(The Center Square) – Wisconsin had two gun incidents, including a death after a self-inflicted gunshot, during the opening weekend of deer-hunting season, which runs from Nov. 22-30.
The fatal incident happened Saturday evening in Fond du Lac County where a 24-year-old male in a saddle stand was found after an unintentional self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest that is still being investigated.
The second gun-related incident happened Saturday afternoon in Grant County when a 57-year-old male was shot in the buttock while walking to a field to begin hunting.
The fatal gunshot was the first in the state during hunting season since 2022.
Overall, hunters registered harvesting 48,748 antlered deer for opening weekend, up from 48,063 a year before. Antlerless totals were 41,923, up 7% from a year before.
There were a similar numbers of hunters year over year with 777,843 registrations sold for all varieties of hunting.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources experts indicated that the state could see a rise in the deer harvest if snowfall occurs and remains on the ground for the second weekend of the season.
