Gun-deer season this year is predicted to be challenging for hunters as populations of healthy deer are on the decline and severe weather conditions are making deer harder to find.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 203,295 deer were bagged by hunters over the nine-day season in 2022, a 14% increase from 2021. This growth was most likely due to the early snow and lack of standing corn increasing the chance of deer sightings.
The DNR predicts that less deer will be bagged this year compared to 2022 due to the huge amounts of snow that are forecasted to cover Northern Wisconsin.
Deer harvest in Northern Wisconsin is currently behind by about 30% this year in the bow and crossbow season, and gun season is predicted to yield similar statistics.
Although more deer were bagged last year, fewer licenses were sold. The Wisconsin DNR sold a total of 795,072 gun, bow, crossbow, sports and patron licenses in 2022: a decline of 1.6% from 2021. License sales have been steadily dropping about 1.5% every year since 2000.
Jeff Pritzl, a DNR deer program specialist, stated that “We have seen the total days of effort of gun deer hunting in the northern forest decline by about 40% since the turn of the century.” More baby boomers are retiring their rifles and fewer younger people are interested in hunting, causing an overall decline in the number of hunters.
Many biologists fear that the deer population is growing out of control because of the lack of hunters. The DNR estimates that Wisconsin houses over 1.6 million white-tailed deer. This level of overpopulation is likely to cause habitat destruction, crop damage, vehicle collisions and disease, threatening the long-term survival of white-tailed deer in Wisconsin.
Chronic Wasting Disease was first identified in Mount Horeb, WI in 2002. Positive cases of this infectious, fatal, neurological cervid disease have been increasing, especially in Southern Wisconsin. Nearly 50% of adult bucks have tested positive for CWD in Iowa, Sauk and Richland counties in recent years.
The DNR stated that the best way to lower CWD cases is to reduce the amount of artificial congregation of deer, i.e., baiting and feeding. 58 counties in Wisconsin have a baiting and feeding ban, many of which will be renewing their restrictions.
The DNR urges hunters to drop off their deer’s head for CWD sampling. To find a testing site near you, visit the DNR’s website at dnr.wisconsin.gov.
