Early deer harvest up ten percent

With more than 106,000 whitetails registered the first nine weeks of the fall hunting seasons — over 60,000 with crossbows and 37,000-plus with archery gear alone — some hunters might be more patient than usual.

“We know from past years that fewer than half take a second deer,” said Department of Natural Resources deer specialist Jeff Pritzl.

“It seems they get much pickier once they have one in the freezer.”

Through Nov. 17, hunters had registered 67,196 antlered bucks and 39,396 antlerless.

This column was written Friday, the day prior to the opener. At that time, forecasters were calling for mild air until midweek, then turning sharply colder with a chance of snow on the final weekend of the regular gun deer hunt.

Top harvest counties prior to opening day were Marathon with 3,979, Waupaca with 3,634 and Shawano with 3,145. However, counties that have a mix of farmland zones plus new Northern Forest Deer Management Units won’t have harvest numbers available until after the season.

Both Marinette and Oconto counties had more than 2,200 whitetails registered in the farm portions of their zones. But until the DNR completes its annual harvest summary at season’s end, it’s unknown how many deer from DMUs 125 and 126 will be added to the county totals. More than 1,600 combined have already been registered in those two DMUs.

Northern Forest DMU 108 had 1,120 registrations and DMU 110 1,083. DMUs 115 and 126 were approaching 1,000. In the Central Forest, DMU 202 was leading with 559 deer.

In the Southern Farmland, Vernon County had 2,279 deer reported, Columbia 2,240, Dodge 1,712, Sauk 1,698, Dane 1,424, Crawford 1,401, Grant 1,325 and Richland 1,290.

The total harvest is up about 10% over 2024. Most regional comparisons aren’t possible this year due to new zone and unit boundaries. Only the Southern Farmland Zone remains the same. The Northern and Central Forest Zones are smaller, and the Central Farmland is bigger, having taken on the most productive areas from the forest zones.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota DNR said that the state’s early harvest is up about 8% from last year.

Through the first nine days of the firearm season there, hunters harvested 123,634 deer. Antlered males accounted for 64% of the harvest, does made up 25% and fawns comprised 11%. The total statewide deer harvest stood at 157,983.

In Michigan, hunters have topped 160,000 whitetails this fall, including more than 58,000 the first few days of the firearm deer hunt that began Nov. 15. More than 70% of them were antlered bucks. The early fall numbers were said to be down about 10% from last year.

Safety first

Volunteer hunter education instructors hope that thousands of recent graduates remember what they learned about safety — and remind their adult mentors, too. Most years, about half of the shooting accidents statewide are self-inflicted, and most of the others involve members of the same party.

As always, instructors say safe hunting is no accident when you follow the rules of firearm safety: treat every firearm as if it is loaded; always point the muzzle in a safe direction; be sure of your target, and what’s in front of and beyond it; and keep your finger outside the trigger guard until you’ve identified your target and it’s safe to shoot.
Local deer donations

All deer shot by hunters must be registered no later than 5 pm on the day after recovery. You can do that online via https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Hunt/ereg.html or by phone at 1-844-GAME-REG (1-844-426-3734).

Hunters can share their harvest to help feed those with food insecurity issues.

Local processors in the state’s deer donation program include Pelkin’s Smokey Meat Market, Meatski’s Quality Meats and Liljestand’s One Stop in Marinette County and Hillcrest Meats and Wisco Meats in Oconto County. Get contact info and learn more at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/donation.

DNR violation hotline

Call or text 1-800-TIP-WDNR (1-800-847-9367). Information will be relayed to a DNR officer for investigation. You do not have to leave your name when reporting a violation. However, it can be helpful if an officer can follow-up to verify facts and let you know the outcome of the investigation.

You can also submit a violation tip online https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/contact/Hotline.html.

DNR customer helpline

Have a license, registration or regulation question? Operators are available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at 1-888-WDNRINFo (1-888-936-7463).