Economy not affecting Wis. hunting license sales

WAUSAU, Wis. - With two days to go before Wisconsin's deer hunt begins, license sales were on track to equal those sold a year ago, despite the sour economy, the state Department of Natural Resources said Thursday.

"If we do hold comparable to last year, it is a good thing," said Keith Warnke, a DNR deer expert. "We have been seeing a pretty small but steady decline since 2000."

Diane Brookbank, the agency's licensing director in Madison, said 510,527 licenses had been sold as of midnight Wednesday, meaning 119,000 more would have to be sold to match last year's opening day total.

"It's very doable," she said, pointing out that in past seasons, about 14 percent of the licenses were sold on the Friday before the hunt began.

The nine-day hunt opens just before sunrise Saturday. The DNR estimates up to 1.7 million deer roam the fields and woods, about the same as a year ago.

Compared with the same time a year ago, license sales were up 5 percent. Brookbank attributed the bump mostly to hunters buying licenses early for a four-day October hunt.

There's no evidence the economy is affecting sales, she said.

But Steve Wyss, owner of Hatfield's Sports Shop in western Wisconsin, said he has sold about 125 licenses, up at least 15 percent from a year ago, and he thinks the tougher economy might be part of the reason.

"It seems like everybody is back in the old grind with deer season — can't wait to get out," he said. "Maybe that's one more issue with the economy the way it is. They feel if they can kill a deer and put the meat in the freezer, that's less that they have to buy in the grocery store."

Gasoline prices dropping from more than $4 a gallon a few weeks ago to below $2 a gallon has helped business, Wyss added.

"The hunters have been coming in, and you see them picking up odds and ends whereas the bow hunters (earlier in the fall), they hesitated. They picked up items and set them back down," he said. "People are lot more relaxed. I am sure the gas prices have a lot to do with it."

Wyss, 48, said he'll be hunting Saturday but only in the morning.

"The economy being the way it is, I can't afford to hire someone to come in and watch the store," he said.

Wyss hopes he'll have shot a deer by then, anyway. "I have already gotten one with a bow, so if I get two deer a year, that's more than enough venison for me and my family," he said.

Deer hunting during tough times makes economic sense, Warnke said. For someone hunting in areas where the herd is overpopulated, a $24 resident deer license could provide an antlerless deer, a buck and, for another $2, another antlerless deer.

"Unfortunately, people are out of work and that does free up time to go hunting," he said.

According to the National Weather Service, the weather for opening day will be unseasonably cold — with morning temperatures from 5 to 12 degrees — before warming into the 30s during the day.

Such cold usually means two things — deer move more to keep warm and so do hunters, Warnke said.

"Hunters won't sit that long in that temperature," he said. "I rather doubt it is going to really discourage too many people from going deer hunting."

As of Wednesday, only far northern Wisconsin reported any snow cover, with 5 to 6 inches in the Mercer to Hurley area in Vilas and Iron counties, the DNR said.

Hunters generally like some snow on the ground because deer are easier to see and track.

The number of Wisconsin residents buying deer licenses fell from 645,000 in 2001 to 601,000 last year, Warnke said. DNR data shows the decline is among male hunters 25 to 45 — an age group that historically has had some of the strongest and most consistent hunting participation.

Why the state is losing those hunters is not exactly clear, Warnke said.

"National surveys will tell you people don't hunt or quit hunting because there is a lack of time," he said. "It has to do with the prioritization of your time. What are you doing instead of hunting? That is the thing that is not adequately explained."

The DNR sold 641,432 licenses to resident and nonresident gun hunters last season, down nearly 8,500 from three years ago. In 1999, nearly 700,000 licenses were sold for the gun hunt.

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On the Net:

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us