A doe deer in a Door County soybean field, November 7, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The nine-day gun-deer season may be over, but there’s still plenty of hunting to do in Wisconsin.
Department of Natural Resources experts say it’s part of an overall push to help reduce the deer population.
The DNR’s preliminary gun-deer season totals are down 17.6 percent, but not unexpected by State Deer Program Specialist Jeff Pritzl.
“We did anticipate not meeting last year’s harvest numbers due to that snow factor. We had snow cover throughout the season last year, which we don’t get all that often. So we knew that enhanced the 2022 numbers. So if we’re going to compare what happened this year, just to 2022, yes, that had an influence,” said Jeff Pritzl, DNR State Deer Program Specialist.
But Pritzl says there are other opportunities for hunters across the state.
“Especially in the farmland portions of the state. We’re currently in the muzzleloader season, which will be followed by a four-day antlerless season. That will be statewide, for those who have antlerless permits available. And the holiday hunt. That happens in select counties in the farmland zones. There will be 39 counties, or deer management units participating in that holiday hunt this year,” he said.
One of those counties is Door County, where harvest numbers are down about 10 percent from last year. Heading into the nine-day campaign, Deer Advisory Council Chair Greg Coulthurst says Door County offered four antlerless tags for each deer license sold. They are also extended their archery season there until the end of January.
“We only have so many hunters, and quite frankly, people only want to harvest one or two deer, because that’s all they can consume in a year. But again, we have the donation program. There’s people that will utilize that in food pantries. But we need more people to go that extra mile, and just harvest a few more antlerless deer, and donate them,” said Greg Coulthurst, Door County Deer Advisory Council Chair.
According to the DNR, about 600,000 hunters typically participate in the 9-day gun deer season. About half that number, also hunt in the bow, and crossbow seasons.
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