The position is coming ... just not in time to weigh in on the rules for this fall's hunt

We're days away from this year's first wave of deer hunters hitting the woods.

The bow season begins Sept. 17, 2011, and that makes it a good time to look at Gov. Scott Walker's promises regarding some of the most controversial matters facing the Department of Natural Resources.

During the 2010 campaign, we rated Mostly False a claim by Walker that the DNR has mismanaged the state's deer herd and "as a result the deer population has dwindled.”

Walker said the DNR had engaged in "political games" and "put bureaucrats in Madison ahead of hunters of the state."  We found that Walker's statement left out critical information: The size of the deer herd, itself an estimate, is down by design, not by mistake. The goals are based on a system built on input from across the state and attempt to balance the concerns of hunters against those of farmers and drivers.

In his criticism of the DNR, Walker promised that he will "appoint a Whitetail Deer Trustee, an outside independent expert to revise our deer counting system."

DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp discussed the "deer czar” during an Aug. 30, 2011interview  on Wisconsin Eye. Walters asked if the person would be appointed soon.

"It is getting closer, yes,” Stepp said.

"We"re working to get an outside professional to come in,” she added.

"We"re going to have somebody completely independent of our agency to come in and we're going to lay it all out and say, ‘Here it is. This is what we've been doing for so many years. Tell us where it's good, tell us where we need support or shoring up, or maybe do we need to take a different tact.' ”

Stepp said the department has been working to involve hunters at a greater level in its discussions about upcoming seasons. "The hunting community has felt cut off from decisions and the direction of the agency,” she said.

Host Steve Walters asked if the trustee's recommendations be in place in time for the fall.

Stepp responded: "That's what we're hopeful for, yeah.”

This, however, isn't the way the hunting season works. The Natural Resources Board set this year's antlerless quota and deer hunting regulations in April 2011. So any recommendation from a new appointee will not have any effect on the this year's hunt.

The DNR recommended sharply increased antlerless deer quotas, even before the deer czar's arrival. In 2010, the quota was 245,600. This year it's 344,180.

That, of course, doesn't mean hunters will kill that many deer. In 2010, hunters took 185,211.

"We won't kill 344,000 antlerless deer this year,” the department's acting deer biologist Jeffrey J. Pritzl said in an email. "IF the percentage stays the same as last year, we MAY kill 75% of that quota and kill somewhere in the neighborhood of 250,000 to 260,000 antlerless deer this year.”

We asked the DNR for a job description for the deer trustee, including who he or she would work for and how much the job would pay. Agency spokesperson Bill Cosh sent us to the governor's office. Walker's communications director Chris Schrimpf told us: "It's not quite ready yet, but it will be very soon, so unfortunately I don't have many details right now.”

Clearly, this promise is In The Works.