A doe deer in a Door County soybean field, November 7, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Preliminary data shows Wisconsin deer harvest is up 5.2% during the 2024 gun hunting season.
The nine-day gun deer hunt kicked off Nov. 23 with a slow start. The DNR reported fewer hunters harvested fewer deer than they did a year ago during opening weekend.
But it seems those numbers picked up throughout the remainder of the season, which ended on Sunday.
As of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, 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.
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.
Deer hunting license and harvest authorization sales will continue throughout the remaining deer hunting seasons:
- Statewide muzzleloader season began Monday and will go through Dec. 11.
- The statewide antlerless-only four-day hunt (Dec. 12-Dec. 15)
- The antlerless-only holiday hunt in select farmland zone counties (Dec. 24-Jan. 1, 2025).
Hunters of all ages who harvested their first deer are encouraged to create a first harvest certificate here.
Final license sales figures will be available in January, when DNR staff will perform a thorough analysis and interpretation.
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