October antlerless deer hunt good time to “earn-a-buck”
Hunters in Earn-a-Buck units will need to harvest an antlerless deer before a buck
MADISON – Deer hunters hunting in any of the 57 Deer Management Units under Earn-a-Buck regulations for 2008 must “earn” a buck sticker authorizing them to shoot a buck by first shooting an antlerless deer.
Hunters can meet this requirement in several ways. They can shoot an antlerless deer during the current 2008 hunting season in either the early archery deer hunt, or during the Oct. 16-19 antlerless-only deer gun hunt or they can use an unused buck sticker from the 2007 season. Hunters may also tag an antlerless deer and then harvest a buck, which may accompany the antlerless deer upon registration, as long as they are tagged by the same hunter registering both deer.
2008 Earn-a-Buck pre-qualification
Under a program started in 2006, some hunters may be pre-qualified for a buck harvest sticker by virtue of having killed and registered an antlerless deer last year in a deer management unit that is under EAB rules this year. This includes more than 113,000 registered antlerless deer from 2007 EAB and CWD units, which earned hunters green “2007-2008” Buck Authorization Stickers. These stickers were awarded to hunters upon deer registration and are still valid in 2008 if they were not used to tag a buck during the remainder of the 2007 deer season. An EAB Buck Authorization Sticker is good in any EAB or CWD unit, regardless of where the sticker was earned.
If the unit where the antlerless deer was killed was not EAB in 2007 but is under EAB in 2008, the hunter should be in the EAB Prequalification Database. Hunters in this category will be mailed a buck sticker. Mailing began in August, and more than 16,000 stickers were mailed to hunters who harvested deer from at least one of eight Deer Management Units during the 2007 season that are now under EAB regulations in 2008.
How to check your EAB status
Deer hunters who believe they have pre-qualified for a Buck Authorization Sticker in one of these units can check their status over the Internet.
Hunters will need to have their Department of Natural Resources customer identification number handy when they go online to the deer hunting page of the DNR Web site and click on the link for “EAB Pre-qualification Status” and follow the instructions to check on your authorization.
The on-line check allows hunters to determine if their information is in the database to receive a buck sticker for the 2008 Earn-A-Buck (EAB) season.
Hunters should be included in this database if they registered an antlerless deer in 2007 in any Deer Management Unit that was not EAB 2007 and is EAB in 2008.
“Hunters should not wait until the last minute to check their status,” said Keith Warnke, big game ecologist with the Department of Natural Resources. “No one wants to be scrambling for a sticker the week before the opener, so please check and take action now.”
Hunters who believe they have pre-qualified by registering an antlerless deer in 2007 in units that were not EAB in 2007 and are EAB in 2008 but do not find a buck authorization associated with their customer identification number should contact DNR via email directly from the Web page. Press the ‘enter my info’ button and enter everything you can remember about the deer they killed.
Hunters are encouraged to make sure the address DNR has associated with their customer identification number is correct. This address is where the buck authorizations will be mailed.
People who don’t have access to the Internet either at home or at a local library or through a friend, can contact their local DNR service center who will look up the information. People may also contact the DNR Call Center toll free at 1-888-936-7463.
Repeat EAB Units
Hunters who killed and registered an antlerless deer in an EAB unit in 2007 received a green 2007-2008 buck sticker at the registration station last year and will not be listed in the on-line database.
Units that had earn-a-buck requirements last year and again this fall include: 22A, 54B, 54C, 59B, 59C, 59M, 60M, 61, 61A, 62B, 63A, 64, 64A, 64M, 65B, 66, 67A, 67B, 68A, 68B, 74A, 77C, 77D, 80A, 80B, 80C, 81 and all CWD management units.
The sticker a hunter received last fall is the sticker needed for this hunting season. Hunters who used all their buck stickers last fall or did not kill any antlerless deer in these units last fall will need to register an antlerless deer in an EAB or CWD unit this year to get a buck sticker.
Hunters were advised last fall to keep track of the green buck stickers they earned. The same is true of stickers that will be mailed in August – close to the start of bow hunting. These will be the stickers they need to harvest a buck this year.
The EAB “watch list”
Hunters looking ahead to the 2009 seasons can get an idea of which units might be in Earn-a-Buck by looking at the EAB watch list described below.
Based on population trends, deer management unit history and harvest history, deer managers have created an EAB watch list. These are deer management units that could potentially be designated as EAB in 2009. Hunters harvesting and registering an antlerless deer in these units in 2008 will pre-qualify for a Buck Authorization sticker if the unit is designated as EAB in 2009.
Because harvest information is taken directly off the deer registration stub, hunters are reminded to completely and legibly fill out the registration stub if they want to receive their Buck Authorization sticker in 2009.
The following is the watch list for 2009: all 2008 EAB and CWD units, plus units 1, 1M, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 42, 46, 47, 51A, 51B, 53, 54A, 55, 56, 57, 57A, 57B, 57C, 57D, 58, 59A, 60A, 62A, 63B, 65A, 69, 69C, 77E, 77M and 78.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Warnke - (608) 264-6023
