Gun deer season harvest up 5.2% from a year ago

Preliminary numbers from the 2024 Wisconsin gun deer season show an increase in deer licenses and the number of deer killed compared to 2023. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said that as of Dec. 1, sales for deer hunting privileges (which include gun, archery, crossbow, conservation patron and sports licenses) reached 791,023, up from 788,697 for the same time period last year. Of those, 553,652 were for gun privileges only, up from 553,479 in 2023. Deer hunting license and harvest authorization sales will continue throughout the remaining deer hunting seasons. Final license sales figures will be available in January, when DNR staff will perform a thorough analysis and interpretation. Preliminary figures show hunters registered 189,622 deer during the 2024 gun deer season, including 89,787 antlered and 99,835 antlerless deer. Compared to 2023, the gun season harvest total is up 5.2% statewide, with the antlered harvest up 3.6% and the antlerless harvest up 6.6%. Since the opening of the bow and crossbow seasons, Wisconsin hunters have registered 289,361 deer. This harvest is 8.7% ahead of the same time last year. Adams County in the Central Farmland Zone led the state with 12.4 deer registered per square mile. Vernon County led the Southern Farmland Zone with 7 deer registered per square mile. Adams County also led the Central Forest Zone registering 4.2 deer per square mile. Finally, Florence County led the Northern Forest Zone with 2.9 deer registered per square mile. The DNR’s Wisconsin Deer Harvest Summary webpage (https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/harvest/deerharvest) contains more information regarding preliminary harvest registration totals, including county-level numbers. In Shawano County, there were 5,380 deer harvested, including 2,702 antlered and 2,678 antlerless. In Oconto County, the harvest was 3,826, including 1,823 antlered and 2,003 antler less. The regular gun deer season ran from Nov. 23 through Dec. 1 and is followed by the statewide muzzleloader season (Dec. 2-11), the statewide antlerless-only four-day hunt (Dec. 12-15) and the antlerless-only holiday hunt in select farmland zone counties (Dec. 24 to Jan. 1, 2025). The DNR reports only one nonfatal firearm-related hunting incident during the 2024 gun deer season. That happened in the Town of Wheatland in Vernon County. About 4 p.m. Nov. 29, a 14-year-old boy was sitting in an enclosed tower stand with his father, hunting on private property. The father heard what sounded like a gunshot in the distance. Shortly after, the boy felt pain in his feet and found that he was shot through both the left and right foot. He was transported privately to a hospital and received medical treatment for his injuries. The shooter has been identified, and an investigation is pending.