The Natural Resources Board has approved new deer population objectives for a three year period. DNR big game ecologist Kevin Wallenfang says the objectives are the result of collaboration between the DNR and newly formed County Deer Advisory Councils. Wallenfang says the deer population numbers are based more on what people are willing to tolerate rather than targeting a specific number. Wallenfang says not surprisingly hunters want to see more deer. “We will now spend the next three years trying to achieve that goal. So if their goal was more deer we can set harvest strategies to achieve that,” Wallenfang told AM 1170 WFDL’s Between the Lines program. Wallenfang says overall the state’s deer population is down. Beginning this month the advisory councils will reconvene to develop antlerless quota recommendations to help move the deer herd toward each council’s population objectives.
