MADISON, Wis. (AP) - State wildlife officials want to reduce the number of counties where hunters can shoot only bucks this fall, a sign the herd is beginning to grow.
Department of Natural Resources officials plan to ask their board next week to adopt a fall hunting structure that calls for making 10 counties buck-only. The move is designed to protect does so they can give birth, leading to a larger herd in those areas. The agency designated 19 counties as buck-only in 2014 and 12 in 2015.
The agency also has proposed an antlerless-only, nine-day holiday gun hunt between Christmas and New Year’s in 13 counties in the southern and central farmland zones.
The DNR’s board is scheduled to vote on the season structure during a meeting Tuesday in Madison.
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