City-Times Staff

The Natural Resources Board and Governor Walker have authorized a new deer program and regulations that will be in place prior to the 2014 deer hunting season. 

“This is a major milestone in the Deer Trustee Report implementation process and the future of deer management in Wisconsin,” said Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp. “Throughout the process, DNR has been the ears while partner groups, tribes, and the public have been the voices.”

The rules revise deer hunting season frameworks, management units, and revise antlerless deer hunting permits. The changes provide additional opportunities to evaluate herd size and impacts in counties in addition to using population models to estimate the size of the herd, simplifies state park deer hunting regulations, and establishes a Deer Management Assistance Program. Some of those changes won’t be implemented until the 2015 hunting season.

The changes involve public outreach to better inform hunters and landowners prior to deer season. From here, the department will proceed with development of draft permanent rules with anticipated public review and Natural Resources Board action in 2014.

For more information, go to dnr.wi.gov and search keywords “deer trustee report.”