Jerry Georg Jr., 13, of Plymouth, was looking for his first deer ever opening day of the 2014 gun deer season, after not having luck last season.
Georg did not wait long. By the time the morning was over Georg had filled his and his father’s tag with a doe and a yearling.
“It was exciting. I was pumped up,” Georg said. “The first shot was good. It was in the heart. Then it ran 20 to 30 yards. The yearling came back around by its mom, and I shot that one. It wasn’t the best shot.”
Georg said he was in his stand for about 2½ hours before the deer wandered by.
It was probably easier for Shawano County hunters to sit in their stands this year than last year, when bitterly cold temperatures made the opener tough.
The mild weather on Saturday, though, gave way to rainy and foggy conditions on Sunday that may have limited the harvest.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the deer harvest was down 18.5 percent statewide. There was less of a drop off in Shawano County, where 2,457 deer were registered opening weekend for a 6 percent decline from the previous year. In 2013, 2,625 deer were registered opening weekend.
Most of the decline came from the antlerless harvest. Buck numbers in Shawano held steady: 1,378 this year, 1,386 a year ago. Only 1,079 does were taken this year, compared to 1,239 the year before.
Statewide, a big chunk of the decline came from the northern regions of the state where counties are restricted to buck only to help increase the herd’s numbers.
John Huff, DNR Peshtigo area supervisor, spent his day gathering information on the deer population at the registration station at Qualheim’s True Value in Shawano.
“What we’re focused on is percent of the yearlings that are out there, the antler development of deer, to get an idea of physical condition, the shape that the herd is in,” Huff said. “We use that information to make population estimates and make predictions about what the herd is doing in coming years.”
This is the first year the DNR is allowing call-in registration for deer, but it is still running registration stations like the one at Qualheim’s in many areas. The DNR is also running experiments in select counties to gather information Huff was gathering.
“We’re running a pilot program this year in several counties around the state to see if we can get the same information or similar information by going to meat processors and looking at the deer there,” Huff said. “If that doesn’t get us everything we need, we may be looking toward asking folks to submit jaws or maybe bring their deer in next year. We’re in a transition period. We’re trying to find the best way to get the same information we’re getting now.”
Outagamie and Marinette counties are two of the counties in the area participating in the pilot program this season.
The DNR also said the opening weekend was safe. No hunting-related injuries were recorded.
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