Antlerless-only deer hunt shot down in close vote

By a one-vote margin at a meeting Monday night, Door County’s Deer Advisory Council reversed last month’s preliminary recommendation for an antlerless-only deer hunt this fall.

More than 200 hunters — a majority of them middle-aged or older, many with decades of deer seasons under their belts — packed the Sturgeon Bay High School cafeteria to listen in, or provide feedback.

After presentations by DNR wildlife and forestry staff, and a summary of online comments by CDAC chairman Dick Baudhuin, dozens of hunters took the microphone to share their opinions.

Jeff Schinkten of Sturgeon Bay, president of Whitetails Unlimited, Inc., said he was speaking only for himself when he opposed a doe-only hunt.

Contacted Tuesday morning, Schinkten said hunters are the only tool the DNR has to manage deer numbers, and the DNR needs their support.

“I’ll shoot a couple does this fall,” Schinkten said. “But I can tell you one thing, I don’t get up hours before sunrise and climb into the stand in the dark opening day to shoot a doe. If there’s not at least an opportunity to shoot a buck, I won’t be out there.”

A common theme by those opposed was that the northern portion of the county should be managed separately than the more productive farmland regions of the south.

Northeast Region Wildlife Supervisor Jeff Pritzl said splitting the unit might be an option down the road, with a three-year review to begin this fall.

“There was some talk after the meeting that a good spot might be using County E as a boundary, roughly from Jacksonport to Egg Harbor,” Pritzl said. “That’s all speculation at this point, but it’ll be something up for discussion as we move along.”

After deliberating for about 20 minutes, Baudhuin — Door County’s Conservation Congress chairman who also chairs the CDAC, but has no vote — said the council voted 4-3 to amend its March meeting recommendation.

While dropping the antlerless-only request, the council is asking for a holiday gun antlerless deer hunt in late December, and “unlimited” free doe tags for bow, crossbow and gun hunters who want to use them to reduce the herd in their hunt areas.

Pritzl said the group will have to come up with a number, such as the three free tags they offered last year that led to a 20 percent increase in the county’s antlerless deer harvest.

“The success rate on filling all those tags we had out there last year was pretty small, so in reality if they ask for more than three, it’s more or less just sending a stronger message,” Pritzl said.

More than 200 Door County hunters also provided feedback online. A statewide summary by county is available via a link at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/cdac.html.