(The Center Square) – Wisconsin saw 4% less deer harvested during the first weekend of gun hunting season than a year.
There were more than 89,000 deer reported harvested in gun season through Monday with 49,035 antlered and 40,063 antlerless. The overall numbers are 4.7% below the five-year average.
There were more than 200,000 deer reported as harvested in the state during the entire hunting season including archery, crossbow and the youth deer hunt through Monday and with 118,670 antlered and 82,265 antlerless.
The lower gun hunting numbers are due to a late hunting season based on the calendar, along with weather, rather than being about the state’s deer population, according to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Deer Program Specialist Jeffrey Pritzl.
The deer are most active in the first week of November and a late season can lead to lower numbers.
The gun hunting season runs from Nov. 23 to Dec. 1.
“We will take more stock in what we see over the rest of the week,” Pritzl said.
Sales for deer hunting privileges are 778,111, up nearly 0.5% from the same time last year. There have been 541,258 gun hunting licenses sold.
There were no firearm hunting incidents reported on opening weekend after there were two on opening weekend last year, according to DNR Hunter Education Administrative Warden Renee Thok.
Pritzl said that archery numbers are up this season, especially in some of the areas like the northern forest that were down in the opening weekend of the gun hunt.
There have been 35,990 deer harvested so far this archery season, which runs through Jan. 31.
Muzzleloader season is Dec. 2-11 following the gun hunt before a four-day antlerless-only hunt from Dec. 12-15.