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#Post#: 115--------------------------------------------------
Wisconsin changes
DIR By: allmanav
Date: March 10, 2020, 11:44 am
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Proposed Hunting Reg Changes in Wisconsin
Posted: 09 Mar 2020 10:22 AM PDT
Whitetail hunting video maker Jeff Sturgis is up in arms about
some proposed hunting regulation changes in the state of
Wisconsin. Here’s a quick overview, along with my thoughts on
each point he makes.
Extending gun season from 9 days to 19 days.
To me, that is a good thing. More opportunity means more people
will hunt! Heck, in Florida and Georgia where I hunt, our gun
deer seasons are 2 months long or more, and we are far from
running out of deer. Those who wish to do so may bowhunt during
that time. Jeff just makes the assumption that more days won’t
matter to most hunters:
If you haven’t gotten your deer in the first few days, the
first nine days, what’s it really matter extending the season?
Well Jeff, it could matter quite a lot — especially for hunters
who choose to follow your suggestion to only hunt when
conditions are absolutely perfect. Say the stand conditions are
not right to hunt the trophy buck until after the first nine
days? You’re contradicting yourself by opposing this.
And if your proposed solution to a gun hunter not getting a buck
is, “Pick up a bow and go bowhunting,” you are not being
inclusive of all hunters — period.
Crossbow-Only in October
This would restrict crossbow users from hunting during part of
the archery season, and I agree with Jeff 100% that anytime
archery hunting is legal — especially with compound bows —
crossbows should also be allowed with no restrictions.
What I don’t agree with is Jeff’s assumption that gun hunters
are somehow bad and are jealous of crossbow hunters. Yeah… nope.
No Bow Tags Allowed During Gun Season
This silly change would mean no archery hunting would be allowed
during gun season. Talk about stupid! Jeff and I are in
agreement that this regulation should not be enacted.
No Hunting One Week Prior to Gun Season
I have to admit, this one hits home with me somewhat. In one WMA
I used to hunt every year, there were very limited hunts for
modern guns and muzzleloaders; each only got two weekends per
year. Later, they opened up archery hunting for long periods of
time before those hunts, and the first muzzleloader hunt — which
had always been a great hunt prior to that — became a non-event.
There’d been so much activity and pressure from archery hunters
that the rest of the hunts pretty much sucked. So allowing the
woods to “rest” before a popular hunt doesn’t sounds like a bad
idea to me.
That said, Jeff’s complaint is that this new reg would prevent
archers from hunting the rut. If so, that’s about as dumb as it
gets. Move gun season forward a week and allow all hunters to
hunt the rut! Duh.
But Jeff’s blind devotion to arrow hunters and his looking down
on gun hunters? I don’t like that one bit.
He also pitches the notion that pre-gun archery season is a good
time to get new hunters into the woods. I couldn’t disagree
more; no new hunter should begin with a bow in my opinion.
Newbies should begin with something less restrictive and less
difficult… then move on to archery hunting when/if they feel the
need for an increased challenge.
So: I agree the rut should be hunted, but I disagree that it
should be archery-only.
Jeff is Also Wrong About…
Jeff points out that last year’s gun season opened on November
23, when the rut was winding down, thus reducing the number of
bucks that were moving around for gun hunters to shoot. Then he
makes the following statement:
That’s a good thing.
Ummm… nope. It’s really not. Claiming that will preserve more
bucks for next year doesn’t help anything, it just makes him
seem out of touch. Guess what, Jeff: Hunters want to kill deer.
Above all, we want to see deer when we go hunting. Arguing that
it’s good for hunters to see fewer deer is just dumb. If
anything, you’ve just made a fine case for opening gun hunting
earlier.
But Jeff strongly opposes giving all hunters equal access to the
rut, saying “God forbid!” about allowing gun hunting during the
rut. So much for his claim that he supports all types of
hunters.
Show up at the Meetings
Whether you agree with me or with Jeff, if you hunt in Wisconsin
you can have some input. They will be holding a total of 72
public meetings to discuss these proposed regulations, so show
up and let your voice be heard.
Here’s hoping gun season will be moved to encompass the rut —
and that archery hunters will also be allowed to hunt during
that time. Reserving the rut exclusively for bowhunters (or gun
hunters) just isn’t right.
Anyhow, here’s the video. Let us know what you think in the
comments below.
The post Proposed Hunting Reg Changes in Wisconsin appeared
first on AllOutdoor.com.
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