Dec. 14–This weekend’s forecasted warmup was expected to bring winter enthusiasts to Wisconsin state parks.
Among them: cross-country skiers, ice anglers, snowshoers, and hunters and trappers. That last bunch is new.
Sunday will mark the final day of Wisconsin’s first season where open public hunting and trapping has been legal in most of the state’s nearly 74,000 acres of land inside state parks.
The season, which began Nov. 15, was controversial in its inception but, at least leading into the weekend, has been a success, officials said.
“Overall, the season has gone very, very well,” state parks director Dan Schuller said Thursday. Schuller said several factors, most notably cold weather, likely led to light hunting pressure. But he also said the season’s structure was designed to provide more hunting opportunities without causing conflicts for nonhunting parks users.
In all, more than 62,000 new acres, including state parks and some parcels around the Ice Age and North Country tails, were opened up to hunting for waterfowl, ruffed grouse, pheasants and other small game, as was trapping.
For years, a number of state parks have allowed limited deer and wild turkey hunting, available only via advance registration. But general-access hunting was mostly prohibited, as was all trapping.
The Department of Natural Resources had no plans to change that.
But in the waning days of the state’s legislative session last year, a provision was added to the Sporting Heritage Bill that opened all parks to hunting. The surprise move brought opposition at public hearings that followed. Of the more than 2,000 comments the state received, the vast majority were opposed to the plan, fearing conflicts between hunters and those who use the parks with an expectation that firearms won’t be discharged.
The Natural Resources Board, which oversees the DNR, delayed the opening of hunting until Nov. 15, some two months after small-game hunting had begun — and well into the chill of late fall, when park use drops sharply.
“If hunting was in the beginning of the fall, things might have been very different,” Schuller said. “But by delaying the start, they addressed a lot of the concerns.”
Each state park also set boundaries within its borders where hunting is allowed. Hunting is generally banned near campgrounds, picnic areas and other developed areas. In addition, hunting isn’t allowed from or across groomed trails.
Officials are now scheduling a new set of hearings for January and February to make the temporary rules permanent.
It doesn’t appear that Minnesota will follow suit. DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said he doesn’t see the need to open Minnesota state parks to hunting beyond the limited-access hunts currently allowed.
Dave Orrick can be reached at 651-228-5512. Follow him at twitter.com/OutdoorsNow.