County hunters had more success in 2020

The increase in the number of deer harvested on opening weekend wasn’t a fluke as Trempealeau County hunters managed to take down close to 20 percent more deer in 2020 than in 2019.

Hunters saw an increase of  roughly 11 percent from 2019 on opening weekend, but that was just the start. Throughout the nine-day gun season, county hunters harvested 4,441 deer in 2020, compared to 3,707 in 2019. The increase was spread throughout antlered and antlerless buck as county residents shot 1,780 bucks and 2,661 does in 2020, compared to 1,448 and 2,219 in 2019. 

The county numbers were close to the state totals as 2020 Wisconsin hunters registered 15.8 percent more deer than in 2019. Preliminary figures show that hunters registered 188,712 deer during the nine-day gun deer hunt, including 85,340 antlered and 103,372 antlerless deer. Since archery season opened Sept. 12, hunters have registered 305,171 deer statewide, showing the growing impact of earlier seasons on cumulative harvest.

Deer harvest trends since the beginning of the archery season were above 2019 levels, and this trend continued through the gun deer season. Compared to 2019, the total nine-day gun deer harvest was up 15.8 percent statewide, with buck harvest up 12.2 percent and antlerless harvest up 19 percent. All management zones showed harvest increases from 2019.

Current deer harvest totals have surpassed the total deer harvested in 2019, but harvest trends lag behind 2018, which had the highest total deer harvest since 2013. While many southern farmland zone counties saw double-digit increases in the buck harvest, the harvest was not evenly distributed across the state.

Preliminary figures continue to indicate that the number of deer hunters in Wisconsin increased compared to the same period for both 2019 and 2018.

As of midnight, Sunday, Nov. 29, sales for gun, bow, crossbow, sports and patron licenses reached 820,299. Of that total, 569,203 were for gun privileges, including gun, patron and sports licenses. The year-to-date sales for all deer licenses are up 3.5 percent from the same time last year.

Female hunters remain the largest growing demographic in 2020, with the number of female hunters reaching nearly 92,312, up 12 percent from last year. The number of non-resident licenses decreased this year, likely due to COVID-19.

Of the licenses sold to date, 42 percent were sold in person through transactions at DNR license agents. The remaining 58 percent of licenses were purchased online. Deer hunting license and harvest authorization sales will continue throughout the remaining deer hunting seasons.

Final license sales figures will be available in January, at which time DNR staff will perform a thorough analysis and interpretation.

The DNR also reported nine firearm-involved injuries and one fatality during the 2020 season. One of the incidents came in Onalaska as a 62-year-old male fell, causing the rifle to discharge with a round entering his right foot.