DNR board OKs buck-only for just 1 Wisconsin county

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin wildlife officials have approved a 2018 deer hunting structure that imposes buck-only restrictions in just one county this fall.

The Department of Natural Resources' board unanimously approved a plan Wednesday that would make Iron County the only county where hunters can kill only bucks. The move signals the DNR believes the state's northern herd has regenerated.

Buck-only restrictions protect does so they can give birth, leading to a larger herd. The board designated Ashland, Eau Claire, Iron and Vilas counties as buck-only last year.

Citizen advisory councils in Ashland and Price counties wanted buck-only restrictions this year out of fears a mid-April snowstorm led to higher deer mortality. But DNR Secretary Dan Meyer told the board in a memo that only portions of each county experienced a severe winter.