Posted: 09.16.2010

Hunters will take to their tree stands Saturday as Wisconsin's 79th bow deer season opens.

The state Department of Natural Resources says bow hunting's
popularity has grown dramatically over the last 40 years. In 1996
just more than 85,000 licensed bow hunters killed about 6,000 deer.
In 1981, nearly 174,000 hunters took more than 29,000 deer.
Last year, more than 260,000 hunters harvested upward of 87,000 deer.
The DNR cautions hunters that 19 northeastern Wisconsin
management units are buck-only for both bow and gun hunters this
year to help grow the herd.

State wildlife officials say they'll allow hunters to move dead deer out of the chronic wasting disease zone beginning next month.

Hunters and motorists currently can move carcasses and body
parts from the zone within the zone and into management units next
to it. Beginning Oct. 1, they'll be permitted to move the bodies
and parts out of the zone if they take them to a licensed meat
processor or taxidermist within 72 hours of registration.

Department of Natural Resources officials say they made the
change because processors and taxidermists must follow strict waste
disposal rules, negating the risk of contamination. They say they
also want to let hunters process and mount their deer closer to
home.

The CWD management zone includes parts of Adams, Crawford,
Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Juneau,
Kenosha, Lafayette, Marquette, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk,
Vernon, Walworth and Waukesha counties.
 

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