A DNR Deer Management Specialist says strong support has been seen for proposed changes to how deer management is handled in Wisconsin.
Currently, decisions are made on a county-by-county basis.
Deer Management Specialist Jeff Pritzl updated the Natural Resources Board recently on public comment on the idea of going back to a habitat-based system of deer management units.
“Both in the northern forest and in general, comments ran about 80 percent in favor of the proposed change. In the central forest it was a little bit closer, but still a majority in favor,” said Pritzl.
Pritzl said the current system can been a challenge for deer advisory councils, as one part of a county may need a different management style than the rest.
“And that’s really the challenge that those CDAC’s(County Deer Advisory Councils) in the north were dealing with and expressing in that they were caught in the middle if in their county they were seeing both ends of the spectrum and so by going to a habitat based unit system it would allow the CDAC’s to recognize that alright we can capture the public input that says be conservative over here while providing opportunity in other areas.”
Pritzl hoped a rule to revise the deer management boundaries could be before the Natural Resources Board as soon as February.
