Wisconsin’s deer
December 11th, 2005 by Administrator
Wisconsin’s deer donations to food pantries decrease - MILWAUKEE - Hunters have donated fewer deer to a state program that provides venison to food pantries this year, even though they killed more deer during Wisconsin’s nine-day gun season.
People donated 6,332 deer through Dec. 1, compared with 9,584 at about the same time last year and 10,938 for all of 2004, state Department of Natural Resources spokesman Bob Manwell said Wednesday. Last year’s number was a record for the program, which is now in its sixth year.
Chris Johnson, owner of Johnson’s Sausage Shoppe in Rio, Wis., attributed the drop to the absence of a state program called earn-a-buck that required hunters in certain areas last year to shoot an antlerless deer before killing a buck.
Manwell said he believes hunters are more likely to keep the meat from a buck for themselves to eat — hunters killed 14,500 more bucks and 5,100 fewer antlerless deer than last year.
Overall, hunters killed an estimated 312,519 whitetail deer during the gun season that ended Nov. 27, up 9,357 from a year ago.
Lee Dudek, founder and program coordinator for the 11-year-old Hunt for the Hungry program in northeastern Wisconsin, also has seen a drop in donations.
People had donated 1,280 deer through Monday, only about half of last year’s total, though many of the animals were much larger than those from last year, said Dudek, whose program is a major partner in the state’s program.
“We’re thankful for whatever the hunters provide,” he said.
Craig Robbins, director of Paul’s Pantry in Green Bay, said the decreased amount of venison is coming at a time when his group is getting 10 percent more requests for help this year than in 2004.
“One reason for the increase is higher gasoline and heating costs,” he said.
To help cover the shortfall, his pantry is urging hunters to donate any leftover older venison in their freezers, Robbins said.
Pantry volunteer Sue Gascin, 38, of De Pere, Wis., said she and her husband regularly get venison from the program.
“It’s a very important program,” she said.
Among the avid participants in the program are Orville Giese, 58, of Bowler, Wis. He said he and his seven children donated five or six animals this year.
“We all like to hunt, but none of us like to eat it,” he said.
Hunters have another chance to shoot an antlerless deer Thursday through Sunday in Zone T deer management units south of Wisconsin Highway 8. Zone T units are those the DNR says are overpopulated with deer and where wildlife managers want more deer killed.
The state muzzleloader gun deer season ended Wednesday, and the late archery season continues until Jan. 3.
A big game specialist for the agency, Keith Warnke, said the DNR will not make a recommendation to the agency’s board until March on whether to have an earn-a-buck program in 2006. Earn-a-buck is aimed at helping control deer populations by getting hunters to kill less-coveted does.
The DNR pays butcher shops $50 for each deer processed in the state donation program. The money comes from a $1 surcharge on hunting licenses.
BY JOHN HARTZELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS