CRIVITZ, Wis. (AP) -- The first of 11 public hearings to find out what Wisconsin hunters think about extending the deer season from nine to 16 days is Wednesday night in Crivitz.

The Natural Resources Board authorized the hearings over the next four weeks on the plan to add seven days to the traditional nine-day hunt, starting in fall 2010.

The hunt would start two Saturdays before Thanksgiving.

The longer season is viewed as the newest solution for controlling the growth of state's whitetail herd after the board scrapped its Earn-A-Buck program this spring.

That regulation required hunters to kill an antlerless deer before they could shoot a buck.

After Crivitz, other hearings are planned in Onalaska, Madison, Rhinelander, Ashland, Appleton, Eau Claire, Sturtevant, Pewaukee, Spooner and Stevens Point.