Expect some holes in numbers reported for this year’s deer harvest in Wisconsin.
From the La Crosse County Conservation Alliance, Marc Schultz certainly does.
The Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources is promoting the release of its packet of rules for this year’s deer season.
The biggest change is that hunters no longer have to tag their deer. Schultz says the new rule likely means underreporting after kills. Or, at least inaccuracies.
It’s part of a bad trend, says Schultz, toward not keeping tabs on the harvest.
“We no longer check deer at the check stations, so we really don’t know what we’re harvesting,” Schultz said. “And now, when a warden is going to try and enforce an illegal deer … How do you determine, other than the guy doesn’t have a license, which you have to prove it?”
Schultz says the tagging rule change is the result of lawmakers getting overly involved in wildlife management. He’s is left scratching his head, looking for a good reason to remove the tagging requirement.
“I don’t understand the reasoning,” he said. “It’s easy. That’s the reasoning. OK?
“Somebody brings a deer into the processing center. They don’t need a tag or a license on it. It’s just confusing to me.”
Besides accuracy problems in deer hunt numbers, Schultz expects plenty of hunters to get away with not buying a license this year.