Wisconsin Hunters Harvest Fewer Deer on Opening Weekend

MADISON, Wis. (CIVIC MEDIA) – Hunters harvested about 1,600 fewer deer in this year’s opening weekend of the gun deer hunt than last year. 

The Department of Natural Resources announced Tuesday that hunters registered 89,203 deer across Wisconsin during opening weekend. Last year, that number was 90,831. That’s a 1.8% drop. It’s also 4.7% below the 5-year average. 

There was also a drop in antlered deer registered. Hunters reported 4.3% fewer antlered deer than last year. 

Meanwhile, there were slightly more hunters. The number of licenses sold increased by almost half a percent. Total, 778,111 hunters applied for privileges. 

Staff from the DNR said reports were mixed around the state. Some hunters saw tons of deer, while others didn’t see any. They said deer harvest and sightings were lower than last year, which is what they expected.