Wisconsin hunters likely bagged 20 percent to 30 percent fewer deer in the nine-day gun season that ended Sunday than they did last year, state wildlife officials say.
In the north, the decline is attributed to the release of fewer hunting permits after a harsh winter trimmed the deer population, said Jim Bishop, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources in Spooner.
Fewer permits also were issued in the south, where a special “shoot-a-doe-earn-a-buck” program reduced the deer herd in several units last year, said Tom Hauge, director of the DNR’s Bureau of Wildlife Management.
Foggy conditions Friday and Saturday also reduced hunting opportunities in the south, Hauge said.
When the season started Nov. 22, the DNR expected hunters to kill about 300,000 deer from a herd estimated at 1.17 million.
Hunters killed 124,281 deer during the hunt’s opening weekend, compared with 168,120 the previous year, the DNR reported.
Preliminary totals for the nine-day season are expected Tuesday, Hauge said. Last year, gun hunters killed 388,791 deer from a herd estimated at 1.5 million deer.
At least two fatalities were reported during the gun season.
