WAUSAU, Wis. - For much of America, this week is dominated by images of Thanksgiving Day and turkey. Not so in Wisconsin, where the holiday traditions include blaze orange, rifles and talk of the 30-point buck.
It's deer hunting season in Dairyland - and state officials this year are offering incentives to draw more people into the woods in an effort to help trim the state's record herd by more than a half million.
''If we don't get a strong harvest every year, the population can grow almost geometrically,'' said George Meyer, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Heading into fall, the DNR estimated the white-tailed herd at 1.7 million deer - the most ever and some 600,000 more than what wildlife experts want.
There's so many deer the state has given away free tags as an enticement for hunters to shoot more. The state also is paying for processing any deer that hunters donate to programs to feed the hungry.
''If you are a deer hunter in Wisconsin, these are the good ol' days,'' Meyer said.
The herd in recent years has become a problem, causing more vehicle crashes, harming farmers' crops and threatening sensitive plants. On Monday, a deer crashed through the window of a high school. No one was injured.
The growth is due, in part, to a string of mild winters in northern Wisconsin that led to more healthy multiple births, Meyer said.
Hundreds of thousands of hunters dressed in fluorescent orange and wielding rifles are expected to roam the woods in search of bucks during the nine-day gun season that ends Sunday. The state sold 694,111 licenses.
''I have always described it as there are two secular religions in this state - deer hunting and the Green Bay Packers,'' Meyer said.
Even youngsters participate. Of the deer hunting licenses sold this year, 79,794 went to 12- to 17-year-olds, the DNR said.
According to the state Department of Public Instruction, 23 school districts canceled classes all week for what they listed as fall vacations.
''These students would be gone no matter what,'' said Lori Sherman, executive assistant to Shawano School District Superintendent Richard Hess. ''It is somewhat of an accommodation but it works out for everyone.''
Gary Trembath, 45, of Wausau has hunted deer since he was 12. He's already shot two this fall and has more hunting to do.
''Hunting in Wisconsin is a religion,'' Trembath said. ''People take it very, very seriously.''
After this weekend, deer hunters will get two more chances this year - a muzzleloader season from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, and an antlerless-only hunt in certain deer management units Dec. 7-10.
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On the Net:
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us
