Walker's Deer Management Initiatives

Wausau (WFRV) - Gov. Scott Walker plans to make deer management a priority in his upcoming state budget. Today he announced plans to implement a number of changes, proposed by Dr. James Kroll, the deer czar Walker hired, to evaluate the state's deer management practices.  Included in the proposal, Gov. Walker is considering a number of changes - from mini-deer hunts - to creating new state maps, using satellite technology.

The governor talked about his plan at the National Rifle Association's state convention in Wausau on Friday.  Walker's goal is to apply more of the 62 recommendations, made by Kroll in 2012, on how to improve the state's deer management program. The governor says the state has already implemented changes that did not require state money and now he is ready to finish the job. State hunting groups support his efforts.

"We'll be doing a number of things between a deer management assistance program, to help put more people out in the field," Walker said. "Also a program where we're going to increase and upgrade the GIS system so we can do a better job of tracking and helping hunters, and others involved in using new technology to improve the hunt and the benefit of the harvest."

"With the implementation of the Kroll report we are returning Wisconsin back to its prominence in the deer hunting world," said Andy Pantzlaff, vice president of United Sportsmen of Wisconsin. "Not only to hunters inside the state - but outside the state too."

The governor says increasing the state's deer harvest - which is the bottom line here - will only expand hunting's economic impact in our state. The new initiative also includes continued funding for better and faster CWD testing.