It’s been six years since “deer tagging” and “in-person” deer registration were eliminated in Wisconsin. Today thirty seven other states require physical tagging of deer. Wisconsin hunters were surprised when the state discontinued “tagging” and physical carcass registrations. Why? Wisconsin seemed to have one of the best deer hunting management programs in the country. Let’s look at the history of Wisconsin deer management to try to understand.

1851 – First closed season for deer, February 1 – June 30.

1920 – Legislation was passed to make it mandatory to lock on metal tags immediately on harvested deer.

1928 – Deer hunters were required to wear conservation buttons while hunting.

1933 – The Conservation Congress, an advisory group representing public opinion began assisting the Conservation Committee in setting deer management policy.

1934 – the first official archery hunting season was held.

1942 – Hunter back tags were required while hunting.

1945 – “Shotgun only” counties were set. Also, red clothing was required while hunting.

1953 – Hunters were required to register deer in person at check-in stations.

1967 – The Hunter Safety Education program began.

1980 – Blaze orange clothing was required during the gun deer season.

Wisconsin deer hunting flourished with trending higher deer harvests and hunter numbers.

In 2016 “tagging” was eliminated – no back tags, no carcass tags, no paper licenses, no in-person registration. Why? The old adage “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” wasn’t heeded in this case. Instead the state’s deer management system was broken when “tagging” was eliminated and replaced by electronic and call-in reporting. The state explained that it was a budget cost-cutting measure. Fifty cents per license sale was saved. And about the same amount was saved when mandatory “in-person” registra-tion or check-in stations were eliminated.

Hunters who camped and/or hunted in rural areas couldn’t report their kills because there was no internet or cellular service. They felt that it didn’t matter because the state didn’t really care anymore. They just want the high deer population killed. Commercial meat processors no longer checked for carcass tags to make sure that deer were registered. They said it wasn’t their responsibility. The monitoring of chronic wasting disease (CWD) was severely hampered when deer couldn’t be inspected at authorized registration check-in stations because there weren’t any. It was tougher to report trespassing or to see if hunters had licenses because there were no hunter back tags.

Hunters wondered why there were no back tags. It was part of the hunting heritage. They remember how proud they felt when they were 12 years old pinning on their first red, yellow or green back tag on the back of their hunting coat. It was like getting the red badge of courage – a sign of their adulthood.

Hunters grumbled that perhaps as high as 30% of harvested deer weren’t reported. The problems grew bigger when people thought why bother buying licenses or antlerless tags or even registering deer. Deer were often butchered in camps, eaten and/or put in coolers without being registered – because there weren’t any tags or internet or cell phone service. And no one really cares.

Hunters missed seeing other deer kills at check-in stations. It was part of the lore. It was part of the community. There were no local deer kill head counts. No talk of big bucks being taken.

Finally, license and tag sales declined. The state lost revenue. Were fewer people hunting or were fewer people buying hunting licenses and tags? The WDNR reported that 849,778 deer hunting licenses (archery and gun) were sold in 2015 and only 824,475 in 2017. That’s 24,303 fewer licenses since tagging and check-in registrations were eliminated.

Wisconsin’s deer hunting management system is indeed broken, but it can be fixed. Wisconsin can join the 37 other states that require “tagging.” The Wisconsin Conservation Congress voted this spring in favor of returning “tagging” and “in-person carcass registration.”

Responsible hunting and effective deer management can be restored very economically in the 2023 season. In fact the state will probably realize higher license/tag sales revenue. Tags can be issued as licenses, back tags and deer tags as an all-in-one piece of paper. Mandatory tagging of deer immediately after being killed can be enforced; deer can be checked in verifying the proper kill and physically inspected for age, health and CWD at authorized registration stations. Even commercial meat processors can ensure that deer are legally taken by observing harvest tags attached to an antler or ear. There will be no longer be fuzzy numbers of the deer kill, but good hard data that the WDNR can use to manage the herd.

If you care, here’s what must happen. Please call or write (or email) your local state legislaral tor to tell them that you want the state to “bring back tagging” and mandatory “in-person: deer registration for the 2023 deer hunting season. Please take another step and call Senator Rob Stafsholt (Head of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Committee) at 608-266-7745 or email him at [email protected] to “bring back tagging” and in-person deer registration. Also, please call Representative Trieg Pronschinske (Chairman of the Assembly Sporting Heritage Committee) at 608-2667015 or email him at [email protected] wi.gov to ask him to “bring back tagging” and “in-person” deer registration.

