The state Natural Resources Board this week heard a report from a DNR deer management leader about whether the County Deer Advisory Councils were working to effectively manage Wisconsin's deer herd.
The CDAC's, as they're known, are comprised of various groups, including forestry, ag, tourism and tribal members among others. They provide recommendations to the DNR about population totals.
DNR deer-elk biologist Kevin Wallenfang says the CDAC's began at a time when the state recorded the worst winter for deer on record in 2014. Wallenfang said it was no surprise that CDAC's recommended increasing the Northwoods' deer herd, hit hard be record cold and snow.
At the meeting he showed a colored chart. He says the recommendations for the next three years are different than the previous years....
"...Just two years ago, we set the population objectives for 2018 through 2020 you can see where some progress was made. In the northern part of the state you see a lot more blue there(indicating a stable population)as deer populations increased over the past few years. They recognized that, they started to get into a happy medium with their population...."
The latest map shows Forest, Iron and northern Marinette counties still hoping to increase deer herds, while Vilas, Oneida, Lincoln, Langlade and Price counties now want to maintain the current population. In portions of central and northeastern Wisconsin where there are more farms, CDAC's there are recommending a reduction in deer herds.
Wallenfang's comments courtesy the Natural Resources Board website.
