Despite a slow start to the gun season, you will see fewer deer in the woods thanks to area hunters over the last two weeks. According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, hunters registered 189,622 deer during the nine-day gun season, which includes 89,787 antlered deer. That is up 5.2 percent statewide over last year, with both antlered (3.6 percent) and antlerless (6.6 percent) also trending up. Door and Kewaunee counties saw similar increases in deer harvest numbers. In Door County, 2,451 deer (1,153 antlered) were harvested, an increase of 7.1 percent over 2023 and 5.9 percent over the five-year average. Kewaunee County saw 1,892 deer (828 antlered) registered, up 5.9 percent over last year and 0.2 percent above the five-year average.

Overall, the Wisconsin deer harvest across all seasons (bow, crossbow, gun, etc.) to this point is 289,361, which is up nearly nine percent from last year. The state also had one of its safest gun hunting seasons on record, with just one non-fatal accident occurring in Vernon County despite a slight increase in the number of hunters entering the woods this year.  There are also still more opportunities for hunters to find that trophy buck. The muzzleloader season runs until December 11th, and antlerless-only hunts will occur from December 12th to 15th and December 24th-January 1st. The archery season in many counties like Door and Kewaunee runs until January 31st.