Have a safe and successful hunting season

Star News

Editorials

As hunting seasons come and go, nothing quite matches the excitement and tradition of the annual 9-day gun deer season. The gun deer season starts this Saturday Nov. 19 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 27.

Last year more than 550,000 hunters took part in the gun-deer season.

Some head to the forests and fields of Wisconsin’s wild lands to try and bring home a trophy buck. Other hunters have the priority of putting high quality meat in the freezer.

Still others spend more time playing euchre or perfecting their chili recipe while swapping stories at the hunting shack than they do on deer drives or sitting in a tree stand.

Whatever their motivation, the hundreds of thousands of sportsmen and women who take part in the hunt help renew family traditions and pass them on to future generations of outdoors enthusiasts.

Along with their traditions and the stories of fabled monster bucks that they came “this close” to harvesting, hunters also bring with them a significant economic impact.

The average hunter in the state spends about $2,800 a year on their hobby between gear, ammunition, travel, clothing, food and beverages.

Statewide, hunting supports 34,000 Wisconsin jobs, from large retailers to smaller Main Street businesses. This generates about $1 billion a year in salaries and wages. With much of this due to hunters from more urban areas coming to hunt on public and private lands in rural communities, this provides an important source of revenue for rural communities across the state.

AccordingtoJeffPritzl,deerprogramspecialistforthe Wisconsin Department of Natural resources, this year’s deer harvest numbers should be similar to last year’s. He estimates buck harvest should near around 150,000 and total harvest somewhere over 300,000.

Regardless of the number of deer harvested or hunters in the woods, the true measure of success in hunting season is that everyone comes home safe.

Safety needs to be a priority for hunters before, during and after the hunt. According to the DNR, in 1966 the state hunting incident rate was 44 injuries for every 100,000 hunters. In large part to the mandatory hunter education classes, that rate has been dropping steadily for years with 10.6 incidents per 100,000 participants in 1985, 4.8 in 1995 and about 0.5 in 2018.

The 2021 gun deer season saw six shooting incidents, including one fatality. All six were on private property and four of the six were self-inflicted.

Gun safety is only one part of ensuring the hunt is a safe one. Other factors include weather conditions during the hunt, the condition of equipment such as tree stands and the physical health of the hunters.

While there is little that can be done to impact the weather, it is important to be prepared for Wisconsin’s constantly changing weather conditions. This goes for dressing when heading out into the woods and for driving to the hunting shack.

Before you go out in the woods check your equipment and repair or replace any damaged parts. If using a tree stand, be sure to wear the appropriate safety harness and make sure your gun is unloaded before you attempt to bring it up to your stand.

Perhaps the most important part of ensuring a safe hunt is to know your physical limits. Walking miles back into the woods and climbing into tree stands are not routine activities for most people and the unfamiliar strain can lead to injury. Be sure to let people know where you are hunting and have designated check in times so that they know if they should come looking for you. When you bag your deer, have a plan on how you will haul it out of the woods without putting yourself into cardiac arrest.

The annual gun deer season is an important time of year for both hunters and non-hunters in the state, providing an important economic boost to rural areas and bringing a sense of excitement as people celebrate and share in other hunters’ success.

While not every hunter will have success in bringing home the big one this year, with a small amount of effort every hunter can come home safe to share the stories of missed shots, Korbel and cribbage in the hunting shack.