Wolves

Sat every evening last Friday through Sunday, did not see a deer. This same spot last year had tons of does/fawns and multiple bucks running around. This year only 3 different deer on the cam, an impressive buck and a fawnless doe included. Sunday night I got into the stand and maybe made a bit more noise than usual, so I blew my grunt call a couple times, not even 5 minutes later a wolf came trotting out of the brush behind at 10yrds. Could this be the reason for lack of deer on my camera? Should I find a new spot? Needless to say I’ve hunted a lot of hours in Sawyer county and never have seen a wolf, I left my tree stand a bit before dark that night with my 357.  Closer  than ever.

First of all, 100 deer per square mile is not an exaggeration. There are fields down here where it’s not uncommon to see 50-75 deer in the evenings. It’s the perfect recipe of rich deer hunters and anti hunters. The land is expensive compared to northern Wisconsin no matter what. Almost every deer hunting landowner down here thinks they are Bill Winke. They own 40+ acres that they paid 7k+/acre. They own kubota tractors with all the attachments and put up buildings for them, so 6 year old Johnny can see 50 deer a night sitting in a red neck blind over a food plot. Meanwhile half the deer have cwd and are staggering through the residential neighborhoods during the day like zombies. There are no predators. We have coyotes up the A, but they do nothing on the herd. The only predators are us, and there’s not many of us left down here. The rich landowners are not hunters, the are entitled brats. I am in Oneida county at my cabin as I write. Spent the day hunting. Saw deer, wolf tracks, grouse and woodcock. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

"If we had wolves down here around Madison, we probably wouldn't have an issue with CWD. "

That is the biggest falsehood being spread around by the pro-wolf gang.  There is no correlation that wolf presence affects CWD.  Prions live through the wolf digestive tract, so it isn't like wolves are somehow removing prions from the landscape.

Nobody said anything about wanting 100 deer per square mile, if you want to talk about exaggerating that's a game winner there.

When the deer hunting property down there gets to $400 to $500 an acre you can claim it has plummeted as well.

Excellent point Fish Sandwich.  Lack of predation can be as bad as over predation

I have been hunting hard in Jackson & Clark county for over 10 years. 

I have seen a wolf in person in Jackson County. And now I have a lease in Clark County. 

The first 2 years on my current lease,  I didn't hear wolves,  or had any pictures on my cameras. 

2 years ago I began hearing wolves on a regular basis. And starting this year,  I have had 1 collared wolf on camera. Plus now at least 2 other confirmed wolves on camera. Thus was confirmed by a current wolf expert at the DNR!

So, YES, this is becoming a BIGGER PROBLEM. 

 There simply needs to be a yearly hunting season for the wolf!!!

Please DNR & Courts,  let's make this happen quickly!

We are losing hunters & some quality deer hunting on many public lands!

Big Mac 

If we had wolves down here around Madison, we probably wouldn't have an issue with CWD. People watch too much TV.  It's not natural to have 100 deer per square mile. Deer hunting land value has already plummeted down here. Not many people want to risk eating the meat anymore. Watch what happens in Iowa and all the other places where deer density is way too high. Be glad you have a balance up there. 

S S S

They can't see them from Madison so its okay yet. Wait until their property gets torn up and values plummet, then maybe they will open their eyes.

having hunted northern Sawyer county for the last 45 years , the family has hunted the same area for the last 83 years. when the deer drop below 7 deer per square mile wolf pack will move to where there is food, lone wolves will remain, deer populations will return in 4 to5 years then the Dnr will shoot all the does and cycle starts over, have  seen a number of wolves while hunting, have also had members of group gowled at. we now all carry while bowing hunting

GO2001 hits the nail on the head.  Farmers already have a 1000 strikes against them with low prices and high expenses.
Listening to NPR about some months ago and they took a caller on the air to voice her opinion against wolf hunting and stated that no livestock have been recorded to be killed by wolves in recent decades.   This is how I love being entertained by Public Radio so much where educated people misrepresent the facts and not be held accountable.  No one mentioned the stress put on livestock and the resulting economic loss by presence of wolves.  Loss of appetite, loss of animal weight, stillborn offspring, the resulting imbalance of hormones in the body resulting in lower quality meat, (very important if youre an organic farmer).   Of course the statement by the guest was false and allowed on the air as farm animals in Price and Clark counties have been verified as killed by wolves and I did a search at the time of the Clark County kill there was no mention of it by the larger newspapers in the state.

I feel other hunters pain when no deer are seen when the area was once a good place to hunt. I hunted Vilas County for 25 years giving it up due to the guys who slaughtered the does when countless tags were given out. The last 2 years hunting the area I saw several wolves. It was my first time seeing wolves in the wild which was a bittersweet experience. I hear the last count is approximately 900 wolves in the State of WI. I would think it's twice or three times that number. The DNR is not reporting accurate numbers to save themselves more pressure from hunters. I have first hand knowledge of a retired DNR employee who conveyed to others in the State of the growing Wolf population. They were told that through his work experience and knowledge that is something wasn't done to curtail the wolf population they would be in every Wisconsin County. From what I hear that has occurred already with sightings by both hunters and non hunters. I am not sure what the answer is other than having a season again and to continue a yearly wolf season. I am pretty much done with deer hunting these days but feel for the ones who make it a yearly venture, especially in the big Northwoods where I once hunted and loved to see deer roaming the woods.

I'll second what Trophyhunter said.  Until all tools for management are restored, you've got to think outside the box and sometimes take matters into your own hands.  And they aren't just impacting your deer hunting.  They are negatively impacting farming, elk reintroduction, pet owners, bird hunters, etc. 

Your deer sightings probably would be back to normal much faster if you would of took advantage having the wolf at 10 yards

We used to hunt in the National Forest in Forest County and if we had wolves on the camera heard them or some one seen one the deer were gone for a least a few days. That is how things started but as the years went on it seemed like there was more wolf sign and less and less deer sign. I would take a walk in the spring and would find wolf kills more often and now areas where I used to be able to find 20 scrapes and rubs now I can't hardly find a deer track. I often see wolf tracks bigger then my hand, just think how many deer a wolf that size has killed over the years?? As one DNR employee told me a few years ago, after a bad winter lots of areas up north have only about 10 deer per sq mile. An average wolf needs 20 deer a year to survive, an average wolf pack has at least 5 wolves in it, so do the math!!!! That is probably the major reason we have almost given up deer hunting in the big woods.  

I doubt your spot is permanently ruined. Obviously the wolf presence isn’t helping, but unless there is an established pack in your immediate area it will likely move on. I’ve gotten pretty used to hunting around wolves in Oneida County, and while they may temporarily blow out a spot it doesn’t usually stay that way forever.