For the last four or five years, wardens have spent more time on programs aimed at recruiting and retaining hunters, DNR chief conservation warden Todd Schaller said.

“The warden service has taken on a big initiative to promote hunting and shooting, and that does take some time away from enforcement,” Schaller said.

Republicans who gained control of state government in 2011 have pushed for measures to counter flagging interest in hunting.

Participation rates for adult males dropped 16 percent between 2000 and 2009, with a similar decrease for juveniles.

Schaller said the agency’s law enforcement bureau currently has nine vacancies among 224 field staff positions. Vacancy rates are a snapshot of a certain day each year. For the last two years the rates have been the lowest since 2010.

Poaching hotspots

Meyer said DNR employees have told him they respond to complaints about illegal activity, but short staffing means they don’t have sufficient time to patrol poaching hotspots, where they can catch lawbreakers in the act, or lakes and streams, to check for licenses, Meyer said.