Another gun deer hunting season is in the history book. Despite what a number of hunters described as a cold and brutal weekend season opener, a statewide total of 103,623 deer were registered compared to the 90,023 registered for the same period in 2021.

This is a 15.1% increase over 2021 and is on par with the average opening weekend harvest. Including the bow, crossbow, and youth gun hunts, more than 200,000 whitetails, of which 113,854 were bucks had been registered through November 21st.

A total of 56,638 bucks were registered on opening weekend, compared to 49,721 in 2021. This is a 13.9% increase over 2021 and is 2% above the 5-year state average.

Pertaining to the local level, as of November 21, Chippewa County had registered 1,911 deer, Clark County 3,276 deer, and Eau Claire County 1,247 deer. Taylor County topped all other counties in the Northern Forest Region with 1,691 deer registrations. Although deer registration numbers have increased, preliminary figures indicate that the number of deer hunters in Wisconsin decreased compared to 2021.

As of midnight, November 20, sales for gun, bow, crossbow, sports and patron licenses reached a total of 779,123. Of that total, 421,479 were for gun privileges only. The year to date sales for all deer licenses are down 2% from the same time last year.

Unfortunately, last week the DNR reported six firearm hunting incidents that resulted in one fatality during the opening weekend of the 2022 gun deer season. The fatality happened while unloading a firearm in the backseat of a vehicle causing the death of an 11 year old. Wisconsin’s 10 year average is approximately 6 hunting incidents for the gun deer hunt. The decline in incidents is a direct result of hunter safety education given by Wisconsin’s volunteer instructors and conversation wardens.