above: The Mathews monster, this is not the newest bow but it is the fastest shooting bow on the market. It costs about 950$
It all started in 1834 lafayette,the first report of crop damage that was caused by the infamous whit-tail. So of course there was going to be an open season for these creatures, but none was ready for what would happen over the next 180 years. And when you have a lot of people doing something there is bound to be problems, and there was. There were many problems and issue along the 180 year journey. the first 3 laws are what set the stage for what was about to come, 1)first closed season to for deer yet Indians were unlimited 2)hunting with dogs was banned 3) the first game wardens were hired for $50 a month.
And so it began, the evolution of the hunter, the animal and the weapons. Some may have never have guessed that the bows they had at the time would be replaced with a Mathews monster shooting 360 feet per second with fancy carbon arrows. Or high caliber rifles that shoot 1/4 inch groups at 100 yards. But the ones that did were hopeful that it would come soon so that they would be able to use this new technologies.
But the journey in between then and now is one of the best stories to be told to someone interested in the outdoors. About everything that could have changed has. Now I will tell you the journey of the evolution
And so it began, the evolution of the hunter, the animal and the weapons. Some may have never have guessed that the bows they had at the time would be replaced with a Mathews monster shooting 360 feet per second with fancy carbon arrows. Or high caliber rifles that shoot 1/4 inch groups at 100 yards. But the ones that did were hopeful that it would come soon so that they would be able to use this new technologies.
But the journey in between then and now is one of the best stories to be told to someone interested in the outdoors. About everything that could have changed has. Now I will tell you the journey of the evolution
Then it was the Indians, who hunted riding on there horses. With spears it was a branch from a tree which was sturdy and straight. At the end of the the branch there would be a piece of rock that was sharpened. Also known as an arrow head to spear them
When the pilgrims had gotten to America and settled in there new villages, they became friends with Indians. The Indians taught them many valuable skills they would need to survive including farming, fishing, survive through the cold brisk snow winters and of course taught them how to hunt the animals of the land.
After the pilgrims were taught to hunt it made their lives much easier and better. But from the time they learned about the hunting life style they knew it could be easier or better. Over time they would learn techniques that would work better and supply more deer. They also wanted their equipment to be better, to shoot further, more accurate, more efficient.
The pilgrims kept hunting and enjoyed it, it helped live and thrive off the land. it supplied for their families and friends. But the pilgrims were more efficient while hunting, they didn't do mass buffalo runs they would take what they needed for the most part. This meant that the population began to grow because there wasn't so many being taken which was a very good thing. They mostly hunted waterfowl and some deer.
1834, the first report of crop damage, but who or what was the culprit? The infamous whitetail, this event occurred in Lafayette county Wisconsin. Where today they take massive amounts of deer because of the same reason.
in 1851 the first closed season was placed. none really knows why but most likely due to very low deer herd population.
1876- dogs are prohibited for hunting statewide
1900- 12 hunter killed in the fire arm season
in 1903 the first hunt popped up, 78,164 license sold state wide! The people of Wisconsin DNR started to realize that hunting was growing rather rapidly. And knew it was going to turn into something magnificent
Then, yet another hint in 1910 the deer population drops to record lows. Becase the deer / shooting market was unregulated
1900- 12 hunter killed in the fire arm season
in 1903 the first hunt popped up, 78,164 license sold state wide! The people of Wisconsin DNR started to realize that hunting was growing rather rapidly. And knew it was going to turn into something magnificent
Then, yet another hint in 1910 the deer population drops to record lows. Becase the deer / shooting market was unregulated
1951 marked the 100th anniversary of gun season.
100 years of deer hunting and things still weren't proportional. There were 294,645 licenses sold, yet only 35,562 deer taken. At this point they started to figure that something would need to be done, the herd wasn't going to last with 290 thousand hunters going after the whitetail. But seven years later (1958) nothing had changed still no heard control. Yet the licenses sold reached a staggering 335,866 and 58,348 party permits sold.
But finally DNR officials were catching the drift, they started the SAK program which stood for sex-age-kill. This would be used to measure estimated deer kill numbers, and the results speak for themselves. They were able to manage the herd through seeing results of SAK and the deep population climbed to over 400,000 and kill was over 72,ooo!
Then again in 1978 we hit a record! 150,799 but that record was broken in 1981 then that was broke again in 1982. None was ready for where this was heading, and couldn't believe it in 1984 the record kill was set at over 255 thousand. But of course the DNR officials weren't fools, they knew what to do so for the fifth consecutive year the record kill was set at 274,302 . This was good but the license sold was over 670 thousand.Now the record kept being re-set each year until 1993 when the kill went down to 250 thousand.
100 years of deer hunting and things still weren't proportional. There were 294,645 licenses sold, yet only 35,562 deer taken. At this point they started to figure that something would need to be done, the herd wasn't going to last with 290 thousand hunters going after the whitetail. But seven years later (1958) nothing had changed still no heard control. Yet the licenses sold reached a staggering 335,866 and 58,348 party permits sold.
But finally DNR officials were catching the drift, they started the SAK program which stood for sex-age-kill. This would be used to measure estimated deer kill numbers, and the results speak for themselves. They were able to manage the herd through seeing results of SAK and the deep population climbed to over 400,000 and kill was over 72,ooo!
Then again in 1978 we hit a record! 150,799 but that record was broken in 1981 then that was broke again in 1982. None was ready for where this was heading, and couldn't believe it in 1984 the record kill was set at over 255 thousand. But of course the DNR officials weren't fools, they knew what to do so for the fifth consecutive year the record kill was set at 274,302 . This was good but the license sold was over 670 thousand.Now the record kept being re-set each year until 1993 when the kill went down to 250 thousand.
1996 earn a buck created, this meant that if you tagged out with your 1 buck you could request another. Many people did not like the earn a buck law.
all of the laws listed above were taken from the Wisconsin DNR service