Wisconsin Deer Hunting

Hunting Minnesota and Wisconsin this Deer Season

Hunting Minnesota and Wisconsin this Deer Season

Beautiful scenery and the chance to take home some serious venison, welcome to deer hunting in the far north. Minnesota and Wisconsin have some of the largest numbers of harvested deer each year. Each state boasts 500,000 plus deer taken every year, and in one state that is only gun season, add about 240,000 thousand more taken during bow season. That, my friend, is a lot of deer! Before you head north on this deer season there are a few rules and regulations you might want to be aware of. Each state has a game and fish commission or wildlife management team that determines what the rules each year will be. This is so the deer population is properly preserved, neither over or under hunted according to that year’s population growth.

Minnesota

Minnesota is a great place to deer hunt there are a variety of terrains and deer a plenty. This year’s deer season shapes up like this:

09/13/08 – 12/31/08   Deer hunt – Bow season
10/11/08 – 10/12/08   Deer hunt – Early Antlerless Deer Season
10/19/08 – 10/20/08   Deer hunt – Camp Ripley Bow hunt – 1st season
10/26/08 – 10/27/08   Deer hunt – Camp Ripley Bow hunt – 2nd season
11/08/08                     Deer hunt – Gun opener
11/08/08 – 11/14/08    Deer hunt – Gun – Zone 3A
11/08/08 – 11/23/08    Deer hunt – Gun- Zone 1A
11/08/08 – 11/16/08    Deer hunt – Gun – Zone 2A
11/22/08 – 11/30/08    Deer hunt – Gun – Zone 3B
11/29/08 – 12/14/08    Deer hunt – Muzzleloader season

Some definite changes have been made to the rules and regulations this year and here we will take a quick look at some of them.

• Any center fire cartridge of .220 or above may be used. Rim fire is still prohibited.

• A child of between the ages of ten and eleven may hunt with the direct supervision of a parent or guardian.

• Zone 4 has been eliminated and the permits moved to zone 2.

• All season hunting licenses have been eliminated; there are now three stand-alone licenses, archery, gun, and muzzleloader.

License types and the bag limit for each is below:

• Regular archery – A bow hunter may take one deer of either sex without applying for the lottery.

• Regular Firearm- During the season a hunter may take a buck in the area but must apply for an either sex permit through lottery before September 8th.

• Muzzleloader - A hunter may take one deer of either sex provided they do not also hold a firearm license. Hunters who possess both licenses must apply to the lottery.

The season bag limit for certain areas is two no matter what combination of license you hold; the exception is the intensive areas of the state. These intensive areas have been designated by number and can be found on the website. The difference per license is this:

• Regular Firearm – You must hold a regular hunting license and may purchase up to four more deer permits at half the regular price. You are allowed one deer of either sex and four additional antlerless deer. Bonus permits are for antlerless deer only in the intensive area for which they have a permit.

• Archery/ Muzzleloader- Is much the same as firearm, with the exception of the bonus permits. They are good for any intensive area in the state, not just ones the hunter is licensed for.

This is a brief look at some changes to the regulations please check the official site for more details.
Wisconsin

Wisconsin has an abundance of deer as well and is a terrific place to hunt whitetail deer. Here is a brief look at their hunting season and some rules and regulations.

• Bow hunting season-  Sept. 13 – Nov. 20, 2008 and Dec. 1, 2008 – Jan. 4, 2009
• Gun season-   Nov. 22 – Nov. 30, 2008
• Muzzleloader – Dec. 1 – Dec. 10, 2008
• Youth Deer Hunt – Oct. 11 & 12, 2008

Wisconsin also has a separate area called the CWD zones and the season is a bit different in these zones.

• Archery- September 13 to January 4 (Earn-a-buck)
• Youth Hunt- October 11-12 (exempt from earn-a-buck)
• Early Firearm- October 16-19 (antlerless-only)
• Traditional-   November 22-30 (Earn-a-buck)
• Muzzleloader only season- December 1-10 (Earn-a-buck)
• Late firearm – December 11-14 (antlerless only)
• Holiday firearm- December 24-January 4 (Earn-a-buck)

This special zone was developed to combat a disease among deer called chronic wasting disease. This disease cause the deer to literally waste away and is spread through close contact. To attempt to eradicate the disease special zones with extended seasons were created.

Another program instituted in Wisconsin is the earn-a-buck program. In order to control herd sizes the commission set up the program like this:

In order to take an antlered deer the hunter must first harvest an antlerless deer. In this way, he “earns” a sticker that makes his hunting permit valid. This only applies to certain areas of the state called units. Regular units do not require an antlerless kill first. However, an antlerless deer killed in a regular unit will not count toward the requirement for the earn-a-buck in EAB units. In other words if you happen to kill an antlerless on your regular tag in a regular area you are not now qualified to hunt an antlered deer in the EAB unit.

The bonus is this if a hunter checked in an antlerless in the previous year they may be pre-qualified this year. The stickers were to be in the mail by late August or the hunter could check online to see their status.

There are many more rules and regulations you will want to be aware of for the Wisconsin deer-hunting season, this is merely a brief overview. Have a great hunting season.

Powered By WP Footer

READ MORE

Previous: Hunting Equipment What You Need Versus What You Want
Next: Antlers: Not Just for Deer Anymore