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Special deer hunt in fall to aid Wisconsin research project

Barry Adams | Wisconsin State Journal 7 hrs ago

Special deer hunt set
A two-day deer season this fall will be held within the Sandhill Wildlife Area in Babcock for the first time since 1968. The hunt is part of a state Department of Natural Resources research project within the fenced area.

JERRY DAVIS


Barry Adams | Wisconsin State Journal

A special two-day deer hunting season is being offered this fall to help scientists better understand deer density.

The state Department of Natural Resources has announced that archery hunters can apply to take part in a deer hunt on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at the Sandhill Wildlife Area in Babcock in Wood County in central Wisconsin. Applications for the hunt, the first in the wildlife area since 1968, are due Aug. 14.

This hunt, designed to thin the herd, is open to all licensed archery hunters and is restricted to archery equipment, which includes crossbows and vertical bows. A limited number of applicants will be accepted with successful applicants required to review the special hunting rules and regulations. Hunters will be issued two harvest permits, one either-sex and another for an antlerless deer.



The DNR is in the midst of a four-year study that started in 2021 to assess and develop methodologies for providing accurate estimates of small deer populations using trail cameras.


“Recently, camera-based methods have been developed to estimate wildlife population size, but these methods require accurate estimates of movement rates and assume that animals move randomly relative to camera placement,” the DNR wrote in its description of the study.


“Since animals typically do not move randomly and cameras are usually strategically deployed (on game trails) the latter assumption is problematic and limits the applicability of such methods. We are assessing alternate methods that could allow trail cameras to better estimate deer populations.”

The 9,150-acre wildlife area was named for a series of gently rolling sandy ridges crisscrossing the property and lies within the bed of ancient Glacial Lake Wisconsin, an expansive region of flat, marshy land interspersed with forests in central Wisconsin southwest of Wisconsin Rapids. The property is managed by a team of DNR wildlife technicians and biologists and is surrounded by a 9-foot-high deer-proof fence, providing a contained environment ideal for wildlife research.

Special deer hunt set
A special two-day bow hunting season will be held Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 in the Sandhill Wildlife Area. The 9,150-acre area is managed by a team of DNR wildlife technicians and biologists and is surrounded by a 9-foot-high deer-proof fence.


The methods of the deer density study, according to researchers, will address drawbacks of existing camera-based approaches by testing alternative methods in a well-studied wildlife area. The project will also provide recommendations about the number and distribution of cameras, duration of sampling and the number of monitored deer required to obtain reasonable population estimates.

https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/newsroom/release/81191

Link to DNR press release, which has a link to application.

Not sure this is accurate as I personally know people that took their kids there on special youth hunts…maybe this is a first for an archery hunt held there?