Photo By Scott Sturkol | Whitetail deer are shown at a training area Oct. 13, 2023, on North Post at Fort...... read more read more
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The regular archery/crossbow archery season began at Fort McCoy on Sept. 14, 2023, at the same time as the opening of the Wisconsin archery season.
The regular archery early season will go from Sept. 14 and run through Nov. 21. Late season will run from Dec. 2 and run through Jan. 31, 2025, said Wildlife Biologist Kevin Luepke with the Natural Resources Branch (NRB) of the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division in September. We will follow the state season structure for this area and offer an extended archery season during Jan. 6-31, 2025, but Fort McCoy will NOT hold an Antlerless Only Holiday Hunt during late December into early January.
“The 2024 archery and cantonment archery seasons are looking like their will be many successful hunters this year,” Luepke said. “We are still actively doing surveys which will provide more data as to how the deer population is doing, but from what I am currently seeing, our fawn production this spring has been higher than usual.
“Our higher fawn production rate, I am attributing to a very mild winter last year along with plenty of acorns available over last fall,” Luepke said. “This allowed adult does to produce a lot of fawns. … They were able to pack on some extra winter weight from the acorn crop, and the winter was very mild with very little to no fawns being aborted or reabsorbed.”
Luepke said the archery and cantonment archery seasons have not changed regarding regulations.
“An archery hunter is able to harvest an antlered or antlerless deer with the purchase of the Fort McCoy archery permit, and there were an additional 200 bonus antlerless harvest that were available through a lottery drawing,” Luepke said.
Cantonment archers can harvest two antlerless deer, including spike bucks, before receiving an either sex harvest authorization that allows for the harvest of a forked buck or an antlerless deer, including spike bucks, Luepke said.
A reminder to all, that all hunters need to obtain a Fort McCoy permit, and the appropriate state of Wisconsin license, check the Game Line daily, sign-in and out daily, and display an activity card on the dash of their vehicle.
“The updated Fort McCoy hunting, fishing, and trapping rules and regulations are available at Permit Sales in building 2168, the Hunter Information Point, or on the Fort McCoy iSportsman website at https://mccoy.isportsman.net.
“The archery season is a non-quota season, so permits are available through iSportsman at https://mccoy.isportsman.net,” Luepke said. “The cantonment archery season is a quota hunt, and applicants have been selected and notified. Cantonment archery is the urban deer management program.”
Archery hunters also must remember that when hunting with both bow and crossbow, they must have the appropriate Wisconsin bow/crossbow license upgrade. The upgrade allows for use of either, otherwise hunters must choose between just using a bow or just using a crossbow.
Regular Wisconsin archery licenses are $24 for resident archery and $24 for resident crossbow. An upgrade is an additional $3. The Fort McCoy regular archery/crossbow permit is $17. Wisconsin hunting licenses are sold on the Wisconsin GoWild web site for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources at https://gowild.wi.gov.
People who have more questions on appropriate licensing requirements for Fort McCoy can get answers by visiting the Fort McCoy iSportsman page at https://ftmccoy.isportsman.net or by calling the Permit Sales Office at 502-898-3337. For Wisconsin archery rules and regulations, visit https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/regulations.
NRB officials said annually approximately 800 archery permits are purchased for Fort McCoy, and hunters have had a success rate of about 15-20 percent. On average about 90-100 deer are harvested on post each year during archery season.
Archery hunters are reminded that use of any tree stands or blinds must be temporary and must be taken down each day. Also, if hunters succeed in harvesting a deer, that deer must be registered on Fort McCoy’s iSportsman website.
“Fort McCoy offers hunting, fishing, and trapping opportunities to military (active and retired) and their dependents, government employees, and the general public,” Luepke said. “Revenue generated from the sale of hunting, fishing, and trapping permits is used for the management of fish and wildlife habitat and populations on Fort McCoy.”
Luepke also said hunters should also be aware of chronic wasting disease (CWD).
“There have been 15 positive test results in the county over the past several years,” Luepke said. “Fort McCoy will continue offering CWD testing during the gun-deer seasons while the deer data collection point is manned. Hunters should utilize other local CWD sampling kiosks in the area for the archery seasons, including a kiosk and carcass dumpster that will be located across J Street from the Hunter Information Point.”
For information on local CWD sampling kiosks, deer carcass dumpsters, and deer donation locations, visit the Monroe County Land Conservation website at https://www.co.monroe.wi.us/departments/land-conservation.
For more information about the installation’s hunting, fishing, and other outdoor opportunities, go online to the Fort McCoy iSportsman page at https://mccoy.isportsman.net or call the Permit Sales Office at 608-388-3337.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office and the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.)
| Date Taken: | 09.24.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.24.2024 17:02 |
| Story ID: | 481666 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 12 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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