The nine-day Gun Deer Season in Wisconsin is just over two weeks away.
The big changes for hunters in the Northwoods this year is the new deer management units.
Units are no longer determined by county boundaries.
Wisconsin DNR Deer Program Specialist Jeff Pritzl says it will be very important for hunters to pay attention to which unit they’re in when it comes to acquiring antlerless harvest permits.
“We know from past experience that during the week leading up to the gun deer season we’ll sell over 100,000 deer hunting licenses,” said Pritzl. “There's a whole cohort of deer hunters that may not have been plugged in yet, and will be really just thinking about this for the first time in the coming weeks. We want to make sure they're aware of those changes, especially in the Northern Forest Zone.”
After two mild winters, it’s looking like there will be plenty of deer to harvest this year.
Pritzl says the archery season is running a bit ahead of last year. The youth firearm season that occurred in October was one of the highest harvests that they've ever had.
“On the other side, it's one of the late, not the latest, but one of the later dates for opening of the gun deer season. That late opener moves us a little further away from the peak of the rut, or the breeding season,” said Pritzl. “We know that every day that we get further away from the peak of the rut, which is essentially right now. We lose daytime deer movement activity.”
License sales are up a fair amount compared to the same time last year, but Pritzl says it’s too early to speculate whether it’s an overall increase or if people are just buying licenses earlier than usual.
The nine-day gun deer season runs Saturday, November 22nd through Sunday, November 30th.
