BALSAM LAKE — The public has a final opportunity to provide comments on antlerless deer harvest quota, harvest authorization level and season structure recommendations for Polk County.

The council will hold its final spring meeting on April 16 at 6:00pm at the Balsam Lake Government Center.  At this meeting, the council will receive additional public comments prior to developing final recommendations.  

The council’s preliminary recommendations, formed during its March meeting, are available for review at  HYPERLINK "https://dnr.wi.gov/" dnr.wi.gov, keyword " HYPERLINK "https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/cdac.html" CDAC,” by clicking " HYPERLINK "https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/CDACFind.aspx" Find” and selecting Polk.  Councils considered scientific data and public opinion when developing their preliminary recommendations.    

The council has recommended a harvest quota of 7,870, with 5,200 private land and 1,000 public land antlerless harvest authorizations available to hunters.  

The council also recommends offering two county-specific Farmland Zone antlerless harvest authorizations with each license.

The council did NOT recommend an antlerless-only Holiday Hunt for the 2019 deer season.

These recommendations are expected to achieve Polk Counties three year population objective to maintain Polk County’s deer population.

To develop its final recommendations, the council will consider online input and other public comments along with professional assessments from Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologists, foresters and law enforcement.  The public may also comment at any time before April 10 by contacting a CDAC member (a list is available on the CDAC web page at  HYPERLINK "http://dnr.wi.gov/" dnr.wi.gov, keyword " HYPERLINK "http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/cdac.html" CDAC”) or by emailing  HYPERLINK "mailto:[email protected]" [email protected].

Polk County’s final quota, harvest authorization level and season structure recommendations will be presented to the DNR following the April meeting, and will then advance to the Natural Resources Board for approval in May.  If approved, the recommendations will take effect for the 2019 deer hunting season.

Additional information on CDAC recommendations, agendas and membership is available at  HYPERLINK "http://dnr.wi.gov/" dnr.wi.gov, keyword " HYPERLINK "http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/cdac.html" CDAC” or email  HYPERLINK "mailto:[email protected]" [email protected] with any questions.