SHIOCTON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Saturday marked the start of the nine-day gun deer hunt season.
Hunters took a break Sunday to enjoy some food at Hometown Grill in Shiocton.
It was hunter Elliot Pegel’s birthday, and he made the most of opening weekend.
“I’ve gotten two, a buck and a doe, I got the doe yesterday and then the buck today,” says Pegel.
Other hunters around the restaurant shared their success stories as well.
“I was lucky enough to to take a nice eight this morning, my brother took a doe yesterday, and then my nephew took another doe today,” says hunter Jerry Gorges.
Typically hunters split their time Sunday with the Green Bay Packers, but it was perfect timing with the team playing last Thursday instead.
“It’s nice especially during the deer season. I traditionally like Sunday games, but it’s nice during the deer season,” says Gorges.
“It’s kind of weird because we usually get the Packers flow if there’s a home game, so yeah it’s weird,” says Hometown Grill manager Tammy Collar.
Hunters say they wish it would have been a little bit warmer for the first couple of days of gun deer hunt season, but they say having some snow on the ground was helpful.
“The snow is fine, it helps you see the deer in the background, it helps you see tracks, see movement through the fields,” says Pegel.
“You can live with the cold.. It’s the wind and yesterday, that was just miserable,” says Gorges.
Collar says this is always a busy time for the restaurant.
“Yesterday we got really slammed at lunch time after the guys all came back in from the woods. I don’t know if we will be as busy through the week, but I think Friday will be like another opening day for everybody with them being off work,” says Collar.
Several hunters say Hometown Grill is a go to spot during the season.
“We usually make it every year, stop in for a breakfast, or dinner, or lunch, at least twice a season,” says Pegel.
The gun deer hunt season runs through November 27th.
According to the DNR, they estimate the deer population has been increasing since the early 2000s, and now stands at more than 1.5 million animals.
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