MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin wildlife officials want to impose buck-only restrictions in only one county this fall, a sign the state’s northern herd has regenerated.
The Department of Natural Resources plans to ask its board on May 23 to approve a plan that would make Iron County the only county where hunters could kill only bucks.
Buck-only restrictions protect does so they can give birth, leading to a larger herd in those areas. The board designated Ashland, Eau Claire, Iron and Vilas counties as buck-only last year.
Citizen advisory councils in Ashland and Price counties wanted buck-only restrictions this year out of fears a mid-April snowstorm led to higher deer mortality.
But DNR Secretary Dan Meyer wrote in a memo to the board that only portions of each county experienced a severe winter.
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