PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Warm temperatures contributed to opening weekend deer hunting numbers being lower than last year, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says.
Hunters registered 92,050 deer over the weekend. That was down 16% from the 103,623 registered during 2022’s opening weekend, and 10% below the five-year average.
This year’s opening weekend hunt took 51,870 bucks, down 13% from last year’s 56,638.
“Conditions for opening weekend this year were mostly clear and dry. Mornings were cold, crisp and quiet. Temperatures increased quickly each day, which seemed to suppress both hunter and deer movement somewhat in the afternoons,” the DNR said in a news release.
The DNR also said antlerless numbers contributed to the lower take. Hunters tend to shoot more antlerless deer later in the season, officials say.
As of midnight Sunday, the DNR had sold 774,369 licenses for gun, bow and crossbow hunting. Of that, 421,525 were for gun privileges only.
Year-to-date sales for all deer licenses are down .61% from 2022.
The nine-day gun deer season ends this Sunday.
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