Everyone knew last year’s white tail deer harvest numbers would be low, but Wednesday hunters found out just how bad the 2009 season really was.

At an open house in Wausau Wednesday night, Wisconsin hunters learned they harvested about 120,000 less deer in 2009 than in 2008. Hunters did not just sit back and take the news. They let the Department of Natural Resources know how they felt.

"I've been disappointed for four or five years now. I could see it happening where we hunt all the time. It was less and less,” said hunter Steve Kasten of Hatley.

"Where I'd used to see ten deer, eleven deer easily in a day, I see one if that. It's pretty disappointing,” said Jody Esker. "The thing that disappoints me is I'm trying to get my son into hunting and if I go out and take him hunting and he doesn't see any deer, he's not going to want to do it, which I can't blame him."

Esker’s son Wyatt said he did not see any deer when he sat out in the tree stand with his dad during the 2009 season. While the 6-year-old says he is still interested in hunting, he says his desire to hunt would wane he didn’t see anything year after year. As Wyatt put it “you gotta see ‘em to shoot ‘em.”

The DNR leaders told hunters during Wednesday’s meeting that they are going to make their greatest investment ever in researching the state’s deer population. In 2010-2011 the department will be conducting a number of new studies to better understand and then tweak their management of Wisconsin’s white tails.

Wildlife officials hope their new initiatives will restore public confidence in their management of the deer population and help show wildlife officials they have the same goal as hunters.