The Affordable Deer Act
If you like your buck….you can keep your buck
I did not know about this slight change until reading the Wisconsin deer hunting regulations thoroughly this week before disappearing into the forest with bow and arrow. Apparently, President Obama has come to an agreement with the Wisconsin DNR.
“Let’s say you shoot your buck…and you like your buck…well that’s just fine. You can keep your buck,” our leader states on page 5. “But…now, now let’s say you climb down outta that tree and you go up to tag your buck. But, he’s not that good after all. It’s not really what you wanted. Well… just release him….like one of them there…uh, huskies…or muskies you have up there.”
“We’ll send you a bigger buck with bigger horns. Just send us your social security number, your bank account access information, your best deer rifle, your first born daughter…and maybe $4000. We’re going to take them anyway, right? I watch Braveheart. ..when I’m not golfing. Us Noblemens have a few things in common. We know what’s best for you. We usually tell you some version of the truth. And we don’t want the same healthcare that we know is best for you. Thank you.”
Like any other certified Wisconsin outdoor nut these days, I’m spending many hours in the tree. Some of you aquatic nuts, I realize, are doing your freezing in the boat. Same premise. You’re looking for something special. We take our portable stands on our back and we hunt pieces of northern Wisconsin and southern Wisconsin, waiting for Mr. Big during these precious but too fleeting days of the Whitetail Rut. Despite tough times in the North Country, we’re optimistic. The shotgun is packed, and so is Micah. When the buck goes down this year, the late duck hunting and the search for the fat northern mallards of Canada begins in earnest. Even if we don’t score the buck, the dogs will get in their grouse work as we scout, pushing the envelope further in the never ending search for the ultimate deer stand.
While scouting a Vilas County backcountry swamp 10 years ago in November Ellis dug
this rack out of the ice with his knife three feet apart.
We here, the seven or eight hunters who annually make our camp in Vilas County where hunting has been poor these past too many years, have never baited. We learn bedding, travel and feeding areas on public land like isolated acorn stands, natural funnels or swamp edges, we spend time there and we move again. When times are good, we individually and collectively come in at about a 50 percent success rate with bow and gun. When times are bad, well, we have not hung a deer in six seasons. I did pass on a spike last year at 20 yards. It was just so good to see him. We appreciate the buck-only regulations here these past several seasons, the elimination of antlerless only hunts, and look forward to a reasonable chance to hunt hard, pay our dues, and occasionally, fasten our tags again.
This Green County buck skedaddled in front of Ellis and his dog pheasant hunting wild birds in the nineties.
But oh, these first weeks of November bring their buck stories don’t they? You remember those bucks that came oh so close that you will remember them for a lifetime. Some of you only need to turn around and see him now every day on your wall. I have two such rifle kills from public land. At age 55, I have four such bowhunting memories spanning the decades; a Rock County buck, two in Vilas, and one in Waukesha. Deer so big I will only spread my hands so far apart to show their width and height to close friends who know I don’t lie. I never loosened an arrow. I had no shots. But each of those deer hang on the wall of my mind and always will. It’s why we do this.
I am physically ready, should the shot come. We have been shooting routinely with broadheads from elevated stands. I hope I am mentally ready, should that special shot come. Hunting from elevated stands at the range is not the same as hearing the distant crack before seeing the rack. But you know that don’t you?
As for you? This week, may you meet the Memory.
Our November-December issue of On Wisconsin Outdoors is posted on this website on this “Homepage”. I believe it’s our best issue. We have hardwater and open water fishing, lots of deer and bear stories and lots of photos and humor. 50,000 copies are also being distributed as you read this, to the 550 locations also listed on the homepage. Thank you to all of our advertisers. And thank you for remembering our advertisers who allow you to take this paper home bi-monthly at no cost.
And thanks to you, too, for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. Take a look around. We think you’ll like it here, and everything new we’ve posted.
OWO writer and super guide Phil Schweik found big muskies and walleyes in the Wausau area. See his story under ‘Inland Fishing’. Find other great reads this week under ‘Outdoor News’, 'Firearms’, and ‘Deer Hunting’.
Shoot straight.
Dick Ellis