Hunters register 18% fewer deer in Wisconsin's nine-day gun season

Hunters registered 173,942 white-tailed deer during the 2023 Wisconsin nine-day gun deer season, a decrease of 18% from the previous year and 11% below the five-year average, according to a preliminary report issued Tuesday by the Department of Natural Resources.

The 2023 kill included 85,390 bucks (down 15% from 2022) and 88,552 antlerless deer (down 20%). 

All four deer management regions showed lower year-over-year deer registrations, with the central farmland at 98,283 (down 17%), southern farmland at 41,349 (down 7%), northern forest at 28,020 (down 30%) and central forest at 6,290 (down 20%).

Continuing a long-term trend, the DNR reported a slight decline in license sales. For the year, 788,697 license buyers had deer hunting privileges, 0.8% fewer than 2022, according to the agency. This year's total included 434,817 with only gun licenses.

The 2023 gun deer season ran Nov. 18-26.

"Overall (the season) was relatively quiet," said Jeff Pritzl, DNR deer program specialist. "One thing we have to acknowledge is the winter impact, especially on the northern forest. There were fewer deer on the landscape there than last season."

The Wisconsin winter of 2022-23 was moderate overall in the northern forest region but included "very severe" conditions in five northwestern counties, according to the DNR's annual report on winter severity.

Hunting conditions were mixed for the 2023 gun hunt. While weather was mild statewide, with most days featuring temperatures in the 40s and light winds, no snow was on the landscape for the majority of the season, making it more difficult for hunters to see and track deer.

And although the season opened on the second earliest day possible, increasing the possibilities of deer activity related to the rut (or deer breeding), it didn't seem to play a major factor, Pritzl said.

The nine-day gun hunt starts on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The rut in Wisconsin typically peaks in early November.

In addition, a large acorn crop was reported in most of the state, providing more natural food for deer and helping reduce movement.

Though the deer registrations are down from 2022 and the five-year average, the 2023 results are very similar to 2021, when 175,667 deer were reported in the preliminary post-hunt results.

"That's part of that ebb and flow we have as part of hunting," Pritzl said.

The top five counties for deer kill were Marathon (6,041), Vernon (5,428), Shawano (5,034), Waupaca (5,017) and Polk (4,413).

The highest density deer kill was recorded in Adams County farmland, where hunters registered 9.7 deer per square mile.

The trend seen in Wisconsin's 2023 deer kill is not confined to the Badger State.  

In Minnesota, the 2023 firearms and archery harvest has so far accounted for 125,184 deer, 22% less than 2022, according to Minnesota DNR data.

Michigan's gun deer season is still in progress and hunters there have 72 hours to report kills. However, deer registrations during the state's early archery season were down 13% this year versus last year, according to the Michigan DNR.

The Wisconsin gun deer season included three non-fatal shooting incidents: a self-inflicted foot injury Nov. 18 to a hunter in Forest County; a woman shot in the thigh Nov. 19 by a hunter who was hunting with permission on her property in Adams County; and a hunter shot in the leg Nov. 24 by another hunter while the two were participating in a deer drive in Taylor County.

The 10-year average is 5.9 shooting incidents during the state's gun deer season, said DNR administrative warden Mike Weber. Six of the seasons in the last decade have occurred without a shooting fatality.

The statewide muzzleloader deer hunting season is in progress and ends Dec. 6.

Additional gun deer hunting seasons are: the Dec. 7-10 antlerless hunt statewide; the Dec. 24-Jan. 1 antlerless holiday hunt in select farmland zone counties; and extended archery and crossbow seasons through Jan. 31 in many counties.