CRIVITZ, WI (WTAQ)- With deer hunting starting Saturday, some small communities are ready to welcome in a large number of hunters, and along with that, a large amount of dollars.
Crivitz has a population of just under 1000, but on opening weekend, that number grows quite rapidly.
Village President John Deschane said “Starting Thursday night through Friday night, it is a steady stream of cars, and when they are here, they are spending money.”
Resturants, bars and sporting good stores are busy, but Deschane said he notices that the grocery stores do quite well
“You can’t get in the parking lot at the local grocery store because the hunters are there stocking up on goodies for the weekend. My wife will go shopping before Thursday, because she can’t get in the parking lot.”
Some of the social aspect of hunting has been affected by the DNR’s decision to eliminate registration stations for the past couple of seasons.
Deschane said in Crivitz, many still join up local bars and resturants, especially when they are here for days at a time.
What brings people to Crivitz, Deschane said is availability.
“We have a lot of public land in the Crivitz area and Marinette County has over 230,000 acres of county forests, which is available for hunting.”
Deschane said the Crivitz area also has quite a few deer available.
Marinette County had over 2,600 harvested deer in 2016.
“Many say we don’t have deer here, but we do” Deschane said.
DeSchane said businesses help eachother.
It is one of two large crowds to come to Crivitz, with July 4th being the other.
