Hunters overflow DNR hearing

GRAND CHUTE - The 2009 gun-deer season is less that four weeks away, but a DNR proposal for the 2010 season is already drawing fire. The agency is considering extending the gun-deer hunt to two weeks next year, but many hunters aren't in favor.

They came out early and in force, for a Monday hearing in Grand Chute, that grew heated in the halls.

"You can't get into the room for the presentation," Ryan Wagner of Appleton said. "They knew people were coming from Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, yet here we stand."

Hunters say they came to share their views and gather information, but even those who arrived ten minutes early couldn't get inside.

"I don't think the DNR is real prepared for anything, I mean I don't think they count deer right," Tom Becker of Appleton said.

And as they jockeyed for position, hunters outside the small room at Fox Valley Technical College said they feel the DNR can't count people either. The hearing was one of a number the agency is holding across the state to gather input on a proposal that could extend the gun-deer season to 16 days.

"We have suspended Earn a Buck, but there are some units that are still going to need some type of herd control, so this is about alternatives to achieving herd control without Earn a Buck," Wildlife Biologist Jeff Pritzl with the DNR said.

The DNR pulled the controversial program last spring, but the agency's alternative is drawing mixed reviews. Some feel it breaks with tradition and infringes on the bow season.

"It stinks, it takes all the bow hunting away from us in the early part of the rut, puts more people in the woods," a hunter said.

Others feel it's an opportunity that lengthens the sport they love.

"I don't see why you can't extend it a week afterward," Mike Allgeyer of Kaukauna said. "Yes, you may not shoot as many deer, but if you're a die-hard hunter you're going to go out in the woods and you're going to hunt those late season deer."

The DNR tried to accommodate the large crowd with a speaker system outside the hearing-room, but many hunters still left frustrated. The 2009 gun-deer season will be the traditional nine days, with no Earn a Buck. This was the second and final chance for area hunters to offer their input. The Natural Resources Board will take up the issue and finalize a proposal for the legislature at its December meeting.