Talk surrounds 16-day hunt proposal

BROWN COUNTY - The 2009 gun deer season brought hunter complaints about low sightings. The DNR's harvest numbers from opening weekend confirmed that, and now that the 16 day proposal is a week old, hunters are talking.

"I'm opposed to the sixteen day hunt," says Dave Haese. "I mean if you can't drop a buck in nine days, ten days, you're not going to do it in sixteen."

"I think it's silly. But, the DNR can't make people pull the trigger, and they can encourage people to shoot does. But, something I was a taught a long, long time ago is that when you shoot a doe, you're potentially killing three deer for the next season. Nine days is long enough," says Karl Muenkle.

The DNR held eleven public hearings to discuss the topic and more than 1600 attended. Another sixty-five hundred people submitted comments online. The biggest concern was that the deer herd will be over harvested with an extended season.

"As much as there was a lot of input that said we don't want any changes, there was input from groups that we've worked with for a long time that represent a lot of hunters interest groups," says DNR Regional Wildlife Biologist Jeff Pritzl. "They acknowledged a sixteen day season as an alternative to earn a buck."

"I'm against the sixteen day," says Brandon Huebner. "I'm a traditionalist, I like the nine day. It brings a lot of people together. People are used to it. It's a strong tradition. I just don't care for a sixteen day season."

Should the proposal be approved, the sixteen day gun deer season will be a two year experiment beginning next year.