BURNETT COUNTY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019 VOL. 58 NO. 5 www.burnettcountysentinel.com $1.00
WOOD LAKE CAMPGROUND: Judge grants temporary restraining order as parties head to trial P6
Plenty of snow, but trails remain closed Burnett County is covered a blanket of snow. However, winter riding season does not begin until later this month. Winter riding season does not start until Dec. 16, regardless of snowfall totals and Part of the reason for keeping the trails closed is for public safety concerns with deer rifle season underway. “It is the county’s policy to not open trails until all gun deer hunting seasons are over,” Jake Nichols said. Nichols is the Forest Administrator for Burnett County. “After that, the state-funded snowmobile and winter ATV trails are open when a 4-inch snow base is present, and trails have been officially opened by the county,” Nichols added. “If we do not have snow, the Frozen Ground ATV Trail System is open for use when the ground is frozen.” Nichols said there are a number of nonstate funded trails across the county and those trails are managed and maintained by other local cubs. Nichols said the state trails are managed by the Forest and Parks Department and then maintained by the Snow Trails Association. The Forest and Parks Department also suggests following up with these websites for updates on the trails throughout the season. For trail updates go to www.burnettcounty.com/trails. To sign up for text SEE SNOWMOBILES, PAGE 28
JOHN AND KAREN HOLLINGSWORTH | U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
Nearly 60 years after gray wolves were considered extinct in Wisconsin, the population has rebounded dramatically, to more than 900 in the state. But the conservation success story has turned into a nuisance for hunters, farmers and others whose animals are increasingly encountering wolves — with deadly consequences.
As wolves recover, calls in Wisconsin to end endangered species listing grow RICH KREMER WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO
In November 2018, wolves killed Laurie Groskopf’s 11-year-old hunting dog in Oneida County. That was nine years after wolves killed another of her dogs.
“These animals were trailing bear at the time, and one was trailing bobcat,” Groskopf said. “They were attacked by wolves without any provocation and killed. And for us, it’s been really, really traumatic.” Wisconsinites subsidized Groskopf’s loss. She received $5,000
through an obscure Department of Natural Resources program that compensates animal owners for losses to wolves. But Groskopf said the payments — $2,500 for each dog — could not make up for the loss of SEE WOLVES, PAGE 2
Numbers down for deer hunters JONATHAN RICHIE EDITOR@BURNETTCOUNTYSENTINEL.COM
Burnett County is following a similar trend the whole state of Wisconsin is seeing – less deer are being harvested during the opening weekend, according to the preliminary data.
The WDNR (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources) released their preliminary 9-day opening weekend statistics for rifle season and they showed an almost 27% reduction in reported deer killed opening weekend. In 2018, over 120,000 deer were reportedly killed opening weekend and this
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year that number dropped to 90,286 across Wisconsin. In Burnett County the numbers dropped over 20% from 1,765 deer in 2018 to 1,406 this year. Burnett County hunters killed 847 bucks and 559 antlerless deer this year and last year reported 1,060 bucks and 705 antlerless deer.
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The WDNR estimates 1.8 million deer call Wisconsin home, there are more hunting opportunities than ever. For the first time in a decade, all Wisconsin counties have antlerless deer hunting opportunities thanks to the abundant deer herd.
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