunted all 9 days. No one heard of sitting in a stand. I think it was illegal back them. Get off your butt & make them move.T49:
That sounds remarkably similar to how we acted on Sundays when we were teenagers!
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