Article submitted by Josh Jackl, DNR Wildlife Biologist for Winnebago County

WINNEBAGO COUNTY DEER ADVISORY COUNCIL

The Winnebago County Deer Advisory Council (CDAC) will be having their first spring meeting to set preliminary deer season framework on March 28 at 7 pm. Each county in Wisconsin has a County Deer Advisory Council to provide input and recommendations to the department on deer management within their county. Councils work with local DNR staff to schedule meetings, provide community outreach and an opportunity for public input, review population data and deer impacts on forests and agriculture, develop recommendations on county population objectives and create annual antlerless harvest quotas. The meeting will be held on Zoom and the link for the meeting and lots of other deer-related information can be found here:  https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/CDACFind.aspx. At this meeting the CDAC will consider recommendations on holiday hunts, extended archery seasons and antlerless deer quotas. Public input will be requested on the CDAC’s preliminary recommendations between April 9-15. Then the second spring meeting to finalize the preliminary recommendations after public input consideration will be May 2 at 7 pm. It is likely that the 2nd meeting will be held in-person with an online or call-in option available. Venue of the 2nd meeting is still TBD.

WISCONSIN CONSERVATION CONGRESS SPRING HEARINGS

Citizens will be able to provide input on Wisconsin’s natural resource issues through the 2022 Wisconsin Conservation Congress Spring Hearings which will again be online beginning April 11 (starting at 7:00 pm) and remain open through 7:00 pm on April 14. Information on the questions being asked, how to participate, and how citizens can introduce a resolution will be posted as it becomes available at this website:  https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/about/wcc/springhearing.

SPRING TURKEY SEASON

The spring turkey hunting season begins April 16-17 with the two-day youth turkey hunt which is designed to give young hunters the opportunity to hunt and gain valuable experience without competing against adults.  The youth hunt is open to resident and non-resident hunters under age 16 who possess a valid spring turkey license, stamp, and harvest authorization.  Youth hunters must be accompanied by an adult age 18 or older.  Following the youth hunt the regular turkey season opens with Period A which begins on April 20 and runs until April 26.  After Period A there will be five additional periods of 7-days each for turkey hunters with valid licenses to enjoy the spring season.  Go to this website for more info:  https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/turkey .