Deer harvest totals down locally, across state
Hunters in both Clark and Marathon counties took home fewer deer this year than they did during last year’s nine-day gun season, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on Tuesday.
In Clark County, the nine-day deer harvest was down 2.6 percent over last year, with hunters registering 4,609 deer, compared to 4,734 in 2020. This included 1,818 bucks (down 5.2 percent) and 2,791 anterless (down .9 percent).
Marathon County hunters harvested nearly 8 percent fewer deer compared to last year The DNR said county gun-deer hunters killed 6,208 deer, which includes 3,057 antlered deer and 3,151 antlerless deer. This is 7.8 percent fewer deer than were harvested in 2020. Hunters shot three percent more antlered deer this year and 17.8 percent fewer antlerless deer.
This year’s gun-deer hunt represented an 11.9 percent drop in harvested deer compared to a five-year average. The loss splits up with 5.6 percent fewer antlered deer and 17.3 percent fewer antlerless deer.
Jeff Pritzl, DNR state deer program specialist, said the general theme of this year’s deer hunt was “quiet.” He reported that hunters commented that this year’s hunt was mostly peaceful with fewer shots taken, but that they were happy to enjoy being outside in pleasant weather.
Pritzl said a wind storm and precipitation slowed the opening weekend hunt a bit. Otherwise, he said, hunters enjoyed mild temperatures.
The deer harvest in the 20 counties that comprise the Northern Forest saw a 9.3 percent increase in total deer taken during the gun hunt over last year. He said this higher harvest was a state hunt highlight. The deer harvest trailed that region’s five year average by eight percent, however.
Pritzl noted that there was significantly less hunting pressure in the state’s southern farmland but declined to speculate on the reason for the change.
The deer specialist said more hunters continue to harvest deer in an early archery season and this may have contributed to the drop in the gun-deer harvest. Pritzl said further analysis was needed to see whether the total deer harvest for the year would be up or down.
He noted that the trend towards deer archery has been decades in the making. According to preliminary harvest registrations, hunters statewide killed 175,667 deer in the gun season. This represents a 7.9 percent drop from 2020.
Eric Lobner, DNR wildlife management program director, said the agency sold 808,224 hunting licenses for the gundeer season, which represented a 1.5 percent decline in sales over last year. A bright spot, he said, was the sale of 55,727 non-resident licenses, a sharp increase over last year.
Lobner said 60 percent of deer hunting licenses were `sold online and that the DNR’s internet sales program performed “flawlessly.” The DNR said the state had six deer firearm season hunting accidents, in- cluding one fatality. The fatality occurred in the town of Saxon, Iron County, where a 65-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to the chest after a knocked-over firearm discharged on the ground.
The agency said a 65-year-old male suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Nov. 26 in the town of Rib Falls, Marathon County. The victim was loading a pistol when his finger slipped off the hammer, causing the gun to fire and strike him in the ankle. He was transported to the hospital for treatment.