Let’s return Wisconsin to the number one deer hunting state with the best management program. Let’s eliminate CWD. Let’s all join together to continue our rich deer hunting heritage.

-John McLoone, Publisher

received. We appreciate your submissions.

news by 10 a.m. Mondays. We strive to publish all letters

“Tell them you love them over and over again. Tell them too much, and never too little, for the time we have is short, but the love we have is endless.” – Dane Thomas This week would have (should have) been my 35th wedding anniversary.

I guess it is my 35th wedding anniversary. I’m still married, albeit without a husband. A widow (deep heavy sigh). He died shortly after our 33rd anniversary. But still, I remember, and I celebrate. No, I just remember.

We’d planned to do something “big” on this anniversary. We never felt like we had the chance before. Fifteen, twenty, even twenty-five – we let them all pass us by.

We were always too young, or too poor, or too busy raising kids to spend the time or money for anything for just the two of us. It seemed too extravagant.

Reports are pointing to an 8.9% raise for Social Security recipients. While it won’t feel like enough, it may buy you a sack of groceries or a tank of gasoline. This is a big maybe on the gasoline as California reports prices of over $8 per gallon.

Some of our government leadership is crying because Saudi Arabia is cutting their oil production by 2 million barrels a day. This means less oil for everyone in the grand oil supply pool. I don’t understand why anyone in our government would want to do business with the Saudis.

Buying oil from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela or any foreign entity is crazy. Why don’t we use our own oil? I’m all for green energy but we aren’t quite there yet. Make electric cars and drive them. Utilize solar energy and else anything that we can to help preserve this planet and its resources. Regardless, our country still needs oil. As long as we need oil, it would

Learning lessons from hunting

The school district’s “government speech” justification was somewhat of a Hail Mary pass that few believed would succeed, and the court quickly sacked. Kennedy’s prayers did not occur within the “ordinary scope” of his job duties. Once the game had ended, the court said Kennedy “was not seeking to convey a government-created message. He was not instructing players, discussing strategy, encouraging better on-field performance or engaged in any other speech the district paid him to produce as a coach.”

The court next approached the second argument. It quickly found that Kennedy’s prayer was sincere and held that the school district disciplined him as a result.

This shifted the burden onto the government to justify its policy against prayer as necessary and narrow. It argued the suspension was necessary because a “reasonable observer” would believe the school district was endorsing religion — and violating the First Amendment’s establishment clause — by allowing Kennedy to pray at midfield after games. The court disagreed. In this case, there was no fear of an establishment of religion just because “Mr. Kennedy’s proposal to pray quietly by himself on the field would have meant some people would have seen his religious exercise.” Justice Neil Gorsuch said there was nothing in the record indicating students felt coerced to pray. In fact, “learning how to tolerate speech or prayer of all kinds is ‘part of learning how to live in a pluralistic society,’ a trait of character essential to ‘a tolerant citizenry.’” Gorsuch feared that the district’s protection of religious liberty was suppression that would be replicated in other ways: “Not only could schools fire teachers for praying quietly over their lunch, for wearing a yarmulke to school or for offering a midday prayer during a break before practice. Under the district’s rule, a

Letters to the Editor by Jill Pertler By Glenn Mollette

BY CHRIS HARDIE Back

Home

I’ve always been fascinated with bridges, ever since as a youngster our family drove across the Mackinac Bridge for the first time.

The bridge – which was the world’s longest suspension bridge when it opened on Nov. 1, 1957, connecting Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas – was an engineering marvel. Even today the iconic structure is the world’s fifth longest suspension bridge (8,614 feet) and is the longest in the western hemisphere.

At the other end of the spectrum was a two-span iron truss bridge that opened in 1896 that crossed the Black River near North Bend, Wis. By the time I was old enough to drive in 1980, the roadway was covered with wooden planks which rumbled every time you crossed.

But it was a convenient shortcut between our farm and my The Ruling Public high school football coach Joseph Kennedy filed a lawsuit alleging his rights to free speech and freedom of religion were violated when he was fired for praying at the 50-yard line after each game.

The Bremerton School District in Washington state argued that: (1) As a government employee at work, Kennedy was engaged in “government speech,” which is afforded no protection under the First Amendment.

(2) His prayer made it appear that the school district was officially endorsing a particular religion.

The stories of bridges

BY CHRIS HARDIE

The Case publisher of The Journal-News, Hillsboro, IL Chair, National Newspaper Association

In its decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton, the Supreme Court strengthened First Amendment protection for religious speech by government officials.

Back

Home

By John Galer

By Richard Foltin