Archery seasons return at Fort McCoy through December to early January 2019

Photo By Scott Sturkol | Whitetail deer try to blend in with the snowy landscape on the cantonment area during a spring snow storm on April 3, 2018, at Fort McCoy, Wis. Deer are one of the many species of wildlife around the installation. Wildlife management at Fort McCoy is completed and coordinated by the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)  

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

12.07.2018

Story by Scott Sturkol                                                                                        

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

Both the regular archery/crossbow and cantonment archery deer seasons went back in session at Fort McCoy on Nov. 26 following the completion of the gun-deer season.

The “second half” of these seasons are Nov. 26, 2018, to Jan. 6, 2019, said Wildlife Biologist David Beckmann with the Natural Resources Branch (NRB) of the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division.

The installation awarded permits for the cantonment archery season to 165 archers who were picked through a drawing earlier in the year, Beckmann said. Each was awarded two antlerless tags.

“Cantonment archery rules are different than for regular archery/crossbow hunters in that crossbows are not allowed,” Beckmann said. “Hunters participating in cantonment archery must use a regular compound or recurve bow.

“The Fort McCoy regular archery permits are not part of a drawing like the cantonment archery and gun-deer permits are,” Beckmann said. “Cantonment archery permits are for cantonment archery only, so if you want to archery hunt outside the cantonment area, you will have to purchase that separate regular archery permit.”

A Fort McCoy archery permit and a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) bow or crossbow hunting license are required to hunt on Fort McCoy for regular archery/crossbow, Beckmann said. Harvest is limited to one deer (antlered or antlerless) with the appropriate WDNR carcass tag.

For cantonment archery hunters, an antlered deer can be harvested only after two antlerless/spike deer have been harvested, Beckmann said. The Earn-A-Buck authorization will be issued through the Permit Sales Office after confirmation that two antlerless/spike deer have been harvested in the Cantonment Area. Any antlered deer harvested must be registered using the WDNR archery buck tag.

Archery hunters also must remember that when hunting with both bow and crossbow, they must have the appropriate Wisconsin bow/crossbow license upgrade. Regular Wisconsin archery licenses are $24 for resident archery and $24 for resident crossbow. An upgrade on either license is $3. The Fort McCoy regular archery/crossbow permit is $17, and the cantonment archery permit is $13.

People who have more questions on appropriate licensing requirements for Fort McCoy can get answers by visiting the Fort McCoy i-Sportsman page at https://ftmccoy.isportsman.net or by calling the Permit Sales Office at 608-388-3337. For Wisconsin archery rules and regulations, visit https://dnr.wi.gov/files/PDF/pubs/wm/WM0431.pdf.

Hunters are also reminded to check in and check out each time they hunt at Fort McCoy as shown in the new hunting regulation posted on the Fort McCoy iSportsman website. The iSportsman system can be accessed by calling [phone], visiting https://ftmccoy.isportsman.net online, or at the kiosk located at the Hunter Information Point just off of Highway 21.

Hunters must establish an iSportsman account, then identify the zone they will be hunting at, and then check in when they start and check out when they leave.

Hunters also are required to keep an activity information card in their vehicle.

“All recreational participants/permit holders are required to display an activity information card on the passenger side of the windshield/dash with the following information: permit holder’s full name (if there is more than one permit holder per vehicle, the names of all permit holders will be noted), activity (such as archery, cantonment archery, fishing), personal cellphone number, and two emergency contact phone numbers for each permit holder in the vehicle,” the hunting regulation states.

Directorate of Emergency Services (DES) police and conservation officers are actively checking to see if recreational participants/permit holders are following the guidelines of the regulation. For example, if an activity information card is not displayed in the exact location required and does not have the exact information required, recreational participants/permit holders may be found in violation and ticketed immediately. Refer to the regulation, available on iSportsman, for more information about violations.

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 with Wisconsin, which can be done online through the WDNR Go Wild website at https://gowild.wi.gov.

For more information about the installation’s hunting, fishing, and other outdoor opportunities, go online to the Fort McCoy i-Sportsman page at https://ftmccoy.isportsman.net or call the Permit Sales Office at 608-388-3337. For more information about police enforcement of regulation and rules requirements, call DES at 608-388-2266 and ask for a conservation warden.

• Date Taken: 12.07.2018
• Date Posted: 12.07.2018 15:27
• Story ID: 302635
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WI, US