DNR Spring Hearings To Feature Hunting Issues

Thousands of people interested in wildlife issues are expected to vote Monday night at annual spring hearings around the state.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Wisconsin Conservation Congress hearings will once again be held in every county. DNR wildlife policy specialist Scott Loomans says this year, there seems to be a fair amount of interest in a question that asks whether hunters should be able to start leaving deer stands and blinds up overnight on DNR-managed lands. Loomans says some people like a current law that prevents people from reserving spots during the entire gun deer season, “but we do have an aging demographic of hunters and a lot of people think it would really be convenient to be able to put your stand out once and then just walk out out to it in the morning, [and] leave it there again in the evening.”

Loomans says another deer hunting-related question covers whether rifles should be allowed statewide. With wolf hunting still much in the news, there’s an advisory question that asks whether dogs should be used during future wolf hunts. The locations of Monday night’s hearings are on the Wisconsin DNR website.