The Wisconsin archery and crossbow season opens up this Saturday.
It will run through January 3rd for most of the state. Archery/crossbow seasons will continue through Jan. 31, 2027 in select Metro subunits and select Farmland Zone counties
As a reminder, deer management units changed last year.
Derek Johnson is the DNR Interim Deer Specialist. He says they’re still in a transition period for the new units in the northern portion of the state, but so far, he believes it’s been successful.
“What we've been seeing is more equitable distributions of tags on public and private lands, for antlerless tags, that is,” Johnson said during a press conference.
Johnson says deer population numbers are strong after three mostly mild winters in a row.
He says things right now are pointing to another strong harvest year like last year.
“Our harvest was strong, and then the number of deer observed by hunters was very strong. So, looks like going into winter things were good,” said Johnson. “The winter doesn't seem to have had a major impact on the deer population, and then with good reproduction this spring, there should be lots of deer out there for hunters to pursue.”
Bonus antlerless harvest authorizations remain available in many units. Bonus antlerless harvest authorizations may be filled using any weapon type during the appropriate season with the appropriate license but must be filled in the designated zone, unit and land type (public or private).
As deer hunters head out to the woods, the Wisconsin DNR is urging them to make safety the number one priority.
Hunters are encouraged to always use a harness, haul line and maintain three points of contact when getting in and out of a tree stand.
