FAQs: Special Edition #9 - Gun-Deer Hunt
November 24, 2012
By: Bureau of Law Enforcement
Welcome to another special edition of a popular Warden Wire feature -- the Frequently Asked Questions. During the days before and during the November 17 - 25 gun-deer hunting season in Wisconsin, Warden Wire is publishing Frequently Asked Questions dealing specifically with this deer hunt season. This is the ninth installment of these special edition FAQs taken by the DNR Call Center. The Call Center is staffed daily, 7 a.m. - 10 p.m., and offers bilingual service in Spanish and Hmong. The number is 1-888-936-7463.
Question 1: Let’s say I am hunting on state-owned public land and I come across an unoccupied tree stand. This tree stand doesn’t have a DNR Customer Number or name and address listed on it, could I or another person take it for personal use?
Answer: No. It is still private property of another and a person cannot take or remove someone else’s property without the owner’s permission. Also, if it was left unattended and was not displaying the owner’s DNR customer ID number or their name & address, it is an illegally placed stand and any person found using that illegal stand could be subject to a citation for hunting from an illegal stand. A person can, however, set up their stand or hunt near someone else’s stand if that stand is unattended.
Question 2: Where should a DNR Customer Number/name and address be located on a tree stand so it can be clearly visible to law enforcement officers and others?
Answer: This information simply needs to be written in the English language and attached to the tree stand in a manner so it is clearly visible to a person standing on the ground, and kept legible at all times. So, if it is a ladder stand, placing this information on a sign, label or tag of some sort attached to the ladder at eye level would meet this requirement. If it is a climber-type stand, it is likely the stand will be located near the ground when not in use, and the information can simply be placed in a clearly visible location on the stand itself.
Question 3: Does a hunter safety course a person took while growing up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula meet Wisconsin’s requirement to have completed trapper education in order to be able to purchase a license that authorizes trapping in Wisconsin? Does it make a difference if the person is still a Michigan resident or now a Wisconsin resident?
Answer: Michigan’s Trapper Education course that began in 2009 would be acceptable (they utilize similar content to ours). If a person took the Michigan course prior to 2009, it would not count for purposes of purchasing a Wisconsin trapping license. However, it is currently not legal for a resident of Michigan to purchase a Wisconsin trapping license, because the State of Michigan does not allow a Wisconsin resident to purchase a Michigan trapping license. If Wisconsin resident had completed a Michigan trapper education course since 2009, that course would qualify the Wisconsin resident to purchase a Wisconsin trapping license.
Question 4: I completed Basic Training in a branch of the U.S. military. I am exempt from hunter safety certification for purposes of purchasing a Wisconsin hunting license. Yet every year, when I buy my hunting license, I have to show my military identification card. Why doesn’t the system save my military exemption information?
Answer: When a license agent enters the military exemption information, or out-of-state hunter education numbers, on the license terminal, the information does not load into the permanent customer record. If a customer wants to have their customer record permanently changed to reflect they’ve completed basic training in the U.S. military, or completed hunter safety in another state, they must present their military identification card or out-of-state hunter safety certificate to the DNR so the document can be verified. Customers can do this by either presenting the document in person at a DNR service center, or mailing or faxing a copy to the DNR along with their customer ID number. Customer Service staff will review the document and make the necessary changes in the customer record. Once this is done, the license terminal will no longer prompt the license agent to ask the customer to present his or her hunter education certificate. (Copies can be mailed to: DNR Customer Service, P.O. Box 7924, Madison, WI 53707; faxes can be sent to 608-264-6130.)
Question 5: Where can I find Warden Wire's first eight installments of the Special Edition FAQs about the gun-deer season?
Answer: For past installments and to subscribe to this free e-mail news service from the conservation wardens, go to the DNR website, dnr.wi.gov, and search Warden Wire. Then, search for FAQs:Special Edition - Gun-Deer Hunt. To subscribe to Warden Wire, scroll to the bottom of the Warden Wire page and click on the red mail box next to the word, Subscribe. You may get the service in your e-mail or by text message or both.