Big Buck In Buffalo County Creates Controversy
Save Email Print
Bookmark and Share
Updated: 3:31 PM Sep 25, 2008
Big Buck In Buffalo County Creates Controversy
Buffalo County is known nationwide for having a large population of big deer.
Posted: 7:20 PM Sep 24, 2008
Reporter: Amelia Cerling
Email Address: Amelia.Cerling@weau.com
width:200 and height: 120 and picwidth: 200 and pciheight: 120
Font Size:

Buffalo County is known nationwide for having a large population of big deer.

Brett Evans is a dairy farmer who's worked his land for the last seventeen years. Then his land got a claim to fame that he says is creating a stir, when video of a big buck walking along the edge of his woods hit the internet.

Evans says, “They must think something’s out there, because there's people stopping here every weekend, pretty much at dusk, constantly driving by and looking for this big buck to step out.”

Scott Kirkpatrick, an outfitter, shot this video, and says he now wishes he hadn't. He declined to go on camera, but says people in the county are now angry the video was put on the internet. He says all he's trying to do is make a living.

One thing the video has done is reinforce the sometimes legendary status of the whitetail in Buffalo County.

But Evans says that's created a problem, because people just aren't shooting deer like they used to. Instead of getting rid of the does, he says all hunters want these days are bucks with big antlers.

Evans says this problem is getting worse because of outfitters bringing in outsiders to hunt the land. He says outfitters are “Exploiting a natural resource, they're exploiting Mother Nature and all they're doing is filling their pockets and getting a lot of people irritated.”

Evans says he's irritated by all the attention his farm has received and regularly chases trespassers off his land.

As for the deer, he believes they're getting tougher to hunt because of the pressure.

Evans says, “it's kind of fun, every day you see em' out there, watch and see how big they get and then usually come the week before deer hunting people start driving by, stopping and looking at them, and then all of a sudden they're all gone.”

John Dunn with the DNR says part of the reason Buffalo County has so many big bucks is because they tend to live longer in that county. He says, “Many places in this state the deer don't live that long, they get harvested prior to that, and Buffalo County for a number of reasons those deer tend to live longer and reach that trophy buck status.”

Dunn says it takes about 3 1/2 years for bucks to grow into trophy status. He also said the access to hunting in Buffalo County is highly controlled and there are fewer hunters per acre compared to other areas in Wisconsin.

According to Boone and Crockett's big game records, Wisconsin ranks 3rd in the nation for whitetail trophies, behind Iowa and Minnesota. Buffalo County boasts more than 11 big buck records since 1980.