A snowless landscape and balmy weather greeted hunters on opening weekend. Here, a lucky hunter approaches a nice buck taken in Oneida County.--STAFF PHOTO

Buck kill drops
another 20%
for opener
in Vilas, Oneida

By Kurt Krueger
News-Review Editor

A 20% decline in the buck harvest in Vilas and Oneida counties is in line with what wildlife biologists expected opening weekend, but the registration of 51% more bucks in Forest County took them by surprise.

James Bishop, a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) information officer, said Monday that buck registrations in Vilas dropped from 472 last year to 372, a 21% decline.

In Oneida, hunters registered 595 bucks Saturday and Sunday compared to 746 bucks a year ago — which was anticipated after a poor fawn crop in 2008 led to low numbers of yearling bucks.

But in Forest, hunters brought in 127 more bucks than a year ago, increasing the two-day total from 248 last year to 375 this year.

“I’m a little baffled. There’s really not an easy explanation for that one,” said wildlife biologist Jeremy Holtz in Florence, who manages the deer herd in Forest and Florence counties.

Holtz said his forecast was for a buck kill that was similar to last year and possibly up to 10% lower.

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