This year’s archery and crossbow deer hunting season in Wisconsin is opening on the calendar about as early as it possibly can.
On the opposite side, the gun-deer season will be opening later this year.
That means about a week more of archery hunting than in most years.
It also means that hunters may be dealing with warmer than average temperatures for the start of the season.
“From the deer's perspective, warm weather may influence movement, daylight movement negatively,” said Jeff Pritzl, the Wisconsin DNR Deer Program Specialist. “You could see that movement compressed in the daylight even closer to dawn and dusk if it's a really warm, warm day.”
This past winter registered as one of the lowest ever on the winter severity index.
It will likely mean people see more deer on the landscape this hunting season, because fawns were more likely to survive. Pritzl says that doesn’t necessarily mean harvest numbers will be up this year.
“Although some of those fawns will show up as part of the harvest, most of that will contribute next year. So, we may not see a real increase in harvest this year, but deer sightability should be on the uptick,” said Pritzl.
As hunters prepare, the Wisconsin DNR is reminding people to get deer they harvest tested for Chronic Wasting Disease.
“We are especially interested in receiving more samples from those priority areas around newer detections from wild or captive farm raised deer, positive detections in portions of northern and central Wisconsin,” said DNR Deer Herd Health Specialist Erin Larson.
The DNR is also reminding hunters to follow the best safety practices.
The state sees a lot of injuries during this hunting season related to unsafe tree stands.
Recreation Warden Nick Webster says there’s also usually an increase in injuries related to ATV and UTV use during the bow season.
“We see a lot of people using those to be able to pull their harvest out of the woods, to be able to get into the stand, and we do see a slight uptick and some of those injuries that occur on private property as people are starting to travel that way,” said Webster.
The bow season runs September 14th into January.
