Kevin Naze column: Wolf supporters hounding hunters

Hyperbole is running rampant this week on both sides of the fence, and for once we're not just talking politics.

Social media sites and online news story comments have been on fire as people with opposing viewpoints on hunting and trapping wolves fan the flames with low blows and incendiary comments.

Even when facts are clearly and calmly presented, there's heated debate from both sides, often including childish name-calling and sometimes threats.

Rocker and hunting fanatic Ted Nugent posted a photo of Door native Bryan Wiesner with a wolf Friday, then seemed to encourage poaching.

Never one to mince words, Nugent — who has more than 2.2 million likes on his Facebook page — posted that "we the people" are killing many more wolves than the "numbnut corrupt dishonest PC government thugs allow." He went on to add, "Kill as many as you can real conservationists. The wolf population is irresponsibly and dangerously out of control. Wolf jackets rock!"

While many of his supporters "liked" his post, there were plenty of others, including some who said they were avid hunters, who disagreed.

If you've got the time and the interest, check out the back-and-forths there or on any number of pro-wolf or anti-wolf pages.

You can also search for the latest news stories on anti-hunt and anti-trap citizen monitors known as the Great Lakes Wolf Patrol. They are trying to document the use of traps on public lands and investigate claims that the DNR is underreporting wolf mortality and failing to ensure the long-term survival of wolves in Wisconsin.

I've long been convinced that wolves are indeed underreported by the DNR, but I'm not talking wolf mortality. Instead, it's the annual minimum overwinter guesstimate that I've got an issue with.

Dozens of wolves have already been taken by hunters and trappers the first three days of the 2014 season, enough that Zone 2 in Northeastern Wisconsin will close already at noon today.

Northwoods residents have long claimed there are likely 2-4 times more wolves than the winter estimates show, and last year's rapid quota-filling — and this year's fast start to the season — could be indicators that they are right.

That said, scientifically-managed hunting and trapping seasons are a good thing, but encouraging illegal shootings crosses the line.

How many whitetails?

Last month's first-ever County Deer Advisory Council meeting in Sturgeon Bay provided a hint at what the group might recommend come Thursday's 7 p.m. meeting, again at the Door County Government Center.

While no official vote was taken at the Sept. 15 meeting, a majority of members believed the county deer herd was larger than it should be.

The group is accepting public comments as it comes up with a recommendation to increase, decrease or stabilize the Peninsula whitetail population.

The Door herd has come a long way since the first recorded deer harvest some 65 years ago. The first 1,000-plus county kill took place in 1982, and the first 2,000-plus harvest just two years later. By 1990, more than 3,000 deer were killed in Door County, a number that swelled to more than 4,000 in 1996 and a record 5,023 in 2004.

Four earn-a-buck seasons in five years between 2004 and 2008 trimmed the herd, but it's been building since 2009, when it fell to 2,728. The harvest surpassed 3,100 in 2011 and has been above 3,700 the past two seasons.

This year — even after one of the most severe winters in decades — many believe it's poised to again top the 4,000 mark.

After the county advisory group makes its initial recommendation Thursday, there will be a public comment period from early November to early December before the council makes its final recommendation to the DNR.

To learn more about the process, visit http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/cdac.html.

— Kevin Naze is a freelance outdoors writer covering the outdoors. Email him at wildtimes@wizunwired.net.