WISCONSIN — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced the preliminary deer harvest data as well as license sales on Tuesday for opening weekend of gun deer season.
Preliminary figures show that the number of deer hunters has declined since 2021. Sales for gun, bow, crossbow, sports and patron licenses reached 779,123 as of Sunday, Nov. 20. Of those sales, 421,474 were for gun privileges only.
The year-to-date sales for all deer licenses are down 2% from the same time last year, according to Wisconsin DNR.The number of conservation patron licenses sold so far is 2.2% higher compared to last year's, though.
Of the total licenses sold, 62% were sold online, and 38% were sold in-person. Final license sales figures will be available in January.
As for the deer:
- 102,347 deer were registered statewide during the opening weekend of the 2022 gun deer hunt — a 15% increase over 2021
- A total of 55,503 bucks were registered — a 14% increase over 2021 and is 2% above the five-year average
The regular gun deer season continues through Nov. 27. The statewide muzzleloader season goes from Nov. 28 to Dec. 7 and the statewide antlerless-only four-day season runs from Dec. 8-11. Antlerless holiday hunts in select farmland zone counties later in December.
