SHAWANO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – It’s time to break out the blaze orange because it’s that time of year again. An estimated 600,000 hunters will take to the field for the nine-day gun season.
So what are your chances of bagging a trophy buck during Deer Hunt 2018?
Jeff Pritzl, DNR District Wildlife Supervisor, tells FOX 11 it may start by taking a look at the health of the herd.
“In general, it’s that last week of October, first two weeks of November are going to be the bulk of the activity level. But it will carry on, into that third week of November.”
Pritzl says the deer mating season called the rut, is underway.
“You’ll see them rubbing their eye socket, and antlers on the brush above the scrape, and even licking, because their saliva will leave scent.”
Pritzl says there is plenty of deer in the farmland areas.
In Shawano County, many hunters see it first hand.
“I know on my own land, I’ve got a number of cameras out, and the population is good. The population is steady. On any given night, out here, there would be six, eight, ten deer,” said Brian Heins, Shawano County Deer Advisory Council.
Just up the road in the Northern Forest Zone of Marinette County, Al Hofacker Marinette County Deer Advisory Council, tells FOX 11 four years of mild to moderate weather helped the herd here to recover.
“In the northern forest zone, has increased by nearly 25 percent, Again the result of mild winters, a limited number of antlerless permits, and very good fawn production.”
Marinette County’s Farmland Zone is expanding by 200 square miles.
Hofacker says the Council moved the boundary to reflect the deer population on the landscape.
“We increased the tags this year for the Northern Forest Zone, and we also authorized for the farmland zone, two free antlerless deer permits for each deer license.”
In Shawano County, Heins says as the gun season approaches, the excitement level builds.
“A lot of guys are letting the smaller bucks go by, the year and a half old, two-year-olds. Looking for the bigger four-year-old or five-year-old buck. But as time goes along, I’m sure they will start to be less picky about what they take.”
The season begins Saturday about 6:30 in the morning for much of Northeast Wisconsin.
