A doe tends to her fawn in a yard in Superior in this Telegram file photo.
(Jed Carlson/jcarlson@superiortelegram.com)
At Tuesday’s
meeting of the Douglas County Deer Advisory Council, the chief order of
business — setting antlerless quota recommendations for the 2015 hunt —
was decided in less than 10 minutes.
The discussion about the county’s gray wolf population lasted more than an hour
"I
know we’re dealing with some very controversial items," said Al
Horvath, council chair, "but allow everybody to talk . . . and get a
chance to go over what’s important to them."
Attendance at Tuesday’s meeting was higher than in the past, with about 20 people on hand.
Audience
members remained civil but criticized the Department of Natural
Resources for underestimating the impact of gray wolves and for allowing
the predators to increase unchecked.
In
Gordon and Wascott, they said, deer camps are dissolving and hunters
are giving up because wolves have driven deer numbers to record lows.
Horvath
sympathized with audience concerns and suggested including a clause
about predator control in the council’s official deer quota
recommendation.
"I think there’s room on
the landscape for wolves, and always should be and always will be; but I
think they should be managed by the state," Horvath said.
Some
members of the audience were less tempered in their remarks — calling
for an aggressive reduction in the wolf population — but the point was
ultimately moot.
A recent court decision
returned the gray wolf to the Federal Endangered Species List. The
ruling, made Dec. 19, prohibits all trapping or hunting of the animal in
Wisconsin and puts the state’s annual wolf hunt on hold.
In spite of the ruling, the Douglas County Deer Advisory Council voted to move ahead with its statement of concern.
As
part of its recommendation, the group included an addendum requesting
proper management of the wolf population and "downward pressure" on the
bear population.
"So our basic intent is
to show that we can’t meet this deer objective without managing the
predator population," said council member Doug Stevens.
Mark
Schroeder, who represents forestry stakeholders on the council,
recommended a general statement about predator reduction and cautioned
members against "falling in love with a number." He used the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service wolf population target of 350 animals as an
example.
When the group arrived at that number, it was believed to be the reasonable carrying capacity for wolves in Wisconsin.
"That’s
clearly not true," Schroeder said. "There’s significantly more wolves
than that . . . so the carrying capacity that was used in that study
obviously wasn’t right."
He also noted the difference between a biological carrying capacity and societal carrying capacity.
"We
certainly went blowing right by 350 for the biological carrying
capacity, and depending on who you’re talking with, we’re either well
past or moderately past what the social carrying capacity is," he said.
"I
think you had the right idea earlier when you said predators are part
of the equation, but they should be managed like all the other animals
on the landscape. Trying to demonize a wolf or make it an angel, I don’t
think either one of those spectrums is proper. They’re an animal."
Along
with its predator statement, the Douglas County council made its
preliminary 2015 deer season recommendations. The members voted 4-0 to
set the antlerless quota at zero for the Douglas County zone and at 200
for the Superior Metro Subunit.
An
official recommendation will be sent to the DNR Friday, and a public
comment period will run April 1-15. On April 21, the group will meet
again to review feedback and make a final quota recommendation or the
2015 deer season. That meeting will be held 6-8 p.m. at the Government
Center, 1316 North 14th St.
The Wisconsin Natural Resource Board has the final say on quotas and is expected to take up the matter at its May 27 meeting.
Deer outlook
At Tuesday’s meeting, DNR wildlife biologist Greg Kessler shared the latest deer population data for Douglas County.
The
deer herd is still recovering from last year’s harsh winter, he said,
but the comparatively mild winter this year is good news for Wisconsin’s
deer population.
"This is one heck of a break for our deer," Kessler said. "We should see a fairly decent increase in the buck crop this year."
Kessler
predicted a 10 to 15 percent increase in the buck harvest from the
two-decade low of 1,863 set last season. But he cautioned hunters not to
expect trophy bucks. Most antlered deer will be between one and three
years old.
Hunters also shouldn’t expect a quick return to the record harvests seen a decade ago.
The buck harvest was down 14 percent in Douglas County for the 2014 season, and the antlerless harvest was down 83 percent.
Kessler said numbers should rebound slightly for 2015, but significant improvement will likely take years.
Facts and figures
*
In Douglas County, hunters using crossbows accounted for 50 percent of
the total archery harvest. Statewide, the average was about 20 percent.
"Our archers took to crossbows like fish to water," Kessler said. "I don’t know why that was."
* Since 2009, there has been a shift in the percentage of deer taken on private land versus public land in Douglas County.
About
53 percent of the county’s land is public and 47 percent is private,
yet 61 percent of the bucks and 64 percent of the antlerless deer
harvested in Douglas County came from private land in 2014.
More deer have been harvested on private land than public in Douglas County for the past six seasons.
*
In a public survey conducted in October, Douglas County registered the
second highest number of responses in the state. Many used the forum to
"vent" about predator concerns, said Horvath.
Predators were the
top issue for Douglas County, cited in 54 responses. Agreement with the
Douglas County Deer Advisory Council’s plan was second with 37
responses. Support for a zero antlerless harvest was reflected in 26
responses, and complaints about DNR mismanagement were found in 22
responses.source
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