Report recommends changes in deer management
Outdoor News-- Wisconsin’s “Deer Czar” says the DNR should end its practice of maintaining local deer population goals. Texas deer expert James Kroll says the state should also let landowners and groups hold their own hunting sessions on their properties – and the DNR should make better connections with state residents.
MADISON - Wisconsin’s “Deer Czar” says the DNR should end its practice of maintaining local deer population goals. Texas deer expert James Kroll says the state should also let landowners and groups hold their own hunting sessions on their properties – and the DNR should make better connections with state residents.
Kroll was hired by Governor Scott Walker last fall to study Wisconsin’s much-criticized deer hunting system, and suggest ways to improve it. Kroll issued a 136-page report this morning – and it also puts hunters at fault for expecting a deer herd which is so large, the wilderness cannot support it. He said his report gives hunters and the DNR a chance to discuss their differences, and possibly save Wisconsin’s deep hunting traditions. Kroll called it a “re-set button,” saying that his ideas will have to be accepted quote, “if we’re going to continue to have the hunting heritage in Wisconsin.”
DNR land division chief Kurt Thiede said the agency needs to review the long report but quote, “We are not afraid to face recommendations and critiques in the report, and adjust accordingly.” DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp said it would take several weeks for her department to review everything in the report. Kroll said hunters don’t take much stock in the DNR’s deer population estimates. Instead, he says the agency should simplify its goals for increasing or decreasing the herd and measure their success on trends spotted in things like deer crop damage, or car-deer crashes.
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