Hunters harvest 22% fewer deer on the opening weekend as compared to last year.
http://www.dnr.wi.gov/news/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=1041After a little time with the handy dandy calculator:
Of the 5 areas of the state,
the Northern region saw the biggest one year decline in harvest at -34%. These are the counties of Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Florence, Forest, Iron, Langlade, Lincoln, Oneida, Polk, Price, rusk, Sawyer, Taylor, Vilas and Washburn. In that area, Bayfield saw the biggest decline in harvest at 57% and Washburn saw the smallest decrease in harvest at 22%. Every County in that region was down. All of these Counties saw a decline in the harvest of both bucks and does.
The Northeastern region saw a 25% decline in harvest. These are the Counties of Brown, Calumet, Door, Fond du lac, Green Lake, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Marquette, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara and Winnebago. In that region, Marinette saw the largest decline in harvest at -34% and the lease decline was in Green Lake at -8%. Every County in that region was down. All of these Counties saw a decline in the harvest of both bucks and does.
The West Central region saw a 18% decline in harvest. These are the Counties of, Adams, Buffalo, Chippewa, Clack, Crawford, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Marathon, Monroe, Pepin, Pierce, Portage, St. Croix, Trempealeau, Vernon and Wood. In that region, Dunn saw the worst harvest decline not only for the region but the whole State. -72%. 7 of those regions Counties saw a harvest increase with Pepin showing a 65% increase in harvest The counties that showed a harvest increase were Eau Claire +19%, Juneau +22%, La Crosse +47%, Pierce +39%, Portage, +5%, St. Croix +36%. Some of these Counties saw increases in either buck or doe harvest and 5 of them saw an increase in both.
The Southeast region saw a 12% decline in harvest. These are the Counties of Kenosha, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha. In that region, Washington saw the largest decrease at 28%. 2 of the 7 Counties saw a harvest increase. Of those, Walworth saw the largest increase at 7%. Some of these Counties saw increases in either buck or doe harvest and only Walworth saw an increase in both.
The South Central region saw the smallest harvest decrease at 9%. These are the Counties of Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafeyette, Richland, Rock and Sauk (basically the Western CWDMZ) Of these 11 counties, all but 2 saw a harvest decrease with Green County seeing the largest decline at -24%. Jefferson and Rock both had a harvest increase of 7 and 8% respectively. Some of these Counties saw increases in either buck or doe harvest and only Jefferson saw an increase in both.
I can only imagine how bad this would have been if the opener was one with poor weather conditions. It is clear that EAB is a strong tool and we will forever see it used as a way to quickly reduce the herd. I am really interested in seeing what the DNR herd estimate will be for next year.
I see it like this, There will be a segment of the hunting population that will drop out after this year out of frustration (they may have been looking for a reason to quit anyway)If the DNR declares that the 2009 pre-hunt population is at (guess) 1.4 million, then more folks will drop out saying that if they did not see a deer in 08 when the herd was at 1.7M then why bother in 09 when it's only at 1.4M. Reducing the herd will also reduce the number of hunters that have grown accustomed to big and easy harvests. This is a reason I think the DNR artificially inflates herd size estimates and has for some time. Either that or they really got the estimate wrong in in 2000 and the herd was at 2.3M.
This may be why we never got a look at the numbers for the Oct. T-zone or the Early bow season (as compared to last year) I believe these numbers will also be down and they didn't want those poor results being a downer prior to the gun opener.
