The Decline of Our Heritage
Publisher note: The following columns were edited for length in our May-June issue and are printed here in their entirety including; DNR News Release warning against harassment of tribal spearers and Wisconsin resident letter of response to state lawmakers. And, The Decline of Our Heritage- Perspectives of a Northern Wisconsin hunter, by Bill Olson.
Perspectives of a Northern Wisconsin hunter
Better days. In the 1980s, Olson camp hunters capture a photo on Siskowit Lake with deer taken during the November gun season. Like many throughout Wisconsin, Bayfield County hunters hope tradition and heritage can be passed down despite a continued decline in deer numbers and the overall hunting experience.
The date is Saturday, November 18, 2023 and the time is 11 am. I have just returned from an opening day Wisconsin deer hunt in Northern Bayfield County, to our cabin on Siskowit Lake about four miles south of Cornucopia, Wisconsin. Today marks my 58th year of hunting from this cabin, our "camp" established by my father shortly after he returned from World War II with the help of his father.
Family and friends who have enjoyed this traditional Thanksgiving week hunt over decades continue to make new memories that add to a wonderful history where new, young, hunters join older ones and the wondrous heritage continues. Over the years, the techniques and equipment have changed, and the quantities of the deer herd have gone both up and down. Older hunters have certainly seen this and are well aware of these fluctuations.
However, I am concerned about several things we are seeing in the field and how we now approach hunting. Technology, baiting, access to land, management principles, wolf populations, severe winter indexes, female deer quotas only begin to touch on these concerns. Can young hunters perceive hunting as a quality experience if they don’t see a deer, let alone register one?
My comments are not meant to be confrontational with hunter, DNR or law enforcement. We comprise the same team. There is never an "I" on any team that works.
As examples here in the far north that invite controversy and ensure opposing voices, baiting, CWD, wolf expansion, black bears, fewer hunters, ten-year-old hunters, party tags, T-Zones, Earn-A-Buck, winter severity indexes, logging, anti-hunters, food plots, yarding areas, insurance company influences specific to deer vehicular collisions, evolving from in-person to computer deer registration, private versus public land considerations, side-by-side access, cellular cameras, changing climate, multiple firearms and archery choices and harvest seasons from mid-September into January, and changing zone management to a Bayfield County Zone. Numerous factors influence the Wisconsin deer hunt.
Yet, it is absurd to manage the White River Basin near Mason, Wisconsin the same as Cornucopia. The biology is totally different; farm-edge to deep and high canopy forest. North of US Highway 2 on a west-to-east grid from Port Wing to Red Cliff, Wisconsin should and must become its own zone. North of that line lies the Lake Superior Shoreline.
So as a member of the team, I am writing this to initiate a think-tank conversation that ensures the future of this wonderful tradition for all of our sons, daughters and grandchildren. With respect to the Wisconsin DNR, as part of the "team," your job is to manage, protect, license and police the hunt here. Make the rules and we will follow them, with few exceptions. A more transparent approach as our team leader would be intelligent. Produce a document available per each zone when a hunter purchases a license.
What is the data per territory that stimulates decisions? How many deer and wolves are there per square mile? Factors should include harvest data from the previous season combined with winter severity concerns. Scrutinize carefully public huntable land north of Highway 2 in Bayfield County. Deer herd numbers here are severely low.
It is noteworthy that at noon on opening day, most of our 15 hunters had checked in and we had seen a total of 3 deer. We are covering approximately a 12-mile radius from where I write. The lack of deer sightings is not based on warm weather, lack of snow, waxing moon, rutting deer or any other factor. The deer are not here. We all utilize cameras that hunt 24 hours per day. My son spent 60-hours primarily bow hunting to see one small doe from a stand that has historically provided many deer over many years.
It is now January 10, 2024. The sentiment from so many other hunting groups that I have talked with is consistent with our own, and they are all voicing the same concerns; the season was again horrendous, and deer numbers virtually non-existent. Since the gun season, I have spent significant time driving back roads in our unique territory, often following snowfalls. Baiting deer with corn is done, and any expectation of seeing tracks as in the past as deer move to find food sources is not to be. Wolf tracks, not deer, tell the story of what lives here.
Many people who love this area have significant investments in cabins. Of many reasons to be here, handing down our rich tradition of deer hunting remains prominent. We are not collectively angry. But we do know this team can manage a better product. This is our heritage, from businesses that welcome and depend on the hunter, to our families and friends who appreciate venison on the plate.
Let’s see what we can accomplish together.
BILL OLSON