Wisconsin DNR: Preliminary Gun Deer License Sales & Harvest Totals Available
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has announced preliminary deer harvest and license sale totals for the opening weekend of the 2024 gun deer season.
Preliminary License Sales Data
Preliminary figures indicate the number of deer hunters in Wisconsin slightly increased compared to 2023. As of 11:59pm, Sunday, November 24th, sales for deer hunting privileges (which include gun, archery, crossbow, conservation patron, and sports licenses) reached 778,111, up 0.48% from the same time last year. Of those, 541,258 of those were for gun privileges only.
Final license sales figures will be available in January, at which time DNR staff will perform a thorough analysis and interpretation.
Preliminary Registration Totals And Future Outlook
In total, hunters registered 89,203 deer statewide during the opening weekend of the 2024 gun deer hunt, compared to 90,831 registered for the same period in 2023. This is a 1.8% decrease from a year ago and 4.7% below the 5-year average.
Hunters registered a total of 49,038 antlered deer on opening weekend, compared to 51,261 in 2023, a 4.3% decrease. The antlerless harvest was 40,165, which is up 1.5% from last year.
Conditions for opening weekend this year were mostly cloudy and dry, with some light precipitation in places on Saturday morning. Mornings were cool and quiet. Temperatures rose to near or above 40 each day, which made for comfortable conditions for hunters.
Reports from the field varied widely from good deer activity to little or no daytime deer movement. Some reports of breeding activity were still coming in, but overall, deer sightings and harvest were…
