MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources today announced the preliminary deer harvest and license sale totals for the opening weekend of the state’s 170th gun deer season.
In total, 85,860 deer were harvested by gun and registered statewide during the opening weekend of the 2021 nine-day gun deer hunt, compared to the 99,832 registered for the same period in 2020. A total of 47,529 bucks were registered on opening weekend, compared to 51,241 in 2020.
Preliminary figures indicate that the number of deer hunters in Wisconsin also decreased compared to 2020.
As of midnight Sunday, Nov. 21, sales for gun, bow, crossbow, sports and patron licenses reached 795,039. Of that total, 551,809 were for gun privileges only, including gun, patron and sports licenses. The year-to-date sales for all deer licenses are down 1.5% from the same time last year.
The Department of Natural Resources reported three firearm related hunting incidents. Two of them occurred in Door County, the other, in Waukesha County.