By BRIAN LEAHY
of The Gazette
Forget about the fouled-up presidential election and the Packers' troubles. It's time to talk deer hunting.
Wisconsin's nine-day gun deer season starts Saturday, so hunters have been discussing if there will be snow on the ground and if bucks will still be in the rut. Nonhunters may scoff at these topics, but they should realize deer hunting is big business in these parts. A recent study determined hunters plug $300 million into Wisconsin's economy in deer hunting-related expenditures.
One place getting a piece of that pie is the One Stop Sport Shop in downtown Stevens Point, where workers were busy selling last minute items to hunters, such as John Adams of Stevens Point. Adams stopped in the store Tuesday afternoon to buy a license for his first-ever hunting trip.
"It's just something I always wanted to do and finally took the initiative to do it," Adams said.
He'll be hunting with a friend's father near Helenville, in southern Wisconsin.
Deer hunting is as much a social event as it is a way for people to fill their freezers with nutritious venison. While many local hunters will stay in Portage County, others, like Adams, will travel to different corners of the state to meet up with friends.
With the herd at a record 1.7 million deer, Department of Natural Resources officials encourage hunters to shoot does to keep the population from getting any bigger. Hunting is the main tool the DNR uses to control deer numbers. About three-fourths of deer management units were 20 percent above population goals, so they are Zone T units offering additional antlerless deer hunting opportunities. Every hunter purchasing a deer license received two free antlerless only permits to use in any of the Zone T units.
Given there will be an estimated 650,000 hunters in the state's fields and forests, it's a statistical probability that some of them will be bad apples and break the law.
"Fortunately, the majority of the people who partake in the nine-day deer season are not in this group," said Roy Kubisiak, Portage County DNR conservation warden. "It's a very small percentage who are responsible for hunting violations. The legal hunters follow the hunting regulations, basic gun safety rules and their main goal is to have fun and enjoy the outdoors. The actual harvest of a deer is just a bonus for them."
A couple of new laws take effect this season. First, hunting hours have changed - the state is now split in northern and southern areas to better reflect the differences in daylight between north and south. Depending on where they are east-to-west in the state, hunters must still add a predetermined number of minutes onto the hunting hours in both areas. The new hours aren't in the 2000-01 hunting regulations pamphlet, but they are available on page 11 of this week's County Fare and the DNR's Web site at www.dnr.state.wi.us.
Those hunters who use a handgun, instead of a rifle or shotgun, have a new rule governing what type of pistol or revolver they can use. Hunters can use any handgun chambered for a .22-caliber centerfire or larger caliber as long as it has a barrel five-and-a-half inches or longer as measured from the firing pin.
"What the law is designed for is the typical hunting revolver," Kubisiak said. "It simplifies the language that was in the book."
Kubisiak and Barry Meister are the only two DNR wardens in Portage County. To give them a hand in apprehending violators, people can call the Sheriff's Department dispatch center or the DNR's anonymous hotline, 1-800-TIP-WDNR (1-800-847-9367). Carrying a paper and pencil afield so you can accurately record back tag numbers is also recommended.
Kubisiak also reminds hunters to make sure the blaze orange clothing they wear isn't faded or dirty.