WI Deer Harvest Numbers Down After Nine-Day Season

MILWAUKEE, WI — Both deer hunting licenses and white-tailed deer registered in the nine-day statewide harvest were down in 2021, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources reported.

Hunters registered a total of 175,667 deer, with 84,952 bucks and 90,715 antlerless deer among the kill, the state wildlife agency said. That's 7.9 percent fewer total deer registered compared to 2020. The buck harvest was down 1.3 percent, and the antlerless deer harvest was down 13.2 percent.

Hunters killed a total of 188,712 white-tailed deer in the gun deer hunt in 2020, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. That was 16 percent more than in 2019.

The state wildlife agency sold 808,224 hunting licenses in 2021, with 564,440 for gun privileges. License sales were down 1.5 percent over 2020, the agency added.

The agency sold 569,203 gun deer licenses in 2020, the Journal Sentinel reported.

The Northern Forest Deer Management Zone led the rest of the state in deer harvests, with 19,602 bucks and 12,595 antlerless deer bagged in the deer hunt, the state wildlife agency said. Buck harvests were up 14.9 percent, and antlerless harvests were up 1.7 percent over 2020.

Deer harvests were down in the rest of the management zones, particularly in the Southern Farmland Zone, where buck harvests were down 13.8 percent, and antlerless harvests were down 19.5 percent.

Five people suffered injuries involving firearms, and one person died over the nine days, the state wildlife agency said. A 65-year-old man was shot and killed in a hunting accident in the town of Saxon, the Iron County Sheriff's Office said.

See Also: 65-Year-Old Dies After Hunting Accident In Northern WI

The following were gun safety tips for hunters in every gun deer season.

• Treat every firearm as if it's loaded.
• Always point the muzzle in a safe direction.
• Be certain of the target, what's before it, and what's beyond it.
• Keep fingers outside the trigger guard until it's safe to shoot.

See Also: Four Safety Tips Ahead Of Gun Deer Season's First Day