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WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – The 2025 nine-day gun deer hunt beings on November 22 and will run through Sunday, November 30.
Things are looking encouraging as the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is reporting an increase in archery and crossbow harvests, a high harvest total for the 2025 youth gun hunt and an increase in sales for licenses.
As of November 4, 2025, the archery season reports a harvest of 22,473 deer, with 12,769 buck harvests and 9,704 antlerless harvests. The Central Farmland Zone accounts for 14,403 of those total harvests, and the Northern Forest Zone .
Statewide, crossbow hunters have harvested 36,617 deer. The Wisconsin DNR notes that these numbers, combined with archery harvests, are ahead of this time last year.
The youth gun hunt registered a total of 8,446 harvests, surpassing last year’s numbers of just over 7,000. DNR Deer Specialist Jeff Pritzl said that this year’s youth hunt in October had one of its highest harvests ever, “second or third in history, as far as that harvest,” said Pritzl.
Changes to DMUs across the state were made, affecting some hunters as the season approaches. The adjustments include altered boundaries for several zones, including the Northern Forest, Central Farmland and Central Forest Zones.
The southern boundaries of the Northern Forest Zone have slightly shifted, impacting parts of Burnett, Washburn, Taylor, Lincoln and Langlade counties. These areas will now fall under the Central Farmland Zone for the 2025 season.
Additionally, Adams County will be entirely part of the Central Farmland Zone this year. Changes to the Central Forest Zone include the southwestern portion of Wood County and the northwestern part of Juneau County remain within the zone, though with slightly altered boundaries.
According to the DNR, license sales for gun, bow, crossbow, sports and patron licenses reached 463,983 through October 31, 2025, compared to 444,743 by this time last year.
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